St. Petersburg • Clearwater 2009 - (Page 59) : GETTING TO THE FISH Don’t waste your time trying to find fish in foreign waters. Get a guide. The easiest and least expensive approach is on a party boat carrying anywhere from 15 to 50 anglers. Half-day trips in the Gulf usually target small reef fish, while full-day trips range farther afield in search of grouper and snapper. Sport-fishing charters usually only carry up to six anglers and are more expensive. But you get to the fishing grounds faster, the crew has more time for you and you have a shot at bigger fish. You can charter a boat for your party or walk the docks looking for partial charters who want to share a day’s fishing. Inshore guides usually limit themselves to two or three anglers. They roam the close-in waters looking for trout, redfish, snook, mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel. Their smaller boats are fast, nimble and give you access to all sorts of wildlife along the shore. : MY FAVORITE FIVE Sea Trout (Spotted Weakfish) Sea trout are plentiful inshore, where they’re usually caught in open water less than four feet deep. Live shrimp is like candy to a trout. They aren’t the toughest fighters, so light tackle offers the most fun. You can’t beat a fried trout filet for dinner. Snook This subtropical fish lurks around mangrove roots, pilings and other structures waiting for a hapless pinfish or shrimp to wander by. Bigger and more powerful than trout, snook can be challenging on light tackle since they tend to break lines against barnacle-encrusted pilings. It takes a strong rod and tough line to catch these guys. Redfish Redfish are nervous, making it hard to get close enough to cast to them. But if you latch onto a big one, you’ve got a fight on your hands. Hook one in open water, and you have a chance on light tackle. In and around pilings or other structure, odds are on the fish. King Mackerel King of the local offshore sport fishery, these gamesters put up a tremendous fight. If you get him alongside the boat, watch those teeth! His smaller cousin, Spanish mackerel, is sporty on light tackle and can be caught both inshore and offshore. Grouper These are the bruisers of the reef. Hook a big one, and you have only seconds to turn him before he’s into his cave, fins spread out, and you’re “rocked up. Then it becomes a battle of wills, a fight the fish ” usually wins. But if you’re victorious, a glorious dinner awaits. www.VisitStPeteClearwater.com 59 http://www.VisitStPeteClearwater.com
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