KodiakZach
05-14-2006, 09:39 PM
First, let me preface this by saying that I didn't want to go to the West coast on the last full moon of Snook season (on the East coast), especially when I discovered a heckuva (private) snook hole last week where I hooked a 20-lber. But wifey wanted to go visit her parents for Mother's day, so I figured at least I could fish Skyway, even if I was gonna miss primetime for E.C. Snook. To rub a little salt in the wound though, my buddy Blake went to the Snook spot I showed him and pulled this fat 29" Snook out as I was packed up and heading out for the West coast Friday.
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsogn9.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/zsogv4.jpg
So here is my Skyway report from Saturday:
Went to the North Skyway fishing pier first. Hit the end of the pier around 9:30am and there were tons of small green bait pods coming through steadily. With nothing caught by anyone after 2 hours, (although some Bonita schools did come through very quickly 2 times), I finally got fed up and followed the birds to the west side at the end by the hut where you pay. I walked up and 2 gents were busting macks like crazy on size 0 clark spoons on about 3ft of floro leader and 3oz sinker. I tied on my only spoon which was huge and only got 1 hit. Tried a gotcha plug for 5 minutes also with no luck, meanwhile these 2 guys were still busting them right and left. I packed up and drove to the bait shop, paid close to $5 for a size 0 clark spoon, tied on 3ft of leader and 3oz sinker and returned to the spot and it was on.
Ended up with 6 spanish, 6 ladyfish, 2 jacks, and a bluerunner. Here are some pics:
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsoab9.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/zsoak0.jpg
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsoavs.jpg
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsob3n.jpg
After I was done at the front of the North Pier, I drove down to the end of the N. Pier where I had started, and the guys who decided not to move and fish there all day said they still hadn't caught anything all day. Lesson learned, if the fish ain't there, move to where the birds are busting the water.
Here are some pics leaving Skyway (note: I'd never fished the N. Pier).
Leaving N. Pier, here's a pic of the bait shop at the end:
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsokn9.jpg
Top of Skyway:
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsol6w.jpg
Coming down Skyway approaching S. Skyway fishing pier on the right:
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsomr8.jpg
So I decided to go the S. Skyway and fish for a bit. Nobody had caught jack shiat all day, so I sabiki'ed up some nice greenbacks and sent them out. Current was absolutely ripping out. Tried some rock piles, tried right down by the pilings = nothing. It's hard to remain encouraged about an area when nobody's caught anything all day, and you aren't getting bites so after an hour of sitting there (looking like an idiot as you can see):
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsp8n6.jpg
...I decided to go fish the inlet bridge that connects Bradenton Beach to Longboat Key. I jigged a Gulp Shrimp and caught 2 ladyfish. The 2 sets of folks there fishing with live shrimp said they hadn't caught anything all day and wanted to know what I was using. After fishing almost 12 hours, I packed it up and went back to the inlaw's house. Today we went to Mote aquarium on Longboat Key and had lunch at Cha-Cha Coconuts on St. Armands Circle. What a great time MOTE was, I highly recommend it!! :D
P.S. As I was leaving S. Skyway some dude was holding about a 10-lb gag grouper, so he was probably the only one to catch anything all day. If you aren't catching anything at Skyway (likely if you've never fished there), walked around and eventually you will find the regulars. If they are catching fish, copy them. If they aren't, at least try to milk them for information. If the fish aren't biting, move.
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsogn9.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/zsogv4.jpg
So here is my Skyway report from Saturday:
Went to the North Skyway fishing pier first. Hit the end of the pier around 9:30am and there were tons of small green bait pods coming through steadily. With nothing caught by anyone after 2 hours, (although some Bonita schools did come through very quickly 2 times), I finally got fed up and followed the birds to the west side at the end by the hut where you pay. I walked up and 2 gents were busting macks like crazy on size 0 clark spoons on about 3ft of floro leader and 3oz sinker. I tied on my only spoon which was huge and only got 1 hit. Tried a gotcha plug for 5 minutes also with no luck, meanwhile these 2 guys were still busting them right and left. I packed up and drove to the bait shop, paid close to $5 for a size 0 clark spoon, tied on 3ft of leader and 3oz sinker and returned to the spot and it was on.
Ended up with 6 spanish, 6 ladyfish, 2 jacks, and a bluerunner. Here are some pics:
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsoab9.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/zsoak0.jpg
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsoavs.jpg
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsob3n.jpg
After I was done at the front of the North Pier, I drove down to the end of the N. Pier where I had started, and the guys who decided not to move and fish there all day said they still hadn't caught anything all day. Lesson learned, if the fish ain't there, move to where the birds are busting the water.
Here are some pics leaving Skyway (note: I'd never fished the N. Pier).
Leaving N. Pier, here's a pic of the bait shop at the end:
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsokn9.jpg
Top of Skyway:
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsol6w.jpg
Coming down Skyway approaching S. Skyway fishing pier on the right:
http://i3.tinypic.com/zsomr8.jpg
So I decided to go the S. Skyway and fish for a bit. Nobody had caught jack shiat all day, so I sabiki'ed up some nice greenbacks and sent them out. Current was absolutely ripping out. Tried some rock piles, tried right down by the pilings = nothing. It's hard to remain encouraged about an area when nobody's caught anything all day, and you aren't getting bites so after an hour of sitting there (looking like an idiot as you can see):
http://i1.tinypic.com/zsp8n6.jpg
...I decided to go fish the inlet bridge that connects Bradenton Beach to Longboat Key. I jigged a Gulp Shrimp and caught 2 ladyfish. The 2 sets of folks there fishing with live shrimp said they hadn't caught anything all day and wanted to know what I was using. After fishing almost 12 hours, I packed it up and went back to the inlaw's house. Today we went to Mote aquarium on Longboat Key and had lunch at Cha-Cha Coconuts on St. Armands Circle. What a great time MOTE was, I highly recommend it!! :D
P.S. As I was leaving S. Skyway some dude was holding about a 10-lb gag grouper, so he was probably the only one to catch anything all day. If you aren't catching anything at Skyway (likely if you've never fished there), walked around and eventually you will find the regulars. If they are catching fish, copy them. If they aren't, at least try to milk them for information. If the fish aren't biting, move.