Today is Last Chance for Keeping Speckled Trout

What's hot: A drop in water and air temperature marks a period when targeting speckled trout becomes easy. It also marks a time when the harvest of this species closes in the South Region. At midnight, speckled trout must be released if you are fishing south of the Pinellas/Pasco county line. The species reopens for harvest Jan. 1.

Tackle: Medium light spinning tackle, light leader line and an assortment of lures are all you need. Bending down the barbs of your hooks makes releasing these fish unharmed easier. A dehooking tool will allow you to get the lures out of the fish while leaving the trout in the water.

Techniques: Speckled trout will be on deeper grass beds, in sandy holes in the middle of grass beds and at the mouths of creeks and rivers. Select a time when there is good current flow. Low light conditions remain a good option, early or late. Make long casts and move your lures at a steady or slow speed, keeping it near the bottom.

Neil Taylor charters kayak fishing trips in the Tampa Bay area and can be reached at (727) 692-6345.

Early Bird Catches the Fish

What's hot: Inshore action continues to be good in the North Pinellas area. When the winds are moderate or from the east, we have started each morning in the gulf catching big Spanish mackerel and schoolie kings on light tackle and live bait.

Morning run: When the nearshore water is clean, these migratory fish have been tearing up bait pods just offshore from daybreak until about 11 a.m. Most are within a mile of the beach, but some days they are a little farther out. For the kings, we have been chumming with live sardines. Once you get them going, casting with flats fishing tackle or fly-fishing gear gets you the most sport from the kings.

Afternoon bite: As the beach bite slows, we have been moving back to the flats for snook and redfish. Small to medium snook have been on a tear under the mangroves at high tide. Most have been under the slot size but are fun to pull from beneath the limbs. The arrival of huge breeder fish that typically live out in the open gulf is key for going after redfish. There has been at least one herd of 20-pound reds moving around the Palm Harbor-Tarpon Springs area. Once located, they usually gobble up any baitfish or lure in sight. Further north, there have been numerous reports of giant black drum, which bear a strong resemblance to big redfish when in the water. One way to tell the difference is by their reaction to your bait. If they do not bite a sardine or pinfish, they are usually black drum. Switching to a half blue crab or shrimp is the best way to draw a strike.

--Ed Walker

Mackerel and Kingfish

What's hot: Live bait skills were tested last week when a half-dozen Spanish mackerel and two nice-sized kingfish were hooked and landed a half-mile from the beach. A large number of stone crab-lines required maneuvering in and around the crab buoys. With the strong east winds, the bait was tucked in close to the beach, and so were the mackerel. Pelicans and mackerel birds located the bait, which was caught using gold-hook rigs. It was then slow-trolled. Most were medium-sized threadfins, just right for the mackerel. The Egmont Channel, our nearshore reefs and most of the shipwrecks out to 80 feet are holding good numbers of kings and some nice cobia, one of which was caught close to the beach on a dead piece of frozen sardine.

Strategy: For big kings, it's light tackle and big baits. Large ladyfish, bluerunners and threadfins are great baits. Thirty-pounders are usually caught near structure near the beach and are loners. Chum bags are essential. Slow troll less than 1 knot 30-pound wire, with No.1 live bait hooks and Nos.4 and 6 size treble hooks the norm. High-speed retrieval reels with a 6-to-1 ratio work best.

Tip: Leave your other live baits in the water and continue to fish while fighting the hooked king.

Larry "Huffy" Hoffman charters out of John's Pass, Treasure Island and can be reached at huffyl@tampabay.rr.com or (727) 709-9396.

Biking the Trail

If you want to ride from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg you will need three things: a Pinellas Trail map, a pocketful of change for ice cream and soda, and most important, a comfortable bicycle seat.

It will take eight to 12 hours to cover the 34 miles of paved roadway, depending on your level of physical fitness. The trail crosses a variety of terrain - from the floodplains of the Anclote River to the hustle and bustle of the Tyrone Square Mall area - and through the communities of Tarpon Springs, Crystal Beach, Palm Harbor/Ozona, Dunedin, Clearwater, Largo, Seminole and St. Petersburg.

You will find plenty of amenities, including bike racks, water fountains, bathrooms and bike shops. A citizen support group, Pinellas Trails Inc., publishes a Guide to the Pinellas Trail, a pocket-sized flip-chart map, which will prove as indispensable as a spare inner tube.

The free trail map is available at most libraries, county offices and on the Internet at www.pinellascounty.org/trailgd/default.htm.

--Terry Tomalin

Spanish Mackerel Still Biting

The lack of severe cold fronts has contributed to the continued great Spanish mackerel fishing the past couple of weeks. Baitfish are concentrated on the nearshore artificial reefs such as Treasure Island and Madeira Beach. The midwater reefs such as South County, Indian Shores and Rube Allyn are not holding the quantities of bait and fish we expect this time of year. One or two cold fronts with their strong winds will help reduce the water temperature and concentrate the mackerel and kingfish on the deeper reefs. Bottom fishing continues to improve with concentrations of gag grouper, triggerfish, mangrove snapper and white grunts moving onto ledges and rock piles at 45-65 feet. Live baits are the key to catching some of the larger gags once the bite has been started by frozen squid and sardines.

Tip: On a calm day it is easy to overrun the depth the fish are in, wasting valuable time traveling. Capmel.com, floridasportsman.com and spearboard.com can help determine the depth they are holding in.

Dave Zalewski charters the Lucky Too out of Madeira Beach and can be reached at Luckytoo2@aol.com or 727 397-8815.

Gamefish status for redfish

Sportfishermen are applauding a recent executive order by U.S. President George W. Bush giving gamefish status to red drum and striped bass. Here in Florida, there is no commercial fishery for either species, but this symbolic gesture, is still being hailed as a victory for the recreational fishery.

In the Gulf of Mexico, only one state – Mississippi – still allows the commercial harvest of redfish. Last year, that state’s commercial fishermen landed 22,192 pounds of the highly prized sportfish, according to a spokeswoman for the National marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency responsible for managing the country’s saltwater fisheries. In the Atlantic, the bulk of the commercial redfish harvest occurs in North Carolina, where fishermen landed more than 168,000 pounds last year, roughly 98 percent of the total catch. Virginia, the only other Atlantic seaboard state with a commercial redfish industry, accounted for two percent of the catch.

In Florida, the striped bass fishery is minor compared to the state’s recreational red drum fishery. The redfish, with its trademark tail spot, became the symbol for the state’s first great angler-led conservation victory in the mid 1980s.In 1988, the Florida Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association fought to ban the commercial sale of redfish and give the sportfish gamefish status. Red drum was the first finfish taken off the commercial market since snook was awarded gamefish status in the late 1950s.But while Florida has led the fight in fisheries management, many states still maintain the status quo, bowing to industry interests instead of pushing conservation measures that would benefit both the commercial and recreational sectors.

But the Presidents Executive Order establishing gamefish status for both red drum and striped bass encourages these backward states to join the 21^st Century and begin protecting the stocks for future generations.Bush signed his Executive Order at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Industry in St. Michaels, Maryland, an area long known for its strong commercial fishery industry. It is no accident that no industry representatives were there to watch this historic event. Instead, seven members of the sportfishing community, including representatives from industry heavyweights G. Loomis, Shimano and Lowrance, were there to show support.Perhaps times really are a changin’.

Terry Tomalin

Check It Out

You ever thought you had a big fish only to be disappointed when it turned out to a big piece of coral? Or a catfish? Check out this list of the 10 weirdest things caught by fishermen, and maybe you won't feel so bad.

http://www.anglingmasters.com/10-strangest-things-caught-fishing.asp

--Rodney Page

Full Moon, Full Fishing

Harvest moon: Full moon tides this week will bring high water for long durations to the flats in the late morning, holding until the early afternoon. This on top of an approaching cold front and southerly winds should make for some great fishing along the mangrove shorelines.

The best shorelines will have deeper water right at the mangrove edges and the addition of small rocks and oyster bars will give you the best shot at locating redfish and snook that have moved into the bushes to feed. Take time to check all the points, coves and places where there are noticeable obstructions protruding from the main shore.

Choosing bait: The bait of choice is live whitebait free-lined right at the edge of the mangroves. I like to have one under a float, which will hold it in the strike zone long enough to get some attention.

Tactics: Take your time and be prepared to move a lot as the unseasonably warm temperatures have had the fish scattered. Move along the shoreline slowly with your trolling motor and check every productive-looking spot by putting a couple of baits in the zone. The idea of slipping along until you see the fish is not good for this type of fishing.

--Troy Sapp

Weather Schmeather

What's hot: Unseasonably warm weather has not stopped the fall migration of many fish. The first push of kingfish arrived a few days ago, and they have ravaged everything in their path. The fish were scattered at depths from 20 to 80 feet, with some real bruisers in the mix. It's hard to pinpoint all the action because their location changes every day. Large groups never settle in one area for long. One day there are no fish, the next day kings are everywhere, eating everything in sight.

Bait: Spanish mackerel have invaded with a fury. Thousands can be seen jumping out of the water for as far as the eye can see. Most fish are interested in small baits, so fill the live wells.

A few tarpon refuse to leave the beaches until all the tiny whitebait schools have been gobbled up. Monitor sonar for schooled baitfish - that's where most bites occur. Or search for giant mud boils. Large tarpon gulping mouthfuls of frantic bait equals coffee-colored water from the silt on the bottom.

A good amount of gag grouper have pushed inshore. Action has been modest but will improve after the next cold front passes. Meteorologists predict cooler conditions by next week.

--Dave Mistretta

Trout are About

What's hot: Sea trout are finally back to normal in the Skyway area. Red Tide from two years ago made it extremely difficult to target trout, and last year I still didn't think about fishing for them. Several of my charters last week had a blast targeting sea trout after overcast days made it difficult to locate schools of redfish.

Bait: Free-lined whitebaits on a Size 1 J hook are hard to beat. The abundance of bait on every grass flat is unbelievable. Use a smaller mesh cast net. Employ a red quarter-ounce jig rigged with a swimming mullet imitation tail. Use Super Glue to attach the tail to the jig to keep it from flying off when a trout surfaces shaking its head. My favorite colors are white, chartreuse and motor oil.

Tactics: I look for deep grass flats then start a drift on the edge upwind. The drift allows me to throw with the wind and make a long cast away from the boat. I keep a steady retrieve, reeling in line to keep up with the slack, so I can feel the strike. Trout are aggressive and eat just about anything. A sea anchor can be an important tool. It slows my drift so I can work as much area as possible. If you have a successful drift, use your GPS track to set up the next drift.

Rob Gorta charters out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at captainrobgorta.com or (727) 647-7606.