Fishing Report 10/19/2007 – Capt. Terry Frankford
With Gulf temperatures dropping just a little, and plenty of bait in the Gulf and along the Beaches several species have moved into the near shore reefs. King and Spanish mackerel, Cobia, Little Tunny, and small sharks are all over the near shore reefs. Bait is plentiful, scaled sardines (whitebait) can be netted in bays and along the beaches just look for diving pelicans, gulls, and terns. If your going for the big Kings little Blue Runners can be caught right where you fish using small baits or a chicken rig. Trolling these little Blues brings big fish, however one of my clients did pick up an eighteen pound King on a small whitebait this past week. Casting and trolling lures can also be productive, jigs, spoons, anything flashy will bring a bite. A favorite trolling lure of mine for King Mackerel is the Rapala CD-11 MAG with the Silver Mck design.
Just a quick review of a few trips aboard the Reelin & Chillin this week:
It's a Reelin & Chillin record breaker - forty and a half inch Redfish!
Jon McCubbin, brother Bill, and friend Mark had a fantastic day of both near shore and in shore fishing, Starting at a near shore reef these anglers had a ball catching King Mackerel, and Spanish Mackerel with Bill landing a nice eighteen pound King using only fifteen pound test line. Heading inshore Mark had a great light tackle fight using ten pound test line catching a Jack Crevalle that tipped the scales at eight pounds. Jon had the catch of the day and for that matter the catch of the year for me. He caught and released a huge forty and a half inch Redfish. This is a client record for my boat, up until this time it was David Wright who held the record of thirty five inches.
Bob Tetu, brother Bill, and friend Dan Cerone dodged the weather in North Sarasota Bay, however they still managed to find some great action and bring dinner home. We hit several locations catching a few here and there, then at a spot near Longbar we hit pay dirt. We had non-stop action until a thunder storm ran us off. Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, and Trout was the catch of the day for these light tackle anglers.
Jay Scouggins, Larry Smith, Jeremy, and Jamie Chester had great action on one of Sarasota's near shore reefs. Larry had the big King of the day catching and releasing one up to thirty-six inches. Jeremy caught one just over the limit that we decided to keep because it looked like it may not survive a release. All anglers caught a good bit of Spanish Mackerel taking dinner home to a hungry crew of visitor's from Canada.
It was family time for my son Jesse, daughter-n-law Shelly and myself to see what we could do at a near shore reef. To make a long story short Shelly picked up her first King Mackerel over thirty-six inches. Jesse caught a nice Cobia at thirty-five inches and a Little Tunny around eight pounds. We also caught plenty of Spanish Mackerel. And yes we had a big family fish fry that evening - grilled Cobia, fried Spanish Mackerel, and Sashimi Little Tunny.
Brad Johns, wife Lavren Stone, and two sons Rowen (6), and Ethan (4) did the near shore and in shore trip with great success. Starting off on a near shore reef Jack Crevalle, Blue Runners, Spanish Mackerel, and a nice Little Tunny kept these anglers plenty busy. Then it was in shore to some structure in Sarasota Bay where the Redfish turned on long enough for Brad to pick up two in the slot. Also, Rowen picked up his first keeper Redfish that went to twenty-four inches, way to go Rowen. Lavren likes fishing all right, however I think she got a kick out of a pod of bottle-noise dolphins we found in New Pass. They entertained us for a while and after a few photos we went on to more fishing, a fun day for all aboard.
Frank Habic, wife Joanie, and nephew Jim Lee had a ball catching and releasing sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. We were looking for Spanish Mackerel, however I think the sharks had the same idea. Must be that the sharks ran off the Mackerel and decided to take us up on our whitebait. The first shark was hooked by Joanie and she just couldn't turn it. Almost one hundred and fifty yards of line screamed off the reel. I had to cup the spool so the line would break off at the fish. It wouldn't be good having a shark running around with that much line hanging off it. Frank ran into one that was almost as large, however he did manage after a long battle getting it to the boat. We were able to remove the hook, no longer was in the shape of a "J" now it was more like a corkscrew. Jim Lee also tackled a couple of these fun Lemon Sharks getting them to the boat for a photo and release. Not much dinner went home that afternoon, however all had great action on light tackle.
Rigging:
Spanish Mackerel have really sharp teeth and rigging correctly is important or you may spend a small fortune on tackle, and time re rigging instead of catching. The best way I have found to keep terminal tackle on for at least a little while is as follows: Starting with a twelve inch length of #2 wire leader I use a haywire twist attaching a 1/O "long shanked" hook on one end, and a #8 swivel on the other. This makes a wire leader approximately eight inches long, just long enough to bypass the teeth. I then tie a thirty-six inch length of forty pound test mono to prevent chaffing from tail and body swipes, this is especially important if you happen to hook a King, Cobia, or Shark. After a few fish the wire will curl - just keep on fishing, the Macks don't mind. You will still lose rigs, however for me this keeps bait in the water the longest. Some may think this is down sizing just a little to much, however this week alone these set ups have landed eighteen pound King Mackerel, thirty-five inch Cobia, and four foot Lemon Sharks. Small terminal tackle helps to keep the bait looking natural making for more hook ups.
Tight Lines & Good Times, Capt. Terry Frankford
Reelin & Chillin Charters Inc.
941-228-7802
www.charterfishingsarasota.com terry.frankford@verizon.net
