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Never-Ending Mack Attacks

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

There's no fish - ever - that you can go out and catch for sure. But for the past several years, Spanish mackerel have been edging closer to the sure-thing category along Florida's west coast. Thanks to years of protection from gill nets, as well as modest recreational limits, there are now more and bigger mackerel than at any time in the past 30 years.

The only thing that's missing is a generation of anglers dedicated to catching them.

There was a time when the fish showed up only in spring and fall, following the annual baitfish migrations. But the arrival of those migrations put hundreds of boats on the water as everybody went out to enjoy the bonanza of Spanish mixed with kingfish.

These days, there's good to great mackerel fishing during just about every month, with exceptions possible for a few weeks in January and February if we get some serious cold fronts. But all the anglers who used to chase the short but intense mackerel runs have moved on to other species. Snook, redfish and tarpon are all better these days, too, thanks to good management and much-improved angling know-how, so many anglers chase those species and ignore the easier-to-catch Spanish.

But for kids, casual anglers and beginners, there's nothing more exciting than dropping a hook in front of a school of leaping macks.

Hitting Your Limit

The fish now average at least 3 pounds. They hit with amazing power, and on light tackle they run like baby wahoo, screaming deep into the line spool in seconds. And on many days, it's no problem to catch the legal limit of 15 - more than practically any other saltwater species that has a bag limit. In fact, with plenty of chum and live bait, on many days it's no problem to catch and release 50.

What other game species can you say that about these days?

The techniques that work today are the same that worked decades ago. Basically, get out at dawn and look for diving birds, typically anywhere from the edge of the deep grass, around 6 feet deep, on out through the main ship channel. The bait schools around the Sunshine Skyway are always a likely place to start, and every main-channel buoy and range marker has fish nearby.

You simply can troll a spoon or chrome vibrating lure near breaking fish, for starters. Pull the lures at about 6 mph (twice walking speed) to draw the most hits. Or, you can "cowboy" them; slide the boat almost into casting range and allow the wind or tide to carry you close enough to reach them with jigs or spoons. Big macks also readily slash topwater plugs worked very fast.

If you like a more casual approach - and especially if there are kids or beginners aboard - anchor the boat where you see fish breaking, put out a block of frozen chum, and wait for the slick to draw the fish to you. Live sardines, threadfins or shrimp can then be free-lined to get the bites.

This tactic works particularly well around the many spoil islands in Tampa Bay. These sand mounds, typically under 6 to 15 feet of water, rise up from the 20-foot average depths of the open bay and create feeding areas for the mackerel. They're shown on navigation charts, or you can see them in aerial views at www.maps.live.com.

Going Deep

Some of the largest mackerel show around the deeper grass areas, probably feeding on trout and ladyfish attracted to this habitat.

Captain Geoff Page of Sarasota catches macks to 7 pounds by tossing big chrome floater-diver plugs, then "ripping" them back to the boat with huge pulls on the rod, followed by rapid reeling to take up slack.

The best tackle for mackerel is light spinning gear with 10- to 15-pound test microfiber. Most anglers use a couple feet of 30- to 40-pound-test fluorocarbon leader for artificials, or No. 2 wire for live bait. The wire stops cutoffs, but also seems to slow bites somewhat with artificials.

Plastic-tailed jigs and swim baits do a great job of catching mackerel, but unfortunately the mackerel teeth do a great job of slicing the tails to ribbons, too. Some anglers avoid the problem by using bucktail or nylon-fiber jigs, which withstand the bites better. Whatever the jig, adding a tiny sliver of fresh-cut shrimp will double or triple the number of hookups on macks; they feed as much by scent as by sight.

Fresh mackerel on the grill is one of the better seafoods. Best bet is to fillet and skin, cut out the red line, trim away the small bones that run down the length of the fillet, then grill the remaining boneless strips in a wire basket, perhaps with a basting of mayonnaise or teriyaki.

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