Spring Fever= Opportunity fishing - Posted: 04/02/12
Well Spring has sprung on the Forgotten Coast, the water temps have reached the magic low to mid 70's. Spanish mackerel are running strong and the number of large fish being caught this early is encouraging for what we will see this Summer. King's are also showing up, large fish running in pairs or solo are our target while we are Cobia fishing. I'm trolling a red Rapala magnum plug on my long rig that digs down 10-15 ft at 4-5 kts, and 2 "spanish specials" short behind the boat. The traditional spanish tree catches more fish, but a single Clark spoon trolled 18 inches behind a 1 oz trolling weight is the ticket for bigger Spanish mackerels. Our 4 hour trolling trips are a great way to sample all the mackerel cousins...
Bottom fishing for sport, not dinner, is the hottest thing going right now since snapper season opens June 1st. The Red snappers are thick around nearshore artificial reefs, and catching 25-30 snappers over 10 lbs is just plain FUN!! It is also a great way to attract the attention of any Cobia close by...we are keeping a bucktail jig on a long rod plus a live bait rod rigged with a blue crab ready in case the curious Mr Ling comes to see what the fuss is....the 3 largest Cobia we caught last year were while we were bottom fishing and releasing Red snapper. A 6 hour trip gives plenty of time to get to the best bottom spots to catch Red snappers up to mid 20 lbs, it makes a great picture to send your Facebook friends, and a challenge to your fishing skills on my light spinning tackle.
