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Captain's Corner: Lots of spots producing

 
Published April 16, 2012

Red grouper: The season has been steady for the past few weeks. All the spots we have fished have had decent numbers. Some stops have been awesome, producing numerous keepers; other spots have produced only a few. Closely monitoring the bottom machine at slow speeds has helped us find awesome spots. Each day we find a new spot holding fish. Some traditional spots are holding fish and some are not. This tells me fish locations could change in the next few weeks. At the end of the day we have been rewarded with at least 15 keeper-sized reds.

Tackle and locations: A 6- to 8-ounce sinker is ideal for grouper digging at these depths. We have found them in large areas of limestone rock. Keeper grouper are congregating along the edges of the rock and sand, and better numbers of keeper-sized red grouper are being taken at 70 feet and deeper.

Other species of interest: Numerous sailfish have been hooked in depths of 30 to 40 feet lately. This is quite common during April. Along with scattered reports of sailfish, are blackfin tunas, with the best numbers being caught in 100 feet of water. We caught a few in shallower depths of 40 feet while slow trolling for kings. Even tarpon have been stealing the show for anglers kingfishing closer to shore. This next two months will be interesting, since earlier migrations of many fish have merged with the normal migrations of others. This has produced some outrageous action. Bottom line: you never know what's going to take your baited hook at this time.

Dave Mistretta captains the Jaws Too out of Indian Rocks Beach. Call (727) 439-2628 or visit jawstoo.com.