Skyway Pier South Fishing Reports 2009 -10-11-12-13-14

[regulator70]

im on the south pier, and its been slow since the 27th. ive caught 12 gags between 10 and 18 inches, and a dozen snapper 8 inches. guess i'll be eating chicken.

[ripnlips]

got this one sunday morning.



we did see the bonito but we didn't catch any. they were eating in our chum line but they were very leader shy.

[Frogfish101]

Nice job bro! What did you get him on?

[ripnlips]

live threadfin freelined.

[snakehead terror]

keeper?

[westcoast]

when i lived in central florida i caught many a keeper grouper off the skyway piers. i miss that!

free-lined pinfish is the hot ticket... some big kingfish come around too...

and with all due respect, that grouper does look short. especially that you're sticking it out like that.

happy new year to all

[ripnlips]

it was a bonito blitz thursday afternoon at the ssp. we finally got'em to bite. chris, jeremy, carl, garlon "g", and i had a great time at the end of the pier.






....and another big spanish mack for jeremy at the end of the day.

[Frogfish101]

Nice bonnies! Would make GREAT shark bait!

[bolo]

Nice report.

[regulator70]

i must have ran into you guys. i stayed out there from the 26th of dec. to jan. 2nd. i parked by the 3rd pedestrian sign from the end in a wht convesion van.

[ripnlips]

i think i remember seeing you. i was in a black yukon with the back doors open and a white cooler hanging off the bumper.

[regulator70]

fished the south pier 5/29 frm 1130 to 1900 and caught 10 sharks ranging from 18inches to 4 feet. the majority hit live large threadfins off the bottom using a 24 inch florocarbon leader. yeah i over did it with 80lbs leader.

[fishnfool73]

Nice to see the bonita there can the kings be far behind ?

[GoinDeep]

The Bonita are long gone, and it seems the kings have passed us by.

Regulator, were you fishing the shallows or the deeper water? How far out were your baits?

[regulator70]

the man size mangroves are at the north pier! i fished it 5/1 around 2130 and got my limit on mangroves within an hour. they hit greenies i kept alive from earlier fishing.

[regulator70]

for the sharks, i fished mid pier on the south pier about 30yards out. for the mangroves, i fished shallow on the north pier just past the entrance facing 275.

[ripnlips]

there's lots of big mangos at the south pier too. you just gotta know where and when.

[regulator70]

yesterday was a good day. plenty of bait around the south pier. i roasted in the sun all day, but it paid off around 2030 when i locked into a 17 mangrove using a greenie. next i locked into 5 key west grunts averaging 15 inches, and fat. next i met a 24 inch gag that got introduce to my cooler. around 2300 i met a 37 inch gag that got introduced to my cooler. both gags hit whole squids. everytime i tried to put a bait fish under a ballon, them damn dolpins took it.

[fishnfool73]

Nice report glad to see your patience paid off. The dolphins are insane on those 2 piers.

[Harpmanr]

Thanks for the report. I love to fish Skyway, always catch fish when I go there.

[regulator70]

fishing has been dead as of late from the pier. water temp has flirted with 89 the last 4 days. downtown st. pete has produced skinny spanish macks during the early a.m.

[ripnlips]

we went sunday and caught a bunch of littlt kingfish. thought they were spanish until i brought the first one up. we caught 10 or 12 of them until i finally caught a spanish. also caught 5 sea trout. we usually don't catch any trout near the end of the pier but the warm water must have pushed them into deeper water. caught some nice mangos too.

[regulator70]

i might go mango hunting tonight

[swimosunatedog]

What do you guys use for bait to catch the mangos? Are they more plentiful at night? I was out there on Sunday and couldn't get my shrimp through the pinfish and grunts to get any mangos. Thanks

[fishnfool73]

Nice report it is that time of year the mangos should be big and plentiful. For the Skyway lose the live shrimp and try a small live pinfish or a summerbait ie sardine, pilchard or herring fished on the pilings.

[swimosunatedog]

fishnfool,

By pilings do you mean the actual bridge supports of the west skyway peir? Small pinfish freelined or with weights? What do you do about the strong current thats always ripping through there? Sorry about all the questions. Thanks for you help!

[fishnfool73]

Yes the bridge supports. If you fish the backside of the current on the piling you will find the eddy from the current sweeping by the pilings. This break in the current is where you want to fish as that is where the fish will be to get out of the current. For pinfish I prefer a short leader rig with just enough weight to hit bottom another trick that will work is a 3/8 oz jighead with a live shrimp or small baitfish bounced around the base of the piling.

[regulator70]

ive been using pilchard chunks for mangos. you still will get your share of grunts hitting the bait.

[ripnlips]

try cutting the tail off of a live greenie. they wiggle around and attract alot of attention.

[regulator70]

fished yesterday from 2100 to 0400 and caught nada. high tide at pinneles point was to be at 2243. when i left a 0400, the tide was still coming in.