The month of April gave anglers aboard the Flat Back II some varied action with a variety of species.  Snook, trout, redfish, flounder, Spanish mackerel, bonito, jacks, ladyfish, bluefish, and silver trout were caught and released.  Some days the action was hot.  By far, the days with the most action were on those days when the Spanish mackerel moved in to lower Tampa Bay near the Skyway Fishing Piers.  Ladyfish, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel herded schools of small baitfish like bay anchovies (a.k.a. glass minnows), threadfin herring (a.k.a. greenbacks), and scaled sardines (a.k.a. whitebait or pilchards) into tight masses before closing in for the attack.  Slashing through the schools of baitfish, these voracious fish gorged themselves on anything in their paths.  It was nothing for anglers to pitch just about any kind of spoon or jig into the melee and catch fish.  The only way we could get these fish to eat was to throw artificial baits that closely matched the size and profiles of the baitfish the macks, blues, and ladies were feeding on.  I had some quarter-ounce jig heads with long shanks that worked well in helping keep from getting bitten off at every cast.  The fish seemed to refuse most of the jigs and spoons with wire leader traces.  So I upped my mono leader to 30-pound test but still got cut off.  When I went up to 40, the fish seemed to refuse again, so I switched to 30-pound Ande fluorocarbon, and the problem was solved.  Fluorocarbon is more abrasion-resistant and invisible in the water, but also more expensive.  But at times it is the edge that will either make or break the day in the case of ultra clear conditions.

     For the fly anglers, glass minnow patterns produced the most fish out there, and while we lost a lot of flies to cut-offs, we were able to minimize that with some of the flies I tied on long shank hooks.  I found a material that looks like a pipe cleaner but sparkles like crystal flash that I’ve been tying to the back of the long shank hooks, and it’s been not only productive, but quite durable.  I’ll tie it on with green thread, adding a few strands of pearl or green flash on the back.  I’m using about 1-to 2-inches of the material on the hook, and I call my creation Markham’s Mack Daddy Minnow.  We caught Spanish up to 4-pounds on the fly.  A fast strip on this fly works best.  I’ll throw a #8 floating SA Mastery Series Bonefish Taper line with surface breaking fish, and an intermediate sinking line when the fish are down.  For those fish, I’ll also use a fly with either lead or bead chain eyes to help get the fly down to the fish.

     Snook fishing has been pretty good.  Sure there were days when tides moved but snook didn’t budge off their spots to chase down a bait.  One such day was with Joe Scottie and Marvin Miller of Sarasota.  It was a couple of days beyond the full moon, and there should have been a pretty decent bite, but all we caught on the 4-hour trip were a half-dozen trout, including one 3-pounder, and two snook.  We saw dozens of reds and snook, but they seemed to ignore everything we threw at them.  That’s where the phrase, “That’s why they call it fishing and not catching.”  They don’t bite all the time, and we might have hit them on their down time.  On the whole, anglers averaged 4-to 6 snook, and some caught as many as 15-to 20 on a single trip.

     Snook season wraps up tonight, April 30 for the summer.  But some of the best snook fishing days are still ahead, once the fish get into their summer spawning mode.  While these fish survive catch-and-release fishing quite well when properly fought and released, targeting the larger females around full and new moons could disrupt their ability to have a successful drop in eggs if a fish is stressed.  To minimize that stress, land the fish promptly on adequate strength line.  Leave the fish in the water if possible and use a good release tool to remove hooks.

     Next up…tarpon!  ‘Til then…catch ya later!

Capt. Ray Markham

(941) 723-2655

E-mail: flatback@tampabay.rr.com

Photo Caption:  Markham's Mack Daddy Minnow

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