Bonita Bust.
Greetings all. The incredible Bonita action we have enjoyed appears to have disappeared as fast as it appeared! Saturday and Sunday we scouted the surface for tell tell signs of birds working the bait pods with the Bonita crashing the surface and found only small Mackerel with small Jacks mixed in. Silver Clark spoons size 00 was our lure of choice and was often chased by several Mackerel. The Macks were small but like their big brothers will attack most anything. Sunday we had Sean and 7 year old Autumn from North Carolina on the boat. Both were real troopers as we moved frequently trying to get on the bite. Early afternoon we decided to make a run to Pinellas Point. Quickly Sean landed a nice size Ladyfish. I deployed a Pro Fish Chum bag and the fun began. Power Pro began screaming off the reel and I handed the rod to Sean. 15 minutes later with 200 yards of Power Pro off the reel we had to chase the fish down. As we got back almost all the line the fish still unseen ran again and again. I reached in and tightened the drag several times to no avail. Finally we got a glimpse and it was a huge Ray with a wind span of 4 to 5'. By now Sean was sweating and enjoying his mid afternoon workout. By now it was clear we were over matched, I took the rod and placed huge pressure on the fish in a do or die situation. Fish 1 Capt. Steven zero! It was a thrill for all onboard. This week we plan on getting back to night snook fishing and the Mangroves with these weeks stronger tides.
