Kingfish
Posts: 1201
 
Location: Tampa Bay | Fishing before a front is hard to beat
By RAY MARKHAM
Posted November 24, 2009 by The Tampa Tribune
Changes in the weather can mean excellent fishing. While conditions make for good fishing, these conditions can also mean rough water. Knowing how your vessel handles and your capabilities at handling rough seas can mean the difference between having an excellent day of fishing or one with disastrous results.
Safety should always be your first concern, but for conditions you can handle, this week could prove to be one of the best fall fishing has to offer.
Water temperatures have been at a comfortable level for just about everything in our waters, and a multitude of species can be caught at this time. During the past week, snook, trout, redfish, flounder, cobia, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, gag and red grouper, black sea bass, jacks, ladyfish, kingfish and more have been caught in my “back yard.”
While I usually catch more fish on subsurface lures such as the CAL jig with a shad tail, topwater lures are my favorite to throw, and this might be the best time to fish these baits. Big walking baits that imitate finger mullet that are schooling in the bay are taking some of the largest snook of the year, as they feed heavily to pack on weight before winter begins moving in. Rapala Skitterwalks, Rapala Walk 13s, MirrOlure Top Dogs, MirrOlure She Dogs and Zara Spooks are among my favorites in the walking bait category.
Propeller baits are also extremely effective for a variety of fish. Using the new 10M MirrOprop from MirrOlure, we’ve caught snook, trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jack crevalle, ladyfish, mangrove snapper and even flounder on this surface lure.
There’s nothing like a surface-striking fish. And with these fronts moving in, there’s no better time to do it than now.
Ray Markham runs the Flat Back II out of Terra Ceia, and can be reached for charter at (941) 723-2655.
-----
Subscribe to our area fishing articles news feed |
Pre-Front Fishing The Best - Ray Markham | TBO
