Tripletail. Now there is a fish I have not heard much about until a month or so ago. There have recently been two articles about what wonderful sportfish they are. These articles took place around the islands off of Georgia and further down the Atlantic coast in Florida. Captain Bill Roberts tells me they are in Cedar Key for certain in June, July and August and his clients have caught eight already in June. He stated they may be around some before and after those months. Bill knows one special marker that sometimes will hold a tripletail, but even then, they can be tough to catch. On one trip with a client from Pittsburgh, a cast was made to the piling, but drifted off to the right. The next cast drifted off to the left. The third try, like that of Goldilocks, was just right and hit the marker whereupon the bobber promptly went under with a nice tripletail for a reward. Just this week he had one take his bait and get away. Bill came back about 30 minutes later only to have the same thing happen. Thirty minutes after that, same story, and now out of bait. Yesterday he went back with plenty of bait and landed the fish on the first try. Bill uses a bobber with a two foot leader and a pinfish for bait. He is a long time Cedar Key guide (543-5690) and quite an artist also. You can see his works at The Cook's Café and at Lazy Dog Antiques. There are a couple of items concerning grouper fishing you might be interested in. One, they have moved into shallow water, being caught around 40 feet deep, trolling or bottom fishing. The other is a change in the federal laws concerning the limit of red grouper. Same size, but the aggregate limit of five grouper can only contain two reds. This goes into effect on July 15. This seems to have caught everyone by surprise, including the State of Florida. The State must change its regulations to comply, but cannot do so until after its September meeting. I don't know what that means from July 15 until some time in September, but I suggest you only keep two red grouper.
Dredging starts after the fourth at the City Marina, but the ramps will remain open. It appears that parking will be even more of a problem than usual with the dredging bags located there.
Willis Marina, the big blue dry storage and bait building on 24, is now Cedar Key Marina. |
