Long Key Bay Action

[Tipbone]

Took the kids to Long Key for Spring break last week and had 2 decent days fising the bay side. Mostly caught Mangrove Snapper and some trout. I managed a Spanish Mackerel on a topwater plug.

The trout seemed to like the top water action & the kids did great with Gulp swimming mullets for the snapper. The wind was a bit much, but we managed to take home about 4-5 keepers each day.

Spent most of our time drfiting between West Spigger Bank and Tripod Bank.

I saw alot of boats out there anchored up. Is that the best method for fishing these locations? heading back down in June.

[Got TA Go]

Nice catching!

Rob

[sparse grey]

WTG

[shallow thinker]

Back in the day.... we'd fish that area with a bucket full of live shrimp. We would anchor near a hole in the grass and dice up 6 shrimp in a chum bag. Pinfish would be first on scene and we'd catch some and put one out under a cork. Snappers would come in next and we'd get them on a knocker rig. Cobia and spanish macks liked that live pinfish. I would throw lures to catch the occasional trout or mackerel. Seemed like we'd give a spot 15 or 20 minutes and move if we didn't get bit.

[TeamTeke]

Good going. Next time anchor up with a large "white spot" down current. Get the chum going and fish with fresh ballyhoo chunks. You can buy fresh ballyhoo at the local bait shops but also be prepared to catch your own ballys with a light rod & small float. Use a very long shank #10 0r #12 hook. Use a small pick of shrimp or squid.

[fishnfool73]

Nice report. I rented a boat with my g/f and my friend and his wife. We fisheed the same area. As pointed out we anchored up in 7 ft near a sand patch and chummed. Pinfish and ballyhoo filled the slick. Lots of nice mangroves up to 22 inches , a few trout, a mackeral, and loads of small 5 - 15 lb sharks sharpnoses and bonnets mainly. GF had a blast. She hooked something that dumped 300 yards of braid off the reel before I could start the engine to chase it. I just used light spinners with a few foot of 30 -50 lb mono a split shot and circle hook. The sharks are lots of fun on light tackle.