There. I said it. Skunked. Wow, it’s been a while, but the combination of unfavorable tides, poor moon phase, thinning bait, and the incredible water temperature drop all conspired to shock the fish into inactivity. Despite a packed dock, nobody else was catching anything, either. Small consolation.

There was, however, one bright spot- a 39″ redfish caught by a lucky angler on Thanksgiving day.

Who’d of thought there would still be tarpon rolling in Boca Ciega Bay in November? But, they’re there. Saw three seperate pods on Sunday, unmistakebly tarpon. The dockhand had seen some the week before, too. Time to get out the heavy tackle?

As far as Pass-A-Grille Merry Pier fishing, it was business as usual. Showed up for 5 hours Saturday, and 7 on Sunday. Pretty good crowd, too. Saturday, on the incoming tide, 10 to 16 inch grouper were a given on pretty much every cast, but no sign of the big boys. Snapper are gone, as are the snook. The season change is evident, doubly so when I pulled in a decent pair of flounder. Looking forward to the days when they come in thick!

Sunday, it was Spanish Mackeral in the morning. Every cast of the silver 1/2 ounce Kastmaster resulted in a quick hit, with some 3-4 pound fish in the mix. Eventually, got tired of catching them, and it was on to grouper and sheepshead. No flounder, but a guy pulled up a very nice redfish. I had couple of big hits (and subsequent break-offs) under the pier, and I suspect that’s what they were.

Off to Arizona Wednesday, so no fishing for a while. I’ll be hitting it hard come Thanksgiving weekend, though- reports to follow.

Fall is in the air, and the samll grouper are swarming in Pass-A-Grille. Joined by friends Tim and Craig, we caught ’em by the dozen last weekend, despite a brutal 25 knot north wind. Manatees and dolphins cruised past the Pier. And, variety is on the increase- the day’s catch included gag grouper, mangrove snapper, redfish, ladyfish, pinfish, lizardfish, pufferfish, and… sheepshead.

Yes, the sheepshead are hungry. Live shrimp was the ticket for a couple of hubcap sized beauties. Should be a good fall.

Side note- sounds like my buddy Alan will be cruising in from the backwoods of Kentucky in early December. This calls for some offshore time! And maybe another Captain Mike Homer charter?

Conditions Saturday were… less than ideal. Strong front had already moved through, 20+ knot wind straight out of the north, very low tide. Didn’t matter. The 12-15″ grouper were still swarming anywhere there was structure. A few small snapper mixed in, too. Saw the first (small) flounder landed- a good sign of things to come!

Spent a couple of hours at the Merry Pier on both Saturday and Sunday (before the game). While lots of sheepshead were evident, they weren’t inclined to bite. The snapper and grouper, however, were very cooperative. Mangos from 8-12″ were swarming under the pier, and voraciously attacked any shrimp thrown their way. Likewise, grouper hit readily on the rockpiles in front of the pier- but only on the incoming tide.

 The good news is that the 6-10 inch grouper of the summer are now the 12-16 inch fall grouper. Toss a select shrimp with an oz of lead to the rockpile, count to five, and expect a hookup.

 Now… how ’bout those BUCS?

Yes, tourist season is fast approaching here on the beach, so as an essential public service, here are 10 quick ways to spot Tourists as they attempt to go fishing:

10. Squid. Tourist just LOVE frozen squid. Big, enormous chunks of it.

9. Wire Leaders. Every Tourist is enamoured with wire leaders. The bigger, the better. Never know when a sharks gonna bite, after all..

8. Snoopy rods. You know the type. A step below the Zebco 202. A healthy pinfish could snap it without breaking a sweat. -OR-

7. 10/0 Marlin Rods. Hey, it’s saltwater- after all, you never know when a 2000 lb. great white might swim by the dock, looking for frozen squid.

6. Giant Hooks. Doesn’t matter if they’re using the Snoopy rod or the marlin rod, all Tourists believe that any hook smaller than 6/0 is just too small. Besides, you can fit a lot more frozen squid onto an 8/0.

5. Weight. 2 ounces? 3 ounces? Nah! Heck, the waters 5 feet deep, with a 1 knot current. Let’s use 5 ounces of lead!

4. Laws. What Laws? For those few Tourists that actually do catch something, it’s common to see them with a few dozen 10″ grouper, and a few 5″ snapper. After all the fish have died in their bucket, they’ll ask, “Are these any good to eat”?

3. Sunburns, crappy tshirts, socks & sandals, and NE accents. ‘Nuff said.

2. Upside down spinning reels. Having trouble getting it to work? Um, yeah, the reel part goes on the bottom. Reely.

1. Frozen Shrimp. Yes, the staple of every Tourist ‘fisherman’. Hook a few through the back on your 6/0 hook, add a half pound of lead, check your wire leader for kinks, add a hunk of frozen squid for good measure, and fling it on out. Good luck, there!

And it’s time for some more fishing! Spent last weekend in Kentucky, and came very close to a bass fishing trip on Kentucky Lake with an old frat buddy. But… lack of a trolling motor, coupled with the arrival of a few dozen more frat buddies quashed these plans. So, next year- look out, bass and crappie!

Meanwhile, I’ve checked the tide tables for Pass-A-Grille, and this looks to be a great weekend- 2 foot drop, and an early afternoon high tide. I’ll be hitting Merry Pier and the 8th Ave dock hard on Saturday- the results will dictate wether I’ll be back Sunday, or watching the Bucs. Report to follow…

No fishing this weekend. Just football.

So, a quick morning outing to the Merry Pier on Saturday. Ahh… Fall is in the air… as is the pungent odor of dead fish. There were literally thousands of dead fish floating on the outgoing tide. Not a pretty site- or scent.

 I figured fishing would be a waste, but had to make a go of it anyway. Sure enough, there were still some small mangrove snapper lurking under the dock. After catching 7, the bite slowed. Time to move. The tide was going out strong, so I set up on the north end of the pier, and let the select live shrimp drift back under the dock with a 1/4 oz. weight. Any snook home?

No snook, but a rat red ambushed the shrimp. Another shrimp- another redfish. Hmmmm… must be a school of them. Sure enough, one after another landed on the pier. A few may have been barely legal, but with all the red tide around, I was in no mood to clean fish. So back they went. I stopped counting after a dozen. All in all, a couple hours of fun, in an otherwise bleak setting.

 

A quick note- spent Saturday fishing a friend’s dock on Vina Del Mar. The open views of the Pass-a-Grille Channel are amazing, and the fish were everywhere- just kinda small. DOH! Caught about a thousand little gag grouper- biggest might have been a fot. Bodes well for the future, but doesn’t help my plans for a Bucanneers game fish fry. Add in some undersize mangrove and Lane snapper, a small sheepshead… well you get the picture.

 Anyway, I figure things’ll bust loose after dark, what with the snook light and all. A few small snook did show up- along with a few thousand catfish. And a school of rat reds- caught about a dozen redfish, but they were all undersized. So, it was pizza and another Buc’s embarrassment…