# Spanish, 2010 and 2011?



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

Last spring it seemed like Spanish were everywhere and many good size too. I saw more in June than I'd ever seen, especially on days when the water was very clear. I heard some talk of reasons for the increase, but never did follow up with any research, thought someone here might have some info? Do you think we could have another good year in 2011?

Since it looks like Trout may be down this year and catch and release till June 15th, thinking maybe I'll make a focused effort to go after spanish. I have not had much luck in the past, had them chase got-cha plugs often and also hit on MirroLures - seemed like the top water in bright color or white worked best for me.

And advice for targeting Spanish, what works for you? ... Thanks!


----------



## weekdayfisher (Apr 25, 2009)

I have the best luck with the chrome color plugs. Or if you like floating live bait that works great just make sure you find some small bait. Good luck.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Meakle said:


> Last spring it seemed like Spanish were everywhere and many good size too. I saw more in June than I'd ever seen, especially on days when the water was very clear. I heard some talk of reasons for the increase, but never did follow up with any research, thought someone here might have some info? Do you think we could have another good year in 2011?
> 
> Since it looks like Trout may be down this year and catch and release till June 15th, thinking maybe I'll make a focused effort to go after spanish. I have not had much luck in the past, had them chase got-cha plugs often and also hit on MirroLures - seemed like the top water in bright color or white worked best for me.
> 
> And advice for targeting Spanish, what works for you? ... Thanks!


 gotchas off the piers,stingsilver (or some lookalike) for the beach...

As far as numbers of fish and how good it will be this year,that's up to the "cycle"... Macks run in cycles,as do many other fish,jmo... In other words,really can't answer that one and be sure...


----------



## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Drumdum said:


> Macks run in cycles,as do many other fish...


if only the power at hand could realize that too.


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

Thanks - makes sense, last year must have been a real high spot in the "cycle", at least far better than I'd seen. I did toss a chrome gotcha but was favoring red/white and chart or blue.... I did pick up some of the stingsliver's, mostly trying to cast longer off the beach. That did work a bit, but still couldn't seem to get far enough out to those jumping in schools. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could predict these things, hard not try, guess that part of the fun and what keeps me interested ... plus it's sure better than shoveling snow!


----------



## brandonmc (May 24, 2007)

The chrome bodied bodies are great off the pier. Most of the large Spanish I have caught plugging were caught on the chrome body with yellow or red head.


----------



## NC-Norm-WB (Jul 25, 2008)

I had good luck with Castmasters as well as other plugs in gold and silver. I think the hook is a little small or the barb is small. I seemed to lose quite a few once hooked for about 2-3 seconds.


----------



## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Live Finger Mullet on slide rig
#8 Treble


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

http://www.basspro.com/Sea-Striker-GotCha-Plug/product/53188/-650324

Went shopping for Got-Chas ... many to pick from, more than I remembered. The only chrome colored ones I have are a dull finish, really more of a silver. I've used both the the bucktails with a single tail hook as well as the ones with two trebles, but no bucktail. Seems like I've best luck with the two trebles, what I think is more the original design. I like the looks of the true chrome ones I'm seeing now, think I'll get a few of those this year to try.

Thanks for the feedback!


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Pink with black dots,chartruese,chome with chartruese or red head,solid white,standard red head with white body.. I saw all of those do the job on different days last year... Oh,and you may want to check out "Fishing Bible" on this forum.. There is a thread on strawrigs you may want to keep in mind as well.. Saw several folks mohawk the spainish with those as well....


----------



## brandonmc (May 24, 2007)

That ^ is the truth. Straw rigs will also whack 'em!:fishing:


----------



## BOWSER (Jan 3, 2006)

Glass minnow, green white and yellow.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

BOWSER said:


> Glass minnow, green white and yellow.


 Yeap,a stingsilver lookalike,that has a touch different shape,a little heavier,and cast like a bullet... Not too swuft off the planks,but d*amn good in the surf,if the spainish are out there a bit...


----------



## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

Drumdum said:


> Pink with black dots,chartruese,chome with chartruese or red head,solid white,standard red head with white body.. I saw all of those do the job on different days last year... Oh,and you may want to check out "Fishing Bible" on this forum.. There is a thread on strawrigs you may want to keep in mind as well.. Saw several folks mohawk the spainish with those as well....



got a favorite Gotcha..White with small black money sign$ on em... slaughtered them on that color from the LIP...


----------



## LyNn-PiEr-FiShEr (Feb 28, 2005)

AL_N_VB said:


> got a favorite Gotcha..White with small black money sign$ on em... slaughtered them on that color from the LIP...


i have seen that plug on LIP hahahaha to bad we dont get them in the bay anymore.


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

Great tip in the "Fishing Bible" on strawrigs - thanks ... only thing I've ever tried like that, I heard called a "Tree Rig" , bought one at the pier house but didn't have much luck with it myself. Not the same as the strawrig but similar idea, just pretied and I think mine has smaller hooks. This looks like a fun winter project too and I like the idea of being able to adjust the size and distance. The thing I bought was bad about getting tangled.

Have never seen one with money sign$, fitting though given all the money you can spend on lures! I do agree with the earlier comment here and in other threads, its good to have some variety and let the fish tell you whats working....


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Meakle said:


> Great tip in the "Fishing Bible" on strawrigs - thanks ... only thing I've ever tried like that, I heard called a "Tree Rig" , bought one at the pier house but didn't have much luck with it myself. Not the same as the strawrig but similar idea, just pretied and I think mine has smaller hooks. This looks like a fun winter project too and I like the idea of being able to adjust the size and distance. The thing I bought was bad about getting tangled.
> 
> Have never seen one with money sign$, fitting though given all the money you can spend on lures! I do agree with the earlier comment here and in other threads, its good to have some variety and let the fish tell you whats working....


 Strawrigs not too bad about getting tangled from what I have seen.. The way they are explaining how to store on a pool noodle is a dern good idea.. I have never fished one,but have seen them in action.. We weren't catching spainish at all with gotchas,but the strawrigs were hammering em.. Sometimes vice versa.. You have at least figured out you need to have variety.. That's a good thing,specially when it comes to spainish....


----------



## B4TheRush (Oct 13, 2010)

One thing i noticed were that the spanish would swing and miss the back hook. So i chopped it off and threw on a trailer that i just crimped about 2 inches back with some leader. Started catching them like crazy when noone else was, worked great they would come up short and hit the stinger.


----------



## Fishwander (Jul 2, 2010)

Just for information purposes , the spanish have shown up here in Tampa Bay about three weeks earlier than last year . They seem a little thinner this year, but the whitebait hasn't yet shown up here.

While the numbers aren't up to the full spring run , it looks good for this year , already

Fishwander


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

Thanks for the TIP and the promising report from Tampa bay!

Never thought of fixing a stinger to help with spanish, seen and heard many similar rigs for fish, but sure makes sense. Were you doing this on Go-cha's?

Love hearing about good numbers already, really hope we get another year like last year. It was alot of fun, even when they weren't biting well. Beautiful fish to see in runs...


----------



## smacks fanatic (Oct 16, 2010)

GOTCHA PLUGS ALL THE WAY! stingsilvers may work , but gotchas are by far the best way to bag some spaniards.(live lining shrimp, shad etc will get some blues and spanish as well):fishing:


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

smacks fanatic said:


> GOTCHA PLUGS ALL THE WAY! stingsilvers may work , but gotchas are by far the best way to bag some spaniards.(live lining shrimp, shad etc will get some blues and spanish as well):fishing:


 No doubt,on the planks,although on the beach you may find it a different story... jmo from what I've seen...  Livelining will catch some bigger ones without a doubt...


----------



## RW_20 (Oct 16, 2007)

Drumdum said:


> Yeap,a stingsilver lookalike,that has a touch different shape,a little heavier,and cast like a bullet... Not too swuft off the planks,but d*amn good in the surf,if the spainish are out there a bit...


 Ditto...3oz look-a-likes, 8-10 lb braid on a light action 10' rod is the ticket. These things will fly!!! At $3 from BPS it doesn't hurt so bad to loose a few. Add a short, very small black steel leader tied directly to the braid. No bright terminal tackle or they'll hit it and you'll loose your plug.
As for the abundance last year, I think it is just a circle of life thing. Something brings the bait in and everything else follows. Anytime ya see an over abundance of bait, the fishing is gonna be good.


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

I've never tried the black wire, seen and heard that, but have been using 30lb flouro leader. My thinking was, that would hold up better than regular mono and might be more bites, and most of all, might catch other species. I have lost fish before, but not that much. Guess I always thought that black was mostly for blues and would not be as good for other fish, including spanish. 

I don't have much experience fishing for these and really appreciate the help. Trout are really kind of the opposite worry, ripping the paper mouths if you set to hard or pull to fast. Last year was awesome thing to see when all those spanish were running. I would love to get another chance this year, especially from the beach!

Thanks again for all the help!


----------



## RW_20 (Oct 16, 2007)

Spanish have razor sharp teeth and they will cut you off quick. Never tried flourocarbon, Somebody else will have to chime in there. FYI. when a spanish hits, he'll hook himself. They are fast and hit hard.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

racewire20 said:


> Spanish have razor sharp teeth and they will cut you off quick. Never tried flourocarbon, Somebody else will have to chime in there. FYI. when a spanish hits, he'll hook himself. They are fast and hit hard.


 Flouro will do ya for the most part.. Pretty abrassion resistant,you may loose a lure once and a while with 30-40lb,but not often.. Regular leader or mono works fine as well,would up the lb test as much as possible without screwing up the action of the lure though..

Cutoffs happen moreso on the planks with a gotcha,because you are jigging it in side to side,sometimes sinking or slowing up to get more strikes,that's where you can get cut off by a spainish.. In my experience,it is rare to get cut off using a stingsilver when using a steady fast retrieve,compaired to a gotcha.. Kinda comes with the turf when catching spainish,plus imho you will get more bites than with wire or sevenstran,jmho....

Have found with gotchas that a small length (4 to 6") of coffee colored wire (36lbtest),no swivel (attach straight to the mono with albright) works well when there are kings in the water that love to eat lures off the mono or flouro.. Your way with the black wire should work well with a singsilver or gotcha if there are kings eating....Then again,if you get lucky and have a decent king eat that bait and have wire or sevenstran on there,ya won't get cut off like a pair of sissors either... Although with mostly spainish and bluefish you'll get more strikes using mono or flouro as a leader... jmo...


----------



## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

seem'em caught on bottom rigs, while not getten'em on gotchas, small clark spoons, Early spring, anything small that resembles a glass minnow..
Yes slider rigs with a small #8 treable with very thin wire, small treble, baited with peanut pogies,finger mullet, or gold hook rigs quickly brought through the water..
With Spanish you never can really tell.. Gotcha plugs with a certain color red/green/white/gold/silver W/a different colored head...
During a Heavy spanish blitz one year, a all out churn the water boiling, EVERYONE ran out of gotcha plugs etc, I turned to use one of those old flip-top beer can tops, attached a hook and was catching'en them on those...  :beer:
Also as Drumdum said, my experience has been better with mono/flouro also, allows more "action" in the plug, you may get cut off more often, but get more hits.=more fish


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

I have some brand new 30lb fluoro, so will definitely be using that, think I wll pick up some black wire leader to have in the bag. 
All the comments here really help, one thing seems common ... need to pay attention to what is happening and make adjustments.
Can't say I've ever caught a fish on flip-top can tops, but sure sounds like a fun day if it was that busy.

I can definitely see what you describe about movement of gotchas Drumdum, I've found that makes a big difference.
Sometimes I've had to re-tie, just cause you can tell its not moving as best as it can, not sure if my knots wrong or line or what..
but it for sure matters...

Lets hope we get a great year this year so I can try all the advice in this thread!
THANKS!


----------



## PJANGLES79 (Apr 8, 2011)

been using Mirrolure with good hits from both trout and spanish in Tampa Bay


----------



## NCsurffisher (Jun 27, 2004)

Carry some double-bucktail speck rigs too. These can be great, especially when the fish are picky and/or feeding on small bait. Problem is that the small/light versions don't cast too well, but if you can reach the fish, a speck rig is an excellent spanish bait.


----------



## Meakle (Jun 5, 2006)

Thanks.. bout the Mirrolure's that getting hits, are you by chance using any of the newer models? 
I've been hearing about some new ones, Mirrodines or such, but have not tried ... anyone have suggestions or comments?
Had decent luck with some old faithfuls, especially the Top Dogs and the 52, tried some of the "TT"s but not to much...


----------

