Mack Attack !!!!!!

Report Date: March 24, 2008

Rod, Larry, and Russ Fair braved breezy conditions and were rewarded with over 20 Spanish Mackerel and Spotted SeaTrout.

WOW! What a month. Warm weather, little rain, and light winds have all created perfect conditions for tons of baitfish to start swarming many of the local flats, back bays, wrecks and reefs the Crystal River and Homosassa area has to offer. It is during this time of year when the inshore action around the Nature Coast can be the most fun and exciting. Every year when the annual migration of Threadfin Herring, Ballyhoo, and Pinfish return to the area you can almost count on the Spanish Mackerel, Speckled Trout, Cobia, and Shark all not to be too far behind.

Earlier in the month small pods of bait were spotted with few Spanish Mackerel and Speckled Trout hanging around them. Now with increasing water temperatures these small pods of bait have increase into swimming pool sized schools of bait and you cannot run by these schools of bait without seeing a Spanish Mackerel or Speckled Trout cutting right through them.

Gene Bachman is holding another nice Spanish Mackerel that smoked only about 50 yards of line of his little Shimano reel.

When these big pods of bait group up this can be any spin, plug, or flyfishermens dream. Any bait or fly that can be placed next to or in these pods of baits is immediately gobbled up or cut off. Now normally you can attach a piece of wire leader to keep the cutoffs from happening, but I have found that you will normally see twice as many strikes if you stick with a mono leader instead of switching to a wire leader. The trick to limiting the cutoffs is to upgrade your leader or even use a longer shank hook.

On recent Crystal River charters out of the world famous Pete’s Pier Marina I have been spoiling myself and my clients with record amounts of Spanish Mackerel and Speckled Trout. The mackerel fishing has been so good that on a few trips I have had to bring an extra 72 quart cooler just to have an extra area to store my bait and any other fish we decide to bring home for dinner. Right now on an average day it is not uncommon to catch and release any where from 50-70 Mackerel and 20-30 Speckled Trout in a day. It doesn’t get much better than this. One minute your latched onto a fish that wants to pull every yard of line right off your reel and the next minute you have huge yellow mouth comeing out of the water shaking and jumping. Life is Good!

Alex Gruber whipped this fiesty Spanish Mackerel into shape after a few drag screaming runs.

Women, children and adults of all ages please feel free to join me on a fishing adventure that I can assure you will leave lasting memories for a lifetime. With the fishing this good and the weather even better nobody will blame you for playing hooky from work or school. So if long drag screaming runs and hard charging fights is whats gets your blood boiling, give Red Hot Fishing Charters a call today we specialize in creating “Fishing Memories!”

Capt. Kyle Messier
(352) 634-4002
kylemessier@yahoo.com
WWW.REDHOTFISHINGCHARTERS.COM />

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