Captain's Corner: Everything is hot

What's hot: The first push of kingfish made a strong showing in the past few days all along the shipping channel. From markers 9 and 10 all the way out to the Whistler Buoy, any channel marker that was holding baitfish also held schools of Spanish mackerel, kingfish, bonita, sharks and some cobia. Waiting to pounce on hooked mackerel and kingfish were pods of barracuda that could be seen in the clear water. Those willing to tear themselves away from the great trolling action found bottom fishing productive as shallow as 40 feet.

Tip: The recent early morning bite has been near the surface, and trolling with No. 1 planers, small-lipped, shallow-running gold plugs and ballyhoo has been effective. Midday it was necessary to switch to No. 2 and 3 planers to get to the depths where the fish were feeding.

Dave Zalewski charters out of Madeira Beach and can be reached at Luckytoo2@aol.com or (727) 397-8815.