Fishing Report 05/13/2008 – Capt. Terry Frankford
Angler's aboard the Reelin & Chillin have been catching, redfish, spanish mackerel and trout inshore. The bait of choice has been hand-picked live shrimp.
Near shore between two hundred yards from the beach to seven miles out, angler's have been catching spanish mackerel, king mackerel, black tip sharks, and lemon sharks. Baits used have been live shrimp, thread fin herring, blue runners, and pin fish.
Here are a couple fish tails from recent trips aboard the Reelin & Chillin
With a crew of five angler's we found gulls diving just off Siesta Beach in twenty-six feet of water. I had the angler's using outfits with fifteen pound test line, forty pound mono leader - about three feet, and a 2X long Eagle Claw hook. As luck would have it Nate Huff the guy with the broken left hand in a soft cast hooked up with a big king mackerel. After a good fifteen minute battle chasing the fish around the Gulf of Mexico Nate landed a forty-six inch thirty-two pound king mackerel. Fantastic light tackle action. The crazy thing aside from a broken hand is, Nate was using a live shrimp - hooked a blue runner, then the king ate the blue runner - just doesn't get any better.
I decided to take a day off from work and took my son Jesse, and nephew Jared out to the M7 artificial reef to see what we could do with live blue runners and a few pin fish. Jared started out hooked up to a seven foot black tip shark using twenty-pound test line. After a nice battle we released the shark. We caught and released a couple of lemon sharks then went to the beaches. There we managed to hook up to a nineteen pound king mackerel and Jared hooked a huge stingray, must have had a five foot wing span. After a couple minutes of chasing it around the gulf it made a spectacular jump then broke the line.
On a morning inshore trip Frank, Joanie, and Jim Habic headed out looking for some fun action and a little dinner. We spent the trip hunting for fish with not much luck concerning dinner, however we were having a good time. As luck would have it we went to Joanie's favorite redfish spot and Frank landed two or three reds just under the slot while Joanie was landing trout on the other side of the boat. Jim was a little quiet until a nice red slammed his live shrimp. After a great battle on light tackle Jim pulled in a red just barley under the twenty-seven inch limit. With dinner for the three angler's I headed back to port with a happy crew.
Captain's Tip
When fishing structure like Jim was when he managed to catch a twenty-seven inch redfish using ten pound test line it's important to really pay attention. Cast as close as you can to the structure - let the line sink straight down before clicking in the bale - reel in the slack being sure not to reel to much so you don't pull the bait away from the structure. When the fish picks up the bait reel like crazy to pull him away from the structure, when you have him away a safe distance then slow down a little to wear him out for the landing. It is a waiting and paying attention game, however it does pay off.
Tight Lines & Good Times, Capt. Terry Frankford
Reelin & Chillin Charters Inc.
941-228-7802
www.charterfishingsarasota.com terry.frankford@verizon.net
