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Plentiful kingfish can still be had locally

Posted Jan 2, 2012 by Tribune Sports

Updated Jan 2, 2012 at 01:02 AM

By BILL MILLER

Historically, kingfish should have left our area on their southern migration by now. But on rare occasion through the years a few have been caught around Christmas, and it appears our warm winter has made this one of those years.

Capt. Jesse Mayer reports that kingfish are thick off Johns Pass. Mayer and party caught over 40 on a half-day trip along with bonitos, grouper and hogfish. Live bait was the key for Mayer.

Capt. Craig Lahr has been catching monster kings off Clearwater Pass at the Clearwater hard bottom, slow trolling live shad. One of Lahr’s kingfish weighed 53 pounds and two others were in the 40s with a few in the 30-pound range.

The Peaks, south of the Whistler buoy, is the hot king spot for Jim Turner and friends. Turner says they caught their limits quickly and released 30 or 40 more kings in morning fishing using live white bait.

The edges of the shipping channel have been producing good catches of grouper, white grunts and mangrove snapper for Capt. Billy Miller. Miller has been using knocker rigs and live shrimp to catch most of his fish.

As of Dec. 23, the red grouper limit has increased to four per person in state and federal waters. Gag grouper is closed in both state and federal waters and will not open until late 2012.

Capt. Richard Seward and I had an enjoyable day this week on a north Tampa lake catching speckled perch and blue gills with a few bass mixed in. We used our electric motor to slow troll beetle spins around brush piles. A few of the bass were too big to land.

Speckled trout is open all year long starting Jan. 1.