Captain's Report - April 21, 2003
by Capt. Dave Mistretta
Live bait has been the ticket when kingfishing. Bait schools are abundant anywhere you look, allowing predators to be a bit picky. Once the sun rises their stomachs are full immediately, forcing us to change tactics. The extremely clear water conditions don't help either. Using ultra light equipment will get the best results. Number three wire (30 lb. test) is what seems to be getting their attention. Such light leader requires a bit of finesse once hooked, but the results have been great. We landed several kings in the thirty pound range by using this "light wired method". Arranging your schedule around the proper tides also helps. The kings seem to be more aggressive during the swiftest tidal movement.
All depths have been producing good numbers once adjusting to their picky appetites. Blue runners were great baits when food wasn't readily available a few weeks ago, but now the smaller baits like cigar minnows and sardines seem to be the ticket.
An abundance of sharks have made their presence for the past month attacking many angler's prized catches. Again, we've had many kingfish and amberjacks attacked by 6 to 8 foot bull sharks. The appetites of these cartilage fish don't seem to be picky, attacking just about any tired fish on the other end of a line. We started targeting the bulls after so many relentless attacks. This turned out to be some of the easiest fishing this month. Simply hook the remains of the mauled fish to some number six wire and a 7/0 hook, and hold on. Bulls are very strong and put up a tussle, sometimes even lunging out of the water trying to escape. We have released as many as ten sharks up to 200 hundred pounds since targeting them. A mixture of 100lb. blacktips and spinners are mixed in with the bulls, but don't count on nearly the tussle from these sharks. The bull shark is truly one of the fiercest fish in our gulf waters.
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