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Gone
fishing Capt. Larry Blue |
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10/02/2007 |
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Fishing Archives |
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Mid-
October usually starts our king mackerel season around Tampa Bay
and |
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Pinellas County . There is no official beginning of the season,
but by the 15th we |
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should
see several kingfish coming in on the boats that try their luck
for this fish. |
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Trolling normally accounts for the most king mackerel caught in
a day of fishing. |
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Medium
to large spoons of about 4 to 6 inches are the most common in
use for the |
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kings.
The largest king mackerel caught while using spoons on my boat
weighed |
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over
37 pounds. That particular king was caught on a 3 inch spoon
normally used |
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for
the king’s smaller cousin, Spanish mackerel. The largest king
caught on my boat |
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was
well over 55 pounds. |
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There are times when you can boat as many kingfish as your arms
care to reel |
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in. It
isn’t unusual to catch 100 king mackerel or more, when the
schools are in the |
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area.
It is a simple matter of finding the shoals of baitfish and the
kings will be nearby |
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King
mackerel feed on a variety of baitfish including Spanish
mackerel and their own |
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kind.
For that reason, if you catch big king mackerel there is a good
chance that you |
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won’t
catch any smaller ones. |
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Trolling
for kings is an easy proposition. Drop the lure in the water and
put |
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the
boat in gear and you are trolling. Of course, there is more to
it than that, but you |
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get
the idea. When the king strikes the lure he will often strip off
several yards of line, |
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and a
really big king can nearly strip the reel of all the
monofilament line in just a few |
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moments. It takes time to play the fish back to the boat. But
don’t take too long for a |
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big
barracuda might think that the king is meant for his dinner. Get
the fish in the boat |
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and
afterwards we can talk about how much fun it was to catch it. |
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Spanish
mackerel can be found closer to the beach now. Watch for the
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diving
seabirds when you leave the pass. The mackerel will be right
under the birds |
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feeding on the same bait schools. The sound of the seabirds
diving is said to attract |
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the
mackerel to the commotion. They know that the birds are feeding
and they should |
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do the
same. Again, trolling is an effective way to catch them. Or, you
can net some |
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of the
baitfish and use lighter tackle to have some fun. Kids love
catching this fish and |
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it’s a
great way to teach them the joy of angling. |
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Good luck and good fishing, Capt.
Larry |
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Copyright 2007 CLB |
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Capt. Larry Blue is
USCG
licensed full time charter boat operator and guide, |
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departing from The Kingfish Dock,
at “Gators on the Pass”, in
Johns
Pass - |
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Treasure Island . He is a member
of; The Maritime Consortium, The Florida |
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League of Anglers and The
Florida
Outdoors Writers Assn. For charter |
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information call:
727-397-3773
or 727-871-1058
cell |
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