I managed to spend a few hours both Saturday and Sunday with the gang at the Merry Pier. While fishing was not exactly spectacular, there were a fair amount of fish caught – but the variety of species was impressive. I saw:

-A 32″ over-the-slot Redfish
-A couple dozen Mangrove Snapper, to 15″
-A nice Bluefish
-LOTS of Flounder – mostly small, but a few to 15″
-Several Bonnethead Sharks
-A few decent Gag Grouper
-A couple of Sheepshead (nobodywas really targeting them)
-A few decent Macks
-The usual Pinfish, Puffers, Lizardfish and Grunts

Just a quick note – I managed to get in a few hours of fishing last week. Small tarpon were rolling in Blind Pass; larger ones were spotted in Boca Ciega Bay. Fall is in the air – I caught a small cobia, along with a 16″ RED grouper and a half dozen gags in Pass-A-Grille. There were a few flounder around, the small snapper were biting, and a nice bluefish was caught. There was a strong outgoing tide early, with lots of weeds, making for somewhat difficult conditions. There were still plenty of macks and jacks around, working the bait schools.

Cooler mornings and north winds are at hand. At the Merry Pier, bait continues to be plentiful, and flounder have started to fire up. Macks are working the bait schools at high tide, and a few snook have been reported. A keeper grouper was landed over the weekend. I spent Saturday fishing in Ft. DeSoto, targeting the Bay Pier and the grass flats. Tons of bait, tons of mullet, but not a lot else happening.

After two very long months in Arizona, I finally made it back to Florida, and back to the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. For the last few days, we’ve had a good moon, with a strong incoming tide right at sunrise – ideal conditions for the Pass-A-Grille grouper bite.

Frozen sardines are the ticket. The scent is carried by the tide, and the grouper will quickly find the bait. Look for them in the rocks, structure and ledges around the pier. They are there. And they are big. Most of the fish I’ve been catching are running around 20 inches, but there are plenty of legal fish around too, including some bruisers. Gear up accordingly. When the sun’s been up for an hour, the bite is pretty much over, so get an early start.

As the water continues to heat up, and the bait schools show up with increasing frequency, the fishing in St. Pete Beach is starting to take off… finally.

Last weekend, Merry Pier regular Juan nailed a nice 36″ cobia:

And this weekend, the mangrove snapper FINALLY started showing up. Here’s Mike with a 12″ mango:

And there are still legal flounder biting, too. My highlight for the weekend was a 24″ gag grouper:

The fishing should continue to improve in the coming weeks, as long as we don’t get hit by a hurricane or an oil slick.

With fishing fairly quiet inshore, I headed offshore on Memorial Day. Conditions were spectacular – bright and sunny, light breeze, strong tides. Cap’t Dick was at the helm, joined by JoeMama and friends. We hit a few bait spots, and we worked hard to come up with some decent threadfins, hardtails, cigar minnows, pinfish and blue runners. Then we noticed the bait was dying off. Not a good sign. We hit The Sulphur Barge first, looking for amberjack. They were there, just on the small side. We landed a few up to around 20 pounds, then decided to bring the bigger ones to the boat with a chum line.

We chopped up old frozen sardines, while freelining a big live sarding 30 yadrs behind the boat. Strange… no amberjack in the chum line. Suddenly, the rod went off, and Pat was hooked up to something big. Line screamed off the reel, and there was a huge splash a couple hundred feet behind the boat. The fight was on:

The battle went on for about an hour, till a big bull shark in the 400 pound range was boatside. It was a clean release.

Next up was a ledge holding grouper and snapper. The bite was off, though, probably because we were fishing 3 days off the full moon. I nailed a nice mango, and we boated a 28″ gag grouper. We landed plenty of short red grouper, along with the occasional Key West grunt. I lost a big cobia boatside. And we were rocked by a few big gags. Plenty of action, just not a lot of fish in the cooler. Then Joe caught a doormat flounder using a big sand perch:

All in all, it was a great day on the water. Looking forward to the next trip!

As the action heats up offshore, Pass-A-Grille pier fishing remains slow. No snook. No redfish. And no snapper. They should have arrived a month ago! Sunday saw the arrival of some big greenbacks, so it shouldn’t be long. Meanwhile, short gags, short flounder, big blue runners and the ever-present macks provide some entertainment. With Fridays full moon, and the accompanying strong tides, things should bust loose soon.

After a VERY long winter, I finally ventured offshore last weekend. Conditions were perfect as we set out from Punta Gorda at 6 a.m. aboard Running With Scissors. Cap’t. Bowers was at the helm, along with two of his coworkers. I was joined by Cap’t Dick and his son David.

We hit a couple bait spots and loaded up on blue runners, pinfish and big greenbacks. Next stop – the Bayronto, a 400′ wreck off Venice in 100′ of water. David dropped a big runner on a heavy rod. By the count of ten, we were hooked up. We proceeded to land big amberjack one after another, and had our limit by noon. Cap’t Dick landed the biggest fish of the day, a nice 60 pound brute:

The problem with the Bayronto is that is is just LOADED with Goliath grouper. Every time we hooked a snapper (or even an amberjack under 20 pounds), we’d get nailed. Sometimes immediately; sometimes up top near the boat. These 400 pound fish really make it tough. Even the barracuda (which were thick) didn’t stand a chance.

I had a big greenback out on a light spinning rod, hoping for a kingfish or even a blackfin tuna. Pretty soon, the drag started screaming out. It was a good fish, and I only had a 30 lb. leader on, so I couldn’t pressure the fish too much. After an hour long battle, I discovered that it was…. another amberjack! Fun fight, anyway:

Here are a few more pix:

amberjack-video

Temps finally broke into the 90’s this weekend, and, despite the blustery wind, I managed to get in a bit of fishing. Although bait was scarce, the fish are becoming more active. The Merry Pier saw catches including grouper, bonnethead sharks, macs, ladyfish, flounder and sheepshead. I even caught a remora, of all things. A cormorant surfaced with a mangrove snapper- the first one of 2010.

I was targeting grouper using frozen sardines and live pinfish. And, hey, there’s always the chance a big cobia might be cruising in the area. Anyway, I got a few, up to 21″, and lost some bigger ones.
 

Of course, all eyes are on the Gulf, as the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon continues to grow. I certainly hope St Pete Beach isn’t affected, but I’m not optimistic at this point. If, as predicted, it takes 90 days to stop the flow, we’ll be smack in the middle of hurricane season. Oil and water don’t mix; but… oil, water & hurricanes?

After the most brutal winter on record, Spring fishing on Florida’s Gulf coast is at last heating up. Bait schools are working north, with greenbacks and scaled sardines moving through the passes and frequenting the docks and piers. With the bait come the predators. Ladyfish, jacks, mackerel, flounder and even early sharks are now making an appearance in Pinellas County.

This weekend, the macks showed up with a vengeance at Merry Pier in South St. Petersburg Beach. Freelining live bait and casting flashy lures resulted in an almost sure hook up (or cut off) every cast. Most fish were running small, but there were plenty of 15″ and larger fish mixed in.
 

There are still a few sheepshead lurking around the pilings, but after a slow start to the year, looks like they’re headed off the beach to spawn. Meanwhile, everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mangrove snapper.