Wednesday mornings -.05 tide left several boats aground! Winters low tides leave areas we have fished a month ago now high and dry. Use caution boating Tampa Bays flats or you are looking at a ruined day and very expensive tow.
We were back at my Top Secret (not) St. Petersburg Beach Mackerel & Kingfish location. Forget looking for the birds just look for the flotilla of boats. Jim and Dave struggled to get hit the first 15 minutes so I made a small move a couple hundred yards North. Bingo the rods went off with feisty Spanish Mackerel 2-3 pounds. With the cum bag at work the bluefish moved in with double hook ups common.
The boat next to us hooked a large Tarpon I will call 150 pounds and fought it for almost an hour. The Silver King jumped 10-15 times.
The bite slowed after an hour so we ran inside back to Tierra Verde. Fishing just off a grass flat in 8-10' of 69 degree water once again proved the winning tactic. Lines screamed again and again for over 2 hours. 40 pound leader with 2/0 long shank hooks with a tiny split shot weight kept our white baits in the target zone.
Captain Steven Markovich
www.onthemarkcharters.com
