Another glorious Fall weekend of fishing in South St. Pete Beach. The Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grill drew the usual collection of dedicated fisherman, including Cap’t. Dick, Tim from Tampa, JoeMama, Mike from Michigan, Dave & other regulars. The fishing was slow but steady, with tides peaking before sunrise, and a strong outgoing tide all morning. Keeping weeds off our lines was a problem Saturday.

The fish were fairly cooperative, though.  Mike landed a keeper flounder and a slot snook. There were macks, legal snapper, short red and gag grouper, etc.  But the highlight of the weekend was when Leon caught a hog snapper- yes, a real, 100% hogfish, caught inshore at the Merry Pier. Hogfish are an offshore species, and difficult to catch on hook and line. They are a favored target for spearfisherman. I have never seen nor heard of one caught inshore, but Leon’s was DEFINATLY a hog snapper. Just goes to show… you never know what you might catch in the waters of Tampa Bay!

Tim recently made a spearfishing trip to the middle grounds, home to big grouper. Here’s evidence:

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