Spanish Mackerel Like Trout by Basil Dubrowsky

Posted on November 7, 2019 by VHFC

I am happy to report that the Florida fish are back after last year’s red tide fish kill! Everyone thought it would take 3 years to replenish the stock but the fish proved them wrong. We caught over 20 Spotted Sea Trout and 8 Spanish Mackerel yesterday in the bay near Sarasota. One Trout didn’t quite make it onboard after a Spanish bit it in half!

There is still a moratorium on trout, snook and redfish so everything went back. All fish were caught on Gulp. I even caught a couple of short grouper hopping on a 4 inch new penny shrimp bounced across the bottom.

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Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.

The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.