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Fall Bait Migration Turns On Bite, Begins Pouring Into Tampa Bay

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2007

Like a river flowing through the sea, the fall baitfish migration is now pouring into the Tampa Bay area. It's a twice-annual event; bait that summers off the Panhandle passes our region headed south in October and November. They spend the winter off the Florida Keys, and then in March and April make the return trip north.

There's no quantifying their numbers, but suffice it to say that endless tons of bay anchovies, blue runners, threadfins, Spanish sardines, scaled sardines and many other bite-sized species stretch out over as much as a hundred miles of shore when the march is on. The southern tip of the migration may be off St. Petersburg, while the north end is still at Sea Horse Reef off Cedar Key.

With the moveable feast comes an army of predators: Spanish and king mackerel, bluefish, little tunny (locally known as bonito), cobia, jacks and ladyfish all chase the bait.

The baitfish typically show up anywhere from 10 miles off the beaches to well inside the major bays, including Tampa Bay and, a bit later, Charlotte Harbor.

The push is driven by a combination of water temperature and shorter days; even if the water stays warm, as it has so far this year, the movement begins, but the bait tends to linger so long as no cold fronts arrive. The triggering temperature, seasoned observers note, is 68 degrees; water temperatures above that may allow bait and gamefish to linger through Christmas, but if a front drives it lower, even in October, most of the fish move out.

The Gulf temperature is around 82 right now, and given the weather trends, it's likely to make a slow, pleasant descent through the 70s lasting until well past Thanksgiving, and providing excellent fishing for all that time.

Spanish mackerel are pretty much an automatic catch at present, both along the beaches and inside Tampa Bay at least as far as Port Manatee Channel. Bluefish, ladyfish and jacks often run with the macks, and Channel 8's 'Reel Animals' hosts Billy Nobles and Mike Anderson also have reported little tunny around the Skyway.

The little tunny or bonito are amazingly powerful fish, far stronger than any inshore species, and a 10-pounder easily can take 20 minutes to bring to the boat on typical 10-pound-test spinning gear. They look like miniature tuna with stripes. Unfortunately, they don't taste like tuna, at all; their meat is dark and bloody, and there is no recipe I've discovered that makes it edible.

Catching any of these tightly schooling species is mostly a matter of finding them attacking the bait - typically easy since a 'bird tornado' immediately forms over the fleeing minnows when they're driven to the surface. If you get close while the fish are still on top, pretty much any spoon, jig or live bait that lands in the boiling water will bring an instant hookup.

King mackerel, the most-admired of the migrators, often take a bit more finesse. While they occasionally go bonkers and boil bait at the surface just at dawn, it's much more common to find them schooled deeper. A few come inside the bay, but they're much more common from the Skyway westward, as well as off the beaches.

Most successful anglers find the kings either by trolling a 6-inch spoon on a number 2 planer, or towing a big diving lure like the Mann's Plus 25 over depths of 30 to 40 feet.

It's also effective to slow-troll large live baits like blue runners or ladyfish near the major inlets and along the edge of the shipping channel. Some anglers also do well by anchoring and chumming with both cut and live sardines or threadfins, while fly-lining live threads back in the slick.

Catching live bait is no problem at this time of year; simply keep some sabiki rigs ready, motor up to the baitfish schools and cast the rigs into the flashing masses. By the time the rig sinks to bottom, you'll have a half-dozen baits on the tiny hooks.

School kings typically weigh 7 to 10 pounds, but there are always some giants, 30 pounds and more, among the migrations. Most anglers opt for at least 20-pound rigs and a length of wire leader to handle the larger fish.

CLINIC: Tackle guru James Manley joins Captain Mel Berman of WFLA, 970 AM, for a fishing clinic Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Ferman Chevrolet, 9751 Adamo Drive in Brandon; (813) 623-2411.

WORKSHOP: The FFWCC will host a public workshop on spiny lobster season length, sport season, license fees, Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Ave. SE, St. Petersburg; (850) 487-0554.

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