By Brent Gaskill, Times Correspondent
Friday, May 6, 2011
Transition: Two of the bay area's favorite species are available in good numbers. Kingfish and tarpon are migrating through our waters and can often be found close to each other, seeking the same food source. Large concentrations of threadfin herring provide easy meals for kingfish as they depart for the north and for tarpon as they arrive from the south.
Kingfish: As water temperatures continue to increase, kings tend to move out to deeper water. The outer buoys of the shipping channel and the mid-depth reefs are good areas to concentrate efforts. Threadfins always make a good bait choice, but using a sabiki rig to catch Spanish sardines, cigar minnows or blue runners will match what the fish are focusing on.
Tarpon: Tarpon usually arrive from their journey hungry and eager to feed. They can be found by their surface rolling behavior as they move down the beaches or hang at ambush points such as bridge pilings. Threadfins again are a good bait choice, but don't overlook pinfish, scaled sardines or crabs, all of which can be productive offerings.
Brent Gaskill runs Summer Vacation Charters out of the St. Petersburg area and can be reached at captbrent@summervacationcharters.com or (727)510-1009.