Advertisement

Captain's Corner: Thunderstorms scary but have upside for anglers

 
Published July 29, 2015

Perhaps the biggest concern for offshore anglers has been the recent thundershowers. There can be a lot of uneasiness when you find yourself running into the teeth of a dangerous storm. For that reason, many boats have remained tied safely to their moorings. When lightning strikes, you don't want to be on the receiving end. There's benefit from the rain and cloud cover; gulf water temperatures that were in the low 90s have dropped to the mid 80s. That temperature change might help provoke the fish into biting. We could also see an increase in the Spanish mackerel activity, which has been in short supply. Watch for tide lines formed where saltwater and freshwater meet. This might be especially obvious near where backwater passes exit into the gulf. The difference should be unmistakable between the darker dirty rainwater that clashes with cleaner gulf saltwater. Spanish mackerel might cruise along these lines searching for baitfish flushed out from the bays. Trolling a weaving pattern back and forth from dark water to clean water along that line might produce some mackerel.

Larry Blue charters the Niki Joe from Madeira Beach Marina. Call (727) 871-1058 or visit captainlarryblue.com.