Lots of great fishing last weekend… very little, though, in the way of catching. I was joined Saturday on Merry Pier by my fiance, “V”, for some early morning snapper fishing. We got a few, saw a few snook caught, and watched an amazing sunrise. A great way to start a weekend, but no fish for the cooler.

Sunday proved to be more of the same, as Mike and I plugged away… snookless. We tried to shake things up with artificials; a bit of beach fishing; we even hit the Jetty. Nothing (‘cept a few small snapper and grouper).

So, now the planning. Should I:

-Hit John’s Pass for big snook at sunrise?

-Try the mini-parks between 76th Ave and 79th Ave?

-Keep beating the dead horse at Merry Pier?

-Camp out on the beach for cocktails, sunshine, and surf fishing?

-Do Ft. Desoto; either wading the flats, or hitting the Pier?

-Stake out a spot on the Skyway?

-Something else?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Just leave a comment in the “Comments” section. Thanks!

So, Saturday started as a typical 5 a.m to 9 a.m. Pass-A-Grille Merry Pier day. Mike and I managed a few foot long snapper, and were about to call it a day when Cap’t. Andy of the Getaway approached. Seems they’d had a last minute cancellation, and they were looking to fill a couple of seats. Mike and I had been talking about getting offshore, so the timing seemed perfect. By 10:30, we were headed west.

The first stop was for bait, and we managed a mixed bag of pinfish, squirrelfish, blue runners and lizardfish. The next stop was at the 100 foot mark, on a nice three foot ledge. I nailed a Gag that measured just over 20 inches, and we also brought in a scamp, a triggerfish and a couple of big Mangos. On to the next spot, some nearby hard bottom. Up came a nice red grouper, caught by Roland, and more Mangrove Snapper. We inadvetantly nailed a couple of remoras that were hanging around the boat. Then, I saw a flash of blue and gold in the water. Mahi Mahi! We threw out some greenbacks as chum, as well as one big one on some light spinning tackle. Wham – the fight was on.

Mahi Mahi, aka dorado, aka dolphin, put up quite a fight. We got several jumps and runs out of this one, till a well placed gaff ended the battle. The mate threw out a Gotcha, and promptly hooked another. This one escaped boatside, though. Despite the fact that the school hung around for a while, we had no more hookups.

We returned our attention to bottom fishing when Mike got slammed. His rod bent double, and he proceeded to battle an unseen monster, 100 feet below. It was like trying to lift an elephant off the botttom. I was thinking Goliath Grouper or big shark. Or maybe…. a huge rusty belly gag. Mike slowly managed to gain the upper hand, gaining line a few inches at a time. Finally, we saw color. Then a shape… a ROUND shape… and a huge loggerhead turtle surfaced, with Mike’s line wrapped aound his flipper. Major disappointment. It was released unharmed.

We decided to hit one final drop on the way in. It was another ledge, this one in about 80 feet. We got the biggest fish of the day there, a 30″ gag that wieghed in at 12 pounds. Another scamp, another mango, and a few big fish lost. Just like that, we were out of live bait and it was time to head back to port. The ride home was a bit of an adventure, as we came through a very intense storm. Lightning cracked by the boat several times – you know the kind, where the flash and the thunder are simultaneous. But, we arrived safely at 7 p.m., to conclude 14 straight hours of fishing. The final tally was 5 mangrove snapper, 2 scamp, 1 red grouper, 1 gag grouper, and 1 mahi mahi.

So, yesterday we had the gang over for the first Buc’s game of the season. Grilled cajun blast mahi, grouper alacante, and bronzed scamp and mahi were on the menu. The fish was so good, it was almost enough to make you forget about the game.

I met Mike on a crowded Merry Pier at 3ish on September 1st, anticipating some snook action. Of course, after seeing schools of slot sized snook stacked up around the pier for the last couple of months, they all mysteriously vanished when the bell went off for snook season.

And that wasn’t all…. the fishing had changed. Not sure if it was the moon, or the tides, or the weather temperature; but, the big snapper and grouper that we’d been slamming for the last month or two were GONE. I managed a few small snapper, and a couple of baby grouper, but it was a stark contrast to the easy mangrove snapper limits we’d been getting. And it got weirder. I caught, of all things, a whiting on a frozen Spanish sardine. Unheard of! Next up was my first shark of the year, a healthy & fiesty bonnethead.

Yeah, change is in the air… next week will be interesting. Anyway, I had grunt on the Shimano BaitRunner under the dock. It got slammed, presumably by a snook, but the pilings provided a quick cutoff. That left Mike to come through on the snook front- and he did! He had a medium pigfish soaking in front of the dock. A big snook slammed it and swam under the dock. Probably didn’t even know it was hooked. Mike was fishing 50 lb PowerPro, and it was a good thing. The fight was intense, with the snook jumping, running into the pilings, and generally doing the things that snook do to escape. But Mike whipped it fair and square, and soon it was on the dock- all 36″.

DOH! A little too big to keep, so back she went, but not without a picture first:

By the way, Mike- remember those mullet? A guy had one out on a big pole after you left, and jumbed a ~50 lb tarpon. Quite a sight!

Next week the Bucs play at 4. And what will be on the menu? Snapper? Grouper? Snook? Microwave burritos? Time will tell…

I headed out to the Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grill before the crack of dawn on Sunday, still determined to find a 22″+ grouper. I was joined at around 6 a.m. by my friend David, who was in from Denver. David is a very experienced fisherman, and we’ve fished together coutless times. All in all, we had a great morning at the dock.

I was fishing cut sardines on the bottom out in the rock piles, and was catching a few smallish (10-12″) snapper, when David decided to free line a big sardine. After a couple of minutes, the rod tip bounced, then drag started peeling out- slowly at first, then increasing in speed. I figured ‘big snook’, and headed for the net, but at that moment 100+ pounds of angry tarpon jumped 50 yards from the dock. I have been seeing smaller tarpon rolling over the last few weeks, but this wasn’t one of them.

It was a good hokup, and a tug-of-war ensued, with the big fish screaming off 30 or 40 yards of PowerPro, and David slowing gaining it back. But, as the minutes passed and the big fish got closer to the dock, the fight took an unexpected turn. The tarpon headed for the Miss Pass-A-Grille, the big party boat anchored in a slip. No amount of pressure could stop the ensuing cutoff, and the fight ended abruptly. Fun stuff, though. That’s what keeps Merry Pier fishing interesting. You can use virtually the same tackle, bait and techniques, and one minute you’ll catch a 6 oz pinfish- then a 100′ tarpon on the next cast. Never a dull moment.

Anyway, the bite continued fairly steady the rest of the morning- no really big fish, but lots of medium snapper and grouper. The macks were working the bait schools off the dock, and I managed to nail a small one between getting cut off by the sharp teeth of these predators.

 

Another August weekend, another nice snapper haul from the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. I arrived promptly at 5:00 a.m., and Mike joined me just minutes later. Armed with cut frozen Spanish Sardines, we went to work on the rokpiles at te north end of the pier. The snapper were aggressive and big. We were throwing back pretty much anything less than a foot – there were plenty of 13″ to 16″ fish.

My goal was to finally nail a legal gag grouper- and, once more, I was unsuccessful, although I did manage to haul in about 17 of them, up to 21 inches. Yeah, that’s right- 21″ inches… and, yes, I was pinching the tail.

Once the sun was up and the sardines were dwindling, Mike started throwing the net. He hanldes a 10″ cast net greta, and soon we had some big lively greenbacks. We freelined a few, resulting in some stron Spanish Mackeral hookups (and cutoffs). I soaked a few on the bottom, and was rewarded with more big grouper and snapper. All in all, a pretty fun day… and I was still home by noon for weekend chores…

The mango frenzy continues unabated. Arriving a couple hours before sunup, a five fish limit of tasty 12-15″ snapper is almost a given nowdays. Plenty of hard fighting grouper mixed in, too. The big ones are measuring 20″… still no keepers, but the laws of probability state that I’m due any day now.

The key to the bigger Mangos is big bait- cut sardines are doing the trick. A flourocarbon leader also helps the cause. And being on the right spot doesn’t hurt- while there are a few keepers under the dock, there are thousands of 5-9″ fish swarming there. The bigger fish are located on the rockpiles 20-80 feet in front of the pier.

Snook season is just a week and a half away, and there are dozens milling under the lights of the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach in the wee hours of the morning. You can hear them ‘popping’ bait from every direction. Take note of the fact that 100% of them will completely disappear at 11:59 p.m. on August 31.

Hey – I just realized that TampaFishing.net is now over 1 year old! Lots of fishing trips, lots of good times, lots of fun with great friends. Looking forward to even bigger and better things in year 2.

 Steve

An early start was the key to limiting out on tasty Tampa Bay mangrove snapper this weekend. I arrived at Merry Pier on 8th Avenue in St. Pete Beach at around 5 a.m., loaded up with frozen spanish sardines. The plan was to nail a few big grouper, but the snapper were so thick, the grouper barely stood a chance. Snook were pooping bait by the dock, as well as out in the channel, and there were a few taron rolling as the sun came up.

The rigs were simple; a light 2/0 Owner hook, about 16″ of flourocarbon leader, a #10 swivel, and 3/8th oval sinker.

Somehow, I convinced myself that getting up at 3 a.m. to do a little fishing made perfect sense. Hey, the tide’s high, the current should be strong, it won’t be too hot… Anyway, I arrived at Merry Pier in the wee hours Friday night/ Saturday morning, to be joined by Mike.

Yeah, there were snook around, but I didn’t hook any. I was reminded that my cast net skills are woefully inadequate, but I did manage to net a few small squid. Mike and I caught plenty of smallish Mangos, with three keepers in the mix. Pretty good eating, huh Mike?

Anyway, the highlight of the outing was a large, glowing cloud that appeared in the Eastern sky well before sunrise. Everyone on the dock was speculating as to what it was, but it sure looked strange, lit up in the otherwise dark morning sky. Turned out we were seeing the launch of a Mars probe from Cape Caniveral. Very cool.

Sunday was more of the same, but with a later start. Lots of small mangrove snapper, a few keepers, some small grouper, and a couple of big hits that ended in cutoffs. It may be time to venture offshore soon….

So, I decided to beat the heat this weekend by showing up at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach prior to sunrise. The snook were swarming under the lights, bait was thick, and the fish were biting. 

Using cut, frozen Spanish sardines, I caught and released about a dozen gag grouper on Saturday, with a couple in the 19″ range. I’m sure there are 22″+ keeps lurking near the pier, but I couldn’t entice them. I returned Sunday with my neighbor Rui, and we had a great time, catching grouper to 19″, a near limit of 11-12″ mangrove snapper, and about a million smaller snapper. The catch of the day, though, was a 35″ snook that grapped a Spanish sardine. Got a couple of great jumps out of her- Rui handled the netting flawlessly, and she was released unharmed.