This time of year with so much bait showing up in the bay area, it can only mean one thing. It’s Pelagic time. The Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Bonita and Cobia bites are all on fire right now. All these species burn a lot of energy and need a lot of food to stay on their migration into the northern gulf waters for the summer. Finding and fishing these large bait pods is the key to your success. The beaches, bridges, near shore reefs and inshore and offshore wrecks are great places to start your search. With King Mackerel and Bonita you will fair well using a light wire leader to reduce cut offs. The Spanish Mackerel tend to be very shy to wire leader so a long shank hook on a shot of 50lb flourocarbon works best. The Cobia bite has been better this spring than I have seen it in years. Cobia tend to be fairly opportunistic feeders so they can be caught on either live or artificial baits. They tend to hang around bridge pilings or channel markers and often can be sight fished.
Offshore, Grouper and Mangrove Snapper remain hot inside of 9 miles. Capt. Harry Connor reports Snapper up to 19 inches being caught on a regular basis. He also reports very steady Amberjack and Permit action inside of 22 miles.
Catch Capt. Michael Anderson and Capt. Billy Nobles every Saturday morning on News CH8 at 6:30am and Sundays at 11:00am for the Reel Animals Fishing Show and Saturdays for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00am to 9:00am and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the TA Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7am to 9am or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish.
