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Post by seedoc on Apr 18, 2023 11:09:20 GMT -5
Hi Guys and particularly Mackerelman,
Going to try SSP tomorrow morning 1st time this year as I have been wadding for trout with good success. Posts seem to indicate catch has been poor to nil. Lots of mackerel in Terra Ceia bay and west Tampa Bay last week. Any at the pier? If you suspect that I will waste my time, I will cancel. Thanks
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Post by inoeatfish on Apr 18, 2023 12:41:23 GMT -5
Love to hear your report if you end up at SSP.
Where can you fish for macs in the Terra Ceia Bay? Is there a pier, bridge, jetty, etc where you can stand? I’ve never fished there before.
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Post by fishsci on Apr 18, 2023 21:22:29 GMT -5
Terra Ceia Bay is known to be a great spot for seatrout and snook. There sometimes are mackerel in good numbers around the reefs/sink holes just outside to the NE of the mouth of the bay. However I too would like to know of any place to fish for macks inside the bay and where you don't need a boat to fish for them.
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Post by inoeatfish on Apr 19, 2023 17:02:28 GMT -5
Looking at google earth, there seems to be a little pier near Blackstone Park. It looks public access but not sure if the pier is private.
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Post by fishsci on Apr 20, 2023 21:34:15 GMT -5
From what I have been told by a fellow who has fished there, that pier is private, and he only gets to fish therroe because he does work for the residents that own the pier. I would love to find out that I am wrong ...so I can fish there.
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Post by seedoc on Apr 21, 2023 17:03:16 GMT -5
Terra Ceia Bay is known to be a great spot for seatrout and snook. There sometimes are mackerel in good numbers around the reefs/sink holes just outside to the NE of the mouth of the bay. However I too would like to know of any place to fish for macks inside the bay and where you don't need a boat to fish for them. fishsci I is correct. Most mackerel are away from the shore so you require a boat or kayak off Anna Marie island and areas at the mouth of the bay are good for mackerel. You can fish the bay and Manatee river from Emerson point. btw no luck at the pier😔 |
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Post by kevinsensei on Apr 25, 2023 19:05:50 GMT -5
I was at SSP from 7 am - 8 pm the other day, basically sunrise to sunset. Was able to get a cast net full of greenbacks upon arrival and started fishing for some macks. I started out with 6' of 40# fluoro leader on a popping cork. They weren't biting but would occasionally swipe at some random greenbacks I tossed in the water as chum. I dropped down to 20# fluoro leader and started getting some bites. The water wasn't particularly clear, but they still wouldn't come anywhere near the 40# fluoro. Anyway, I managed to catch 5 but lost about 5-7 more from cutoffs due to the lighter leader. I tried mixing it up occasionally with lures but live bait was the only thing even remotely working. I was just south of the bait shop and didn't see anyone else catch much of anything. Slack tides were especially dead.
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Post by fishsci on Apr 25, 2023 21:33:07 GMT -5
I was at SSP from 7 am - 8 pm the other day, basically sunrise to sunset. Was able to get a cast net full of greenbacks upon arrival and started fishing for some macks. I started out with 6' of 40# fluoro leader on a popping cork. They weren't biting but would occasionally swipe at some random greenbacks I tossed in the water as chum. I dropped down to 20# fluoro leader and started getting some bites. The water wasn't particularly clear, but they still wouldn't come anywhere near the 40# fluoro. Anyway, I managed to catch 5 but lost about 5-7 more from cutoffs due to the lighter leader. I tried mixing it up occasionally with lures but live bait was the only thing even remotely working. I was just south of the bait shop and didn't see anyone else catch much of anything. Slack tides were especially dead. Thanks for the report. More reports are needed. In return for your report, here is a suggestion: First of all a 6-ft 40# leader is way over-kill for macks. Even 6-ft of 20# is too much. A long leader like that gives the fish a chance to notice the leader. There is no need for more than a few inches of bite leader. There is a trade-off between really short and having the leader to line knot too close to the bait/lure such that the fish might see the knot. Sometimes, when mackerel seem to be very leader shy, they can be caught reliably, with some, but not all cut-offs by simply tying a long-shank hook directly to your mono (8-10#) fishing line. A step up from there is to make a very short (e.g. 2 inches) leader out of #2 bronze leader wire (no swivel...just tie to the wire loop with a knot that goes around the wire loop 2 x). The bronze leader wire seems to work better than the bright leader wire, maybe because the mackerel see the flash of the bright wire. |
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Post by inoeatfish on Apr 25, 2023 21:57:31 GMT -5
Did you try free lining with a small split shot?
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Post by carlf on Apr 26, 2023 6:31:15 GMT -5
I use 40 or 50# mono leaders, 6-8" in length with a loop on the upper end, no swivel. Split shot if needed, sometimes a cork.
Bright wire is a recipe for cutoffs, use the bronze, as short as you can.
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Post by tears143 on Apr 26, 2023 20:04:36 GMT -5
I was at SSP from 7 am - 8 pm the other day, basically sunrise to sunset. Was able to get a cast net full of greenbacks upon arrival and started fishing for some macks. I started out with 6' of 40# fluoro leader on a popping cork. They weren't biting but would occasionally swipe at some random greenbacks I tossed in the water as chum. I dropped down to 20# fluoro leader and started getting some bites. The water wasn't particularly clear, but they still wouldn't come anywhere near the 40# fluoro. Anyway, I managed to catch 5 but lost about 5-7 more from cutoffs due to the lighter leader. I tried mixing it up occasionally with lures but live bait was the only thing even remotely working. I was just south of the bait shop and didn't see anyone else catch much of anything. Slack tides were especially dead. Thanks for the report. More reports are needed. In return for your report, here is a suggestion: First of all a 6-ft 40# leader is way over-kill for macks. Even 6-ft of 20# is too much. A long leader like that gives the fish a chance to notice the leader. There is no need for more than a few inches of bite leader. There is a trade-off between really short and having the leader to line knot too close to the bait/lure such that the fish might see the knot. Sometimes, when mackerel seem to be very leader shy, they can be caught reliably, with some, but not all cut-offs by simply tying a long-shank hook directly to your mono (8-10#) fishing line. A step up from there is to make a very short (e.g. 2 inches) leader out of #2 bronze leader wire (no swivel...just tie to the wire loop with a knot that goes around the wire loop 2 x). The bronze leader wire seems to work better than the bright leader wire, maybe because the mackerel see the flash of the bright wire. Pretty sure u misunderstand him. In this case the leader is mono or fluro not wire as I think you were thinking. |
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Post by fishsci on Apr 27, 2023 10:56:59 GMT -5
I fished Wednesday (2:30 - 7:30 PM). at both the N and S Piers for mackerel. I started at the N pier, had no hits or passes on my jig. I was told that one mackerel had been caught by a guy casting a spoon/sinker rig around the middle of the pier on the east side while the tide wbas coming in around 2:30. I fished at the N pier for about half an hour, with no hits or passes, and seeing nobody else catch anything. I then went over to the S pier, and fished the beginning, middle and far end and back to beginning until the tide changed around 5:00. I then went back to the N pier and fished at the widened area where the dumpsters are until around 7:30 where I caught just one barely keeper mackerel just before I had to leave. There was a lot of bait, mainly medium size thread herring (greenies) that were in big schools that ranged as far out as about a normal cast. Bait that far out, to me seems like a good indication that there are few predators, like mackerel, are around. Otherwise, the bait stays close to and under the pier for protection. Based on all of that, there seemed to be very few mackerel around either pier, even though the water and bait looked perfect.
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Post by fishfinderbill on Apr 28, 2023 7:02:31 GMT -5
After Fishsci's report, SSP should have a new motto, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here!" I used to invite people to fish with me. Not any more, unless they want to enjoy the beautiful weather!
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Post by Flatsrunner on Apr 28, 2023 9:34:40 GMT -5
As Tears and other experienced pier anglers have said here before, when the macks are not around in good numbers switch to different species such as snapper, sheephead. There still out there just not in great numbers.
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Post by seabird on Apr 28, 2023 11:02:25 GMT -5
After Fishsci's report, SSP should have a new motto, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here!" I used to invite people to fish with me. Not any more, unless they want to enjoy the beautiful weather! Noted that fishsci fished on a day with very low tidal flow. That definitely hurt. |
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Post by tears143 on Apr 28, 2023 20:12:55 GMT -5
After Fishsci's report, SSP should have a new motto, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here!" I used to invite people to fish with me. Not any more, unless they want to enjoy the beautiful weather! Noted that fishsci fished on a day with very low tidal flow. That definitely hurt. Meh. |
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Post by kevinsensei on May 3, 2023 20:59:46 GMT -5
Very slow today. Was there from 7 am to 3 pm, caught an 11" mangrove snapper and an 18" Spanish Mackerel. Lost maybe 2 more Spanish but that was it. All on greenbacks, which were in short supply as well. Caught the Spanish at around 10 I think and the snapper around noon. Was absolutely dead from noon to 3 so called it a day.
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Post by kevinsensei on Jun 12, 2023 19:10:27 GMT -5
Got back a couple of hours ago from the SSP. The only greenbacks I could net were the really big ones. Tried free lining and popper cork but nothing. Also tried cut greenbacks and the only thing eating those were pinfish. The SSP bait shop had live shrimp. Used some on a chicken rig and managed to get 4 keeper lane snapper (along with a bunch of pinfish), no mangos at all oddly enough.
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