Friday was WAY too nice a day to spend in the office, so I hit Merry Pier in the morning, and didn’t leave till the evening. Loaded up with select shrimp and fiddler crabs, I was ready for a good day of fishing. And it was.

Catch of the day was sheepshead- big ones that succumbed to the fiddlers. There were plenty of smaller ones around, too. The snook were lurking, but not biting. Other fish caught were grouper, spanish mackeral, ladyfish (including one that HAD to be 5 pounds!), and the usual assortment of lizardfish, squirrelfish, pinfish, etc.

The water clarity was excellent, although there was no sign of bait. Strange. Anyway, top catch was a large redfish. Sunday, I head to Clearwater for some redfishing with Cap’t Homer, a 4th generation Tampa fishing guide. He caught over 80 redfish yesterday, so I’m anxious to see what we come up with.

OK, so it must be Spring- temperatures are in the mid 80’s, drunken spring breakers litter the beach, the top’s down on the convertible, the water’s up to the magic 72 degree mark… and the fish are starting to wake up after a very long, very ‘un-fishy’ winter.

Saturday was highlighted by a couple of decent Spanish Mackeral from the Merry Pier. Snook were lurking about, and the pilings were giving up sheepshead to those anglers using tube worms or fidler crabs. Sunday proved more productive, as I met my friend Cletus and his son “Q”. Cletus stocked up on fidlers, and we nailed a good half dozen sheepshead, although none were particularly large.

A spent a couple of hours hurling a Gotcha’ lure in hopes the big Mackeral would be back… but, no sign of ’em. There was a school of big ladyfish, and they provided a fun diversion.

Cletus had a select shrimp soaking under the dock, and he got nailed by something BIG. Two more shrimp, and 2 more break-offs. I’m pretty sure it was a snook that was pestering him. Looks like they may finally be getting hungry again after a long winter of lockjaw.

The bait was pretty thin near the Pier, although I have seen a couple decent schools of greenbacks in the Blind Pass area. Any day now, it’s all gonna bust loose, and we’ll be enjoying great fishing right through the Fall!

Saturday was the long awaited ‘Spring Fling’ fishing trip- and we couldn’t have picked a worse day! We left Punta Gorda Isles Friday afternoon through rain and a healthy chop on Charlotte Harbor. After an entertaining Friday Night at the Boca Grand Resort, we awoke to howling north winds. The origianl plan called for a 32 mile run offshore… but the bouys were reporting wave heights to 8+ feet. So much for that.

We stayed inside, making a brief stop at the old railroad bridge. Nothing happening there… so it was onward to the Phosphate Docks, an always reliable spot. Anchoring in 20 mph winds, with higher gusts, proved a bit of a challenge. Eventually, we nailed a ladyfish and a couple of decent sheepshead from the pilings, but the boat (and passangers) was getting beat up pretty bad, so we headed to a small island behing Caya Costa.

The wind was still pretty brutal, and depite a very fishy looking mangrove shoreline, we didn’t get a single bite. The run back to Punta Gorda was rocky, but eventually we made land again. Bit of a relief, too.

We still hope to get out to the Bayronto when the whether is better… perhaps when American Red Snapper are back in season. And when there aren’t 8′ waves…

Still, a very fun weekend, despite the fishing.

It must be spring- the Macks are in! Fishing the Merry Pier today, I was having no luck with live shrimp. There were a few sheepshead around, but the weren’t biting. And there was no sign of flounder. snook, or redfish. So, time to break ot the Gotcha’ lures and see if there were any Spanish Mackeral lurking about. And there were…

For a while, just about every cast yeilded a hit or two. I lost three lures before I finally wised up and started using wire leaders. The Macks were running large, with several in the 4-5 pound range. Fiesty fighters on light tackle, it was a lot of fun. I threw most of them back, but saved a few for the grill. The party wa over when flipper, baby dolphin in tow, arrived. The presence of the dolphins shut the bite down almost instantly.

I hear that the Ft. Desoto Pier also saw a few schools run through. It’s a little early for the macks, but ist’s a very good sign of things to come.

Next week, I head to Punta Gorda on Friday. We set sail on Running With Scissors, out of stump pass, and on to the wreck of the Bayronto. Looks like a wek front may come through on Thursday/ Friday- hopefully, the wind will lay down, and we won’t be rockin’ too much. The targets- grouper )back in season!); snapper (mangos and yellowtail- probably a little shallow at 105 feet for any American Red Snapper_; amberjack )the reef donkeys should be thick!); and early kingfish (yes, we’ll have a flat line out). Other targets of opportunity may include permit; scamp; goliath grouper (aka jewfish); porgies; barracuda; blackfin tuna (I wish); sharks; and whatever else may happen along.

….Saturday of fishing. Not much to show for an hour on the Merry Pier. Saw a guy catch a not-quite-legal redfish, and there were a few smaller snook swimming over the grass flats. From the rumor department, I heard about a 40″ snook landed ahead of the front, as well as several legal reds, and a school of monster black drum that made an appearance.