Captain Smith's Fishing Report 4/08/06

Flats Lady Charters & Angler's Repair

Captain Thom Smith
Brandenton, Fl
941-795-6711
941-776-1187
tesmls@infionline.net

HERE'S THE LATEST GREAT NEWS FROM CAPT. THOM SMITH OF FLATS LADY CHARTERS & ANGLER'S REPAIR, Bradenton, Fl 941-795-6711 & 776-1187 e-mail <mailto:tesmls@infionline.net> tesmls@infionline.net

APRIL 8, 2006

KINGFISH ARE HERE AND FISHING IS GREAT! After our last front pushed through, dropping water temperatures 10 degrees, I thought it would take about two weeks to rebound, but after just a week, conditions were returning to normal. Bait schools made their way back onto the flats and the Kingfish and Spanish mackeral run continued to push up the coast. Right now, from Venice in the south, kingfish are being caught on a daily basis. Areas of action varies from inside Tampa Bay to just off the beach, to the reefs 7 to 15 miles out. Anglers I've talked to in my shop have been doing very good trolling deep diving lures by Yo-Zuri and the Mann's Stretch series to catch some smoker size Kingfish. One of my customers reported that he had caught a 60lb king on a Stretch 30 Lure. Kingfishing like any other type of fishing can be a hit or miss thing, but by looking for and targeting bait schools, bird activity over or around a hard bottom should up your chances of a hook-up.

If you're going to troll, try working the edges of the bait schools, never drive through the middle of the bait. If you do, it will probably break up the school and chase the preditor fish away. Right now, as I've mentioned, it seems the larger fish I'm hearing about are being caught trolling, but another effective way to target them is to anchor up, hang a chum bag overboard and also chum with pieces of whitebait to get their attention and bring the fish to you boat. I prefer the chumming method best for a couple of reasons. When you're anchored up, your not burning fuel and spending money, also you can use lighter tackle than you would use trolling. Heavy equipment would make it difficult to hang onto. With a medium sized rod and reel spooled up with at least 20lb test line, you can have fun with the fish, and not wear yourself out.

King mackeral and Spanish have very sharp teeth that can cut right through Mono, so you may have to rig with an extra-extra long shank hook to prevent cutoffs. If that doesn't work, a short piece of wire leader, either stainless pr tieable Tiger Leader will do the trick. Tie one end to your hook and the other end to a quality black ball bearing swivel that will be attached to the line from your rod. This type of action relies on water temperature, so if you want to get in on it, you need to get out before the water temps rise and they continue their migration up the coast. It's great that we are seeing this type of activity, but there's also other things going on. Snook and redfish have been fairly active and right now is probably one of the best times to catch a keeper size snook. The fish are on the move and looking for something to eat. Smaller ones are mixed in with the larger fish, so alot of times. you have to deal with smaller more aggressive fish, before you hook into a bigger one, but that's the way it goes.

Redfish have been a little more difficult, especially the larger fish and it seems like the little ones, the 15" to 19" are more likely to be the ones you catch. The bait situation has improved greatly and the traditional spots like the Skyway Piers, the Bulkhead and Key Royale areas are the places to look. Tarpon have begun to show, not so much at the Skyway where they normally take advantage of the huge food source, but places like the Longboat Pass Bridge and some of the Passes down in Sarasota Bay have been active, especially at night. In other words, "Fishing is Great".

GOOD FISHING, CAPT. THOM SMITH OF FLATS LADY CHARTERS AND ANGLER'S REPAIR. 941-795-6711 & 776-1187. ALSO, JOIN ME EVERY THURSDAY EVENING FROM 6-7PM ON 1490AM RADIO FOR "ON THE WATER WITH CAPT. THOM". 941-745-1490 AND ALSO ON THE INTERNET AT: <http://www.1490wwpr.com> www.1490wwpr.com and <http://www.fishorshutup.com> www.fishorshutup.com CALL US WITH YOUR REPORT OR QUESTIONS.