A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Fisherman989 wrote:I Did have one that would have gone 20 lbs hit at a topwater skitterwalk...but he missed it.
That would have been a state record.
Mackerel, Spanish, Scomberomorus maculatus
12 lbs. Ft. Pierce, 11-17-84, John F. Colligan
I went to the sand bar with my folks who were in from New Jersey two Thursdays ago. Saw a mack jump out of the water by marker 8 on the way back in. Threw out two spinner baits (me and my step dad). He got cut off, my line broke due to a wind knot in the Power Pro. By the time we re-riged the school had gone deep. Never got back to them. Mom wanted lunch at Riverside.
RC wrote:I have been having great luck with the mackerel. What I have been doing is sabiking up bait and slow trolling live baits around the bait schools. The other day I couldn't get any menhaden but I had some small pinfish in the live well. They nailed them.
I use a 6" piece of wire on a #4 treble hook and nose hook the bait. I put the bait out with the boat in gear just to get the bait away from the boat. put out 50' to 100' of line then let the bait swim free. Just bump the boat into gear occasionally to keep too much slack out of the line and keep the bait behind the boat. Those spanish are fun on 8# test.
There are some really big spanish out in the buoy 24 area.
If that bait is out there longer than 5 minutes somethings wrong.
It is illegal to use treble hooks in conjunction with live bait. FYI.
By the time we re-riged the school had gone deep. Never got back to them. Mom wanted lunch at Riverside.
