Took the pup out on the St. Pete flats to celebrate spring and the Saxon mother goddess Eastre. I wanted to get some mackerel for the smoker and I was not disappointed.
Unfortunately, SoCo really loves to bark at fish, so everyone knows when I catch something. She did stop briefly after trying to bite one and getting trebles in the face (not too deep luckily), but she soon forgot that lesson, and she alerted a pontoon boat that decided to drift within casting distance of me trying to catch the same school I was.
Luckily I was already late for dinner plans with family, and I had to get off the water anyway. The bite really picked up around 1, which is about when I had to leave, and when I subsequently lost all my gotchas plugs to these toothy bastards... worth it though!
All fish were caught on gotcha plugs or xraps, 40lb flouro leader, in about 7-10 ft of water off the edge of the flat. Just work the drop off til you find a hungry school. If you start catching lady fish, keep moving until you find the mackerel. There are some nice ones out there!
