And The Winner Is...

My Fishing Spot

Well, for those betting folks, the odds were strongly in favor of my heading south yesterday to find out about the fishing off Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers -- and I will probably go back again tomorrow in hopes of catching something more substantial.  In the meantime, there are two Blue Runners in the fridge waiting to be cooked tonight as the standing on the pier wore me out.  Think Tiger seemed happy to just see those two and glad they were still not bouncing around.

Since I didn't think the pier would be overrun with the multitudes of college kids on Spring Break, it made sense to wait for traffic to die down until after 9:30 and then head that direction.  Highway 19 to I-275 had some traffic and 19 seemed to be more congested of the two -- coming back, I stayed on 1-275 to exit 30 and it only took 25 minutes or so since there were no stoplights on I-275.


Zoomed in on Sunshine Skyway

I think I arrived around 10:30 at the north pier and it only cost five something to get in (with my Golden Pass) and the toll at the bridge only $1 -- the shrimp at the bait store cost about that much too ($4 a dozen).  Bait and tackle store is located near the end of the pier and I chose to come back near the restrooms to fish.

I fished off the west side of the bridge (as the current seemed to be flowing that way) and most people were already fshing on that side.  I had my large pole rigged with a float and 20 or 30 inches of monofilament with the bait and one little sinker below, while I probed the waters with my small rod.  Most people seemed to be fishing with bobbers or floats on their lines too.

Good Night Egret

I briefly went to the east side with my small rod and noticed lots of bait fish under the bridge and I started probing the waters under the schools of fish when a small boat approached with a family of four inside.  They approached the schools of fish and a man threw his casting net under the bridge twice and he caught hundreds of fish -- they offered me some so I dropped a bucket down and they filled it up halfway with little fish.  Since I only bought a dozen shrimp, this provided me enough bait to stay all afternoon and just past sunset.

During the time I fished, there were frequent visitors dropping by (usually the Pelicans, Pigeons, and White Egrets), some to talk and others to try getting their share of the free bait in the bucket (sometimes they were successful and I didn't mind as long it wasn't the shrimp).  I caught a Snapper or two, and a couple decent size Blue Runners (which I kept) -- fun to catch, with a Spot or two mixed in.  I had one really good hit just under the bridge but, whatever hit, bit right through the line above the 9 inch long hook -- bait and all had been taken.

When most of the daytime anglers left, I moved to the east side to continue fishing as the wind had come up and the current had changed in that direction.  I again had a huge hit on my small line and lost another rig so, I switched to a steel leader and hook but, failed to hook whatever it might have been.  I also had a decent hit on my large rig and thought I had hooked into something big but, it may have been a snag as I waited and gave slack to the line, pulling hard and alternately giving slack, it finally came loose -- maybe a giant Grouper had visited.

While fishing this side of the pier, a man and his son parked nearby and came to query me about the fishing and I told them what I knew (so little, of course).  He came from Seattle and his son (big strapping young guy) was here at the Yankee's training camp -- looked like a pitcher to me.  They didn't come to fish though, as the father had to head back to Seattle today.

Later, I took a break to watch the sunset (first one since getting here) but, again no "Green Flash", maybe because of the island there (Ft. DeSoto Park).  Shortly thereafter, I headed back to the RV park to check on Tiger and Molly.  Tomorrow may be another story.