CAPT. BILL MILLER
“OUTDOORS PROFESSIONAL”
Marketing/Sales Specialist • Grand Master Angler • TV Host/Writer

 

BILL’S FISHING REPORTS
Current Advice for Catching More Fish

Fall Kingfish Season Set to Begin

Posted October 19
By BILL MILLER
Fall kingfish season is about ready to start. Captain Tom Markham reports that a few “smoker” kings have been caught on the hard bottom areas two to five miles off Clearwater Beach, Redington Beach and Johns Pass.
Smoker kings usually don’t travel in schools. They follow the bait schools in close to the beaches and are best caught slow trolling, with big baits like blue runners, ladyfish, shad and horse greenbacks.
School kings follow the first push of smokers and usually settle in on reefs and wrecks along the five-fathom and 10-fathom curves. The Egmont ship channel is always top spot for school kings and an occasional big boy. Trolling big spoons behind a No. 2 planer is a good way to connect with schoolies. The trolling speed with spoons is faster (4-5 knots) than live bait (1-2), and allows you to cover more ground looking for kingfish. Another plus to trolling with spoons is the occasional grouper that will come up from the bottom to take a look at the spoon.
Joel Brandenburg is finding big schools of marauding jacks and Spanish mackerel off Bahia Beach. He says trolling small spoons will work, but casting jigs and topwater plugs is more fun and just as effective.
Red snapper season closes Nov. 1. Deep water anglers will be focusing on mangrove and yellowtail snapper, along with the occasional grouper. Check all grouper and snapper regulations as they have changed.
Captain Bill Miller hosts “Hooked on Fishing” on Thursdays and Sundays from 7-8 p.m., and Fridays and Mondays from 11 a.m.-noon on Bright House Networks Catch 47.

Reprinted with permission of The Tampa Tribune

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