Seasons greetings, happy holidays & Merry Christmas! Winter fishing is in full swing, and that means sheepshead. While I did hear scattered reports of flounder in Pass-A-Grille and redfish in Blind Pass, and I saw a 23″ gag grouper caught on the Merry Pier, all of my luck came from targeting sheepshead from docks around the Blind Pass Marina.

Once again, the trick was finding big (2″-3″) mud crabs, which I located under rocks at low tide along the seawall in Pass-A-Grille, and at the East end of Corey Avenue. Watch out- they pack a wallop in their pincers, so handle with care. I used a fairly light spinning outfit, 20 lb Spiderwire, and a 25 lb fluorocarbon leader, with a #2 Owner hook and a 1/4 oz weight. Drop a crab to the bottom RIGHT NEXT to a piling, crank it up a turn, and wait patiently. The sheepshead bite tends to be pretty light, and as soon as the line appears to have any weight on it, it’s time to set the hook.

Over the long Christmas weekend, I managed to catch a couple dozen sheepshead, most of them in the 3 to 5 pound range. As an added bonus, I caught a few 12-14″ black sea bass. Who knew they’d take crabs? Anyway, plenty of fillets in the freezer now.

It’s that time of year again – sheepshead time! Saturday was a bust for fishing, with cold weather and windy conditions. Sunday proved much better, and I met Tim at the Merry Pier. I had a few mud crabs which I collected off the rocks at low tide, and the sheepshead found them irresistible. I managed a few keepers, then headed to the St Pete Beach Yacht and Tennis Club to watch the Bucs game at a friends. Yeah, the game sucked. But Tim and I hit the docks after the OT, and the sheepshead were plentiful here as well, including some seriously big ones. I plan to hit this area again soon, and with a better supply of crabs.

Meanwhile, Merry Pier was pretty quiet besides the sheepshead. No sign of flounder, although I saw several decent black sea bass caught. The highlight, though, was a 25″ gag grouper coaxed out from under the dock by these guys:

 

 

Nice fish!

Well, the front shut down fishing this weekend, so I developed a roll of film. Here are a few highlights:

Cap’t Dick batteling an amberjack:

David with a big amberjack on the other end:

And… the amberjack:

And another one:

And, yes, I got one too:

Yes… JoeMama IS the ‘dolphin king’!:

Way cool – Joe had a family of three dolphin following us for 20 minutes, jumping and playing in the wake of the Getaway:

Ahh… I can’t wait for next summer:

It was a busy weekend for fishing here in Pinellas County. I closed shop early on Wednesday, picked up 10 dozen fiddler crabs in anticipation of a sheepshead extravaganza, and headed to the Merry Pier. I did manage a couple small sheepshead in an hour or so. I returned Thanksgiving morning, started scraping barnacles off the pilings, and fired the fiddlers to the bottom. It appears that my previous headline “The Sheepshead are In” was a bit premature. I managed to get three or four, but no big ones, and the ones that were there were few and far between. I saw a few small flounder caught, and a big redfish lost, but overall it was a very slow fishing day.

Friday was a different story. I met up at sunrise with Captain Dick, his son David and a couple of his friends for some offshore fun. We quickly filled the livewell with small to medium pinfish, and a couple decent blue runners, then headed out to an amberjack spot in around 100 feet. David dropped the first bait, and we were hooked up in seconds.

Over the next 60 minutes, we put four big amberjack in the box, averaging around 30 pounds each. We then headed to a ledge for grouper and snapper. And they were there- we boxed a nice gag, along with a healthy mango and a couple of Porgies as a bonus. We ran back to a spot in 80 foot next.

The bottom finder went crazy, showing huge clouds of fish. We dropped, and were all soon hooked up. Turns out there was an incredibly large school of banded rudderfish on the spot- good eating, but not what we had in mind. We sent a couple big pinfish down, and were greeted with a double hookup. And these were BIG fish- no doubt gags. Only one problem- both fish managed to rock up. When a hooked grouper succeeds in wedging himself into a hole, they’ll start ‘drumming’ emitting a low frequency sound that serves as an alert to all the other grouper in the area. Sure enough, we didn’t get another grouper bite after that.

Still, it was  a great day on the water- waves around a foot, temperatures in the mid 70’s, lots of sunshine and plenty of fish. An outstanding day!

Saturday was perhaps the most brutal 5 hours of fishing I’ve endured in a long time. Temps hovered in the low 40’s, and a steady, constant and bitingly cold North wind blew at around 25 knots. Needless to say, the fish weren’t biting. It was… not fun.

Sunday proved much better, as the sheepshead have begun their invasion of Boca Ciega Bay. I caught several, and saw lots more hauled in, including some big ones- 4 or 5 pound fish. Post front the flounder and grouper were pretty much shut down, so the sheepies were a nice change of pace.

I have a report of some big catch and release trout biting in the Belle Vista neighborhood of St. Pete Beach. There were a couple of big redfish hanging around the Merry Pier and the 7th Ave. Pier in Pass-A-Grille. The snook appear to have now moved out of Blind Pass, and there’s no sign of sheepshead there. Things are definitely changing. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s biting over the long Thanksgiving weekend!

It looks like another front is headed our way. I had planned to go out on Miss Pass-A-Grille for the full day trip Saturday, but winds are forecast for 15-20 knots, so… looks like I’ll be grouper and flounder fishing on the Pier instead.

Saturday was beautiful – warm, sunny, perfect for a day of South Pinellas fishing. My friend David was in from Denver, so we met up at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach Saturday morning. With the full moon, the tides were unusually low… and still going out. Strong. I managed to net some whitebait, and we bought a few nice shrimp at the tackle store.

First up were Mangrove Snapper. I hadn’t seen any keepers in a month or so, but I nailed 3 legal size right off the bat, along with a few smaller specimens. Next, the gag grouper started biting. Between David and I, we probably caught a couple dozen. As the water cools, the larger gags begin to move into shallower water, and sure enough, I managed to catch a legal 22 1/2 inch grouper (see picture above). I had a few big hits, which ended in cut-offs or broken line, and I figured they were either big gags or snook responsible. But I may have been wrong:

An unidentified fisherman was on Merry Pier sporting some serious stand-up gear – huge reel, heavy mono, a rod built like a pool cue…  I assumed he was either shark fishing, or clueless. I was wrong on both counts. As I was packing my gear, his rod bowed over and he was straining to keep a huge fish in check. It tore drag, and he skillfully kept it out of the pilings. After a brief but epic battle, he brought a big Goliath Grouper to the surface. This fish had a mouth like a 5 gallon bucket, and was solid muscle. It was released unharmed before it could be measured or weighed; but I’d guess it was a good 30 pounds. So, that might explain some of my cut-offs and break-offs in recent months…

Sunday was brutal. North winds at 25 knots, temps in the 50’s. But the flounder were biting none-the-less. My friend Mike, along with his brothers from Detroit, managed a nice meess of keeper flounder up to about 18 inches. They were still catching them when I left to host a party for the Buc’s game (we won, and everybody enjoyed fresh blackened grouper fillets).

It’s been several years since we’ve had a decent flounder run; in fact, since the big red tide a few years ago. But it looks like this year’s different. Flounder large and small are making an appearance in area bays and passes. And on the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach, where I caught several this weekend, up to about 21″.

Flounder prefer a moving tide, as they lie on the bottom and wait to ambush their prey. Whitebait is plentiful right now, so net a few up and bump them along the bottom with a small hook, a fluorocarbon leader, and just enough weight to keep the bait in the strike zone. The bite tends to be in the form of a solid ‘thump’ on the line… and, well, that’s usually it. Set the hook immediately, and you risk pulling the bait out of the flounder’s mouth. Give them a few seconds, and you’ll increase your catch rate considerably.

Flounder fillets are outstanding, either fried or stuffed with crabmeat. We had a few friends join us for the Buc’s game Sunday (an amazing overtime win), and enjoyed fresh stone crab claws, fresh grouper fillets, fresh fried flounder, two kinds of fish spread… a regular seafood extravaganza.

Flounder! The Fall bite is in full swing. Bait is plentiful, and the fish are cooperative. At least, they were until that last big cold front… The Rays finish Game 5 of the World Series tonight. I’ve got tickets for Game 6. Stay tuned.

 

The Amazing Tampa Bay Rays continue this incredible season with a huge 4-2 win in Game 2 of the World Series last night at the Trop. The place was rockin, and Shields pitched a great game. Nobody expressed interest in my spare ticket – too bad, you missed a good time. Stretch Hummer limo, prime rib buffet, great seats close to the action- we had a great time. But the important thing is- we won! Now we head to Philly, where I predict the Ray’s bats will go wild. GO RAYS!

Oh, yeah… this is a fishing blog. I’ll try to get a line wet this weekend and have a report for Monday.