Mackerel action Tampa Bay

Captain Billy Nobles from the Reel Animals mantra Do yourself a favor and take a kid fishing is so true. Saturday I had that distinct pleasure of spending a great day on the water with high school senior Max. To say the least Max is a die hard angler and fishes weekly. Tampa Bay was perfect at sunrise with barely a wisp of wind and cooler temperatures. Gathering bait around local bridges and piers has changed drastically with huge schools present. I started on the down current side and it was clear the bait was on the up current side. My 10' ¼" was so heavy with bait I had to have Max help me lift it into the boat. We ran to St. Pete Beach and set up in 22'. I deployed a chum bag and start tossing chum baits. Quickly we had small mackerel boiling on the surface. We took several small mackerel but the action never really fired up.{%image_id=22646%} Running back to deeper grass flats was the ticket as we found bigger mackerel, trout and ladyfish all eager to inhale small white baits.{%image_id=22648%} We had the thrill of hooking another big spinner shark that ran 75 yards in seconds then went skyward. The line broke during the spectacular jump. Max is a super young angler, I look forward to spending another day on the water with him. Look for the bait or birds and you will find quick action. Captain Steven Markovich