Spanish Mackerel

They are back. They`re making their Fall run thru the Cedar Key area. Saturday, September 29th, we got into some large mackerel on the north west side of North Key in about 5ft. of water. Spotty bottom. Grass and sand.The water was clear, the sun was out, light winds, and the fishing was fast. The kind where you toss out a float with a shrimp on and, WHAM !, fish strike. 2 ft. mackerel ziggin` and zaggin` and thrashing around. Having to hand rods over heads to walk em` around the boat.

We lost a few before I tied on wire leaders. You could look out over the surface and see bait thrashing in big schools in all directions. A real healthy environment. Fish everywhere.

The time blew by quickly and I wanted to try to catch a few redfish in and around the oyster bars, so we motored over to Seahorse key where all we could catch were 3 under sized reds.

On our last stop at Grassy Key, we caught 2 more undersized reds before Jim Berlin pulled up a 20.5in. red. Thats him in the picture. Dianah and Clayton Hameister hold up their 23in. and 24in. mackerel in the following pictures.

Can you see the dark blue spots against the silver skin? Beautiful. The last picture is my dinner that evening. 1 less mackerel swimming around Cedar Key.

I spoke with Capt. Phil Muldrow of `Native Son` Offshore Fishing Sat. 29th as we sat in our boats waiting for our fishing parties to show up and he told me he was catching gag grouper in 45 feet of water. Capt. Gregory Smith of `Grouper Therapy` told me he was catching red grouper and gags in 44 feet and less this past month.

Andy Bair, owner of the Island Hotel here in Cedar Key, Fl. and his buddy Chuck Yokubonus from Ormond Beach on the Atlantic coast caught a big Kingfish out in about 40 feet of water. The Kingfish should make their run soon with the falling water temperatures.

Folks, theres` fish inshore and offshore now-a-days and you ought to get out on the water and see some of the sights and catch some fresh fish to eat. Go to `inshorefloridafishing.com` and check out the pics and then call me at 352-221-5463 and we`ll make a date for you and your group. thanks, Capt. Dan