(Spanish) Mack Attack!
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.