Saturday started like a typical November trip with Kingfish and Spanish Mackerel our target. What was not typical was Potters Pier void of bait! Live white baits for both fishing and chumming are key. With a brisk NE wind I did not want to battle crossing the choppy bay to the South Skyway Bridge so I ran to one of my favorite grass flats. It took 5 minutes to chum up the baits within cast net range then 5 tosses of the net to gather enough ammo.
Today's rigging was very simple 3' of 40 pound leader finished with a 2/0 long shank hook. Nosed hooked baits fly lined completed our rigging today. Now for the secret ingredient…..a chum bag. I use the frozen block style chum which does the trick for the macks. I also add handful of live baits to the mix every few minutes. So often these steps turn an ok bite into a red hot bite.
We waited 15 minutes before we had our first hit. A chunky 3 pound Mack complete with a large shrimp in its mouth. The morning continued ok at best as we never got into rapid action on the beach. Our first Kingfish crashed a large white bait just 20' off the stern. The King ran and ran and ran and came unbuttoned just as I was ready to chase it.
To end the day we decided to chase some spotted sea trout on a grass flat near Ft. Desoto. Go figure I am looking for trout and find non stop mackerel action. Trout and Mackerel both inhabited the same area and chased the same baits.
The day ended on a sour note as a stinger rig (treble hook) found its way into Captain Steven's thumb. I cut the hook then pulled the business end through and out another hole on my thumb.
Captain Steven Markovich
www.onthemarkcharters.com
