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Captain's Corner: Winter fishing arriving, a little late

 
Published Nov. 24, 2015

I suppose it was inevitable we would eventually have cold fronts passing through and dropping water temperature. Until now anyway it hasn't dumped the Fahrenheit too low too fast to end our fall run of kingfishing. Fast moving fronts allow winds to quickly return to a normal easterly pattern. Two or three days of the easterly flow is all it takes to cleanse the near shore gulf waters and bunch the bait back up along the beach. We caught kingfish and mackerel right up to the beginning of this week's blow and I'm anticipating an extended season due to what appears to be a late arriving winter. It's been a tradition of ours to sneak out fishing Thanksgiving morning and get back before the turkey's done and the football games start. My fondest memories include the Clearwater hard bottom, the Blinds Pass drop and the "parking lot" about 5 miles off St. Pete Beach. As it gets colder, each year about this time, swarms of silver trout invade the gulf beaches. They can be caught two at a time on tandem rigged jigs. It's an opportunity to teach kids how to cast and learn to make a fake bait appear real. We've often done best on the hard bottom off Redington and Madeira beaches just outside the swim buoys.

Jay Mastry charters Jaybird out of St. Petersburg. Call (727) 321-2142.