If you cannot upgrade your browser or use an alternative device to visit us, please contact us at +1-800-504-5897 and we'll be happy to assist you over the phone! Spanish mackerel swim like bullets and will often ignore a slow-moving lure. Be ready for some explosive topwater action. I would recommend you try grilling them or blackening them. Some of the best are the Mexico Beach Fishing Pier and the piers in Panama City Beach. Turn the handle just as fast as your pudgy paws will crank. Incoming or high seems to be the most productive time on the beach. They are known for their aggressive nature as well as having incredibly fast runs. The spoon will eventually rise to the surface and pop out of the water. Spanish are long, slender fish, silver in base color with their topsides a greenish-blue color and golden-yellow spots on their sides.
A short six or eight inches is plenty long—light steel leader is needed in most cases. Rock grass patches, sandy pot holes and flooded oyster bars all continue to be good places to prospect for inshore trout. What they lack in size, though, they make up in sheer numbers. There are still fish around to catch, but the catch per unit effort isn't too great right now. Any advice is appreciated, thanks. This can be hard, because Spanish mackerel have tender and easily-torn skin. Reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, simply return the item within 30 days of. Water conditions should be flat or a slight chop so the bluefish can locate and attack the surface plug. If you break the surface you can accidentally launch that lure back at yourself or others. The flats behind Little St. George and St. George are holding both trout and redfish. Enjoy our FREE RETURNS.
For any jig or spoon, you want to cast as far out as possible and sink to the bottom. Losing a game of "dodge" lightning is not good thing. Live or fake shrimp, minnows and even strips of squid will fool these hard-fighting yet tasty nomads. When the flesh turns opaque and firm, it's ready for the plate. Redfish continue to be the easier target since they are more tolerant of higher water temperatures and brackish conditions. To catch some just find a place where birds are feeding on bits of baitfish and it's a good bet Spanish mackerel are causing the frenzy.
Parting Words – Spanish Mackerel. This dark meat can give a strong flavor. Or just go with old faithful and fry them after dusting them in seasoned cornmeal. Freshwater heavier bass tackle can work, but a lot of bait casters do not have the line capacity and other reels don't handle the fast runs well either. I've caught many trolling but it's not that much fun. To provide a fast, secure, and enjoyable experience. Even beach anglers catch lots of them. Spanish can be prepared in just about any way, but there are a few things to do that help ensure best eating results. Drag it along pretty fast. They make fast runs that can strip a lot of line off your reel in the blink of an eye.
Web browser based cookies allow us to customize our site for you, save items in your cart, and provide you with a great experience when shopping OpticsPlanet. Grilled or broiled, they are a tasty treat from the sea. See below for more on other areas open to harvest. One of the best things about Spanish mackerel is where they can be found and caught. 0 Go to top Share this post Link to post Share on other sites. Fishing piers are exceptionally good places to catch them. If one lure were to be chosen to catch bluefish, it would also be a silver spoon. Gulf County bay scallop season opens Friday. So, how to tell the difference so we can let that baby king go and keep the trophy Spanish? The old-timers always said to start looking for Spanish Mackerel after the 3rd fog of March. Spanish like to eat any kind of lure that looks like a minnow and is moved through the water very fast. Even the thinnest wire can spook Spanish some days when the Gulf is especially clear. Contiguous 48 states, DC, and to all U. S. Military APO/FPO/DPO addresses. Moderate high tides thanks to the quarter moon phase will flood right around daylight before falling out by mid-afternoon.
If the fish in question is a Spanish, it will have a black or nearly black dorsal fin. Floating grass is still a problem, though, so use swim bait or worm hooks to conceal the hook point so the lure snakes through the floating salad. You can also fish for larger "ax handle" Spanish mackerel using live or dead bait. It is a plastic bubble that you filled with water or BBs, that you have on your main line above a swivel and leader. If not casting, get a live shrimp or live pinfish offering out there to entice a participant or two to join the fishing excursion.
So, usually a McDonald's straw, Maribou jig, or Clark spoon. Kristin Skipper at Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee (352-498-3008) sent photos of trout limits, slot and upper-slot redfish, cobia, and scallops. Spanish have very good eyesight, and they can get very leader-shy on some days. Rattles, chuggers (like a popping cork or cup-faced lures) and Pro-Cure Bait Gels added to plastic shrimp, shad tails or jigs often makes the difference. However, if we keep an undersized king, it could get very expensive if the Game and Fish folks check us at the dock.
Captain Pat McGriff of One More Cast Guide Service (, (850) 584-9145) reported: "Trout have been more cooperative this side of the dark stain, as I sent Jimmy Douglas down to waters below Yates and he managed a limit for he and his partner down from Homerville, Ga. last week using Assassins under Cajuns. Rods 7 1/2-feet long or more are fine, especially if you're going to be fishing from a pier, bridge or beach where you need to make long casts with relatively light lures. Not very good on a plate, they are targeted for one fight. Kings must be 24 inches long from nose to fork to be legally kept. This light metal skillet with holes in the bottom to let in heat and smoke keeps the tender fish from falling apart and dropping down into the grill fire as it is turned while cooking. It's almost a sure bet that in only a little while, that rapidly-retrieved lure will be intercepted by a toothy little killer with golden spots and a pirate's flag on top. The best thing you can do with a jack is to release it unharmed to grow bigger and meaner. Jack crevalle, jacks for short, are the "Gangstas of the flats. " For both coastal residents and visiting tourists, July is one of the very best months to catch some of these mini-rockets of the Gulf waters. Also, reels must be strong enough to handle fish that sometimes will run 30-40 yards.
Not only will the lure cast farther, it will rattle too. Spanish have very sharp teeth and will cut you off easily if you don't use a heavy or wire leader, but even with heavy monofilament or fluorocarbon leader, you will occasionally be cut off by those sharp teeth. If tarpon are your dream they are in the passes and along the beach. Spanish don't have a minimum length in Alabama waters, and anglers can keep fifteen of them. Fishing around the bridges with fiddler crabs or shrimp should produce nice sheepshead. Just about any place an angler can get to saltwater on the Alabama Coast, Spanish will be there.
Ongoing restoration efforts will continue through the season. I believe it's impossible to move a lure too fast for Spanish. Intense thunder storms in spots continue to dump large amounts of rain and the subsequent run-off into the bay is not helping the salinity levels at all. Spanish will take their share of lures and baits. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. You don't want to be caught by a game warden with a mess of short kings thinking you limited out on Spanish. There were some good tripletail reports this past week, although a few big ones managed to get away. I've seen a bluefish blitz or two and my wife actually caught a nice Mack in Buxton on our Honeymoon but I've been shut out from the surf. They are pretty to look at, loads of fun to catch, and very good on the table. In state water (up to 9 miles) Capt Jeremy Willoughby is catching cobia and kings using a flat line over live bottom with a Spanish sardine on it. JavaScript is blocked by AdBlocker or ScriptBlocker.