September 2009 brought great fishing. Catches includeresulted these fine photos of visitors with Snook, Flounder, Spanish Mackerel, Redfish, and Snappers.

Costal Angler Magazine hosted the Hook Kids on Fishing clinic on Clearwater Beach’s Pier 60. Check out the fun!

Capt'n Tom Fishing Report

Fishing at Pier 60 in August was filled with a variety of species. Mackerel continue to be prevalent in the early morning. The Spanish Mackerel bite the small Greenbacks that surround the Pier, and the largest Mackerel seem to be around in the mornings. Fish have been well above the 12-inch minimum, and some of the spotty speedsters have topped out at over 20 inches. They have also been caught on live shrimp, but the Pinfish get to the bait first much of the time. Best fishing is early morning, but the fish feed later in the day, and sometimes into the evening.

Spotted Sea Trout have been showing up even in the daytime, but the most likely time to get some nice ones is at night. After dark, schools of Trout move about the Pier, moving from light to light, and there have been many Trout over 20 inches taken, and one going 24 inches was reported.

Tarpon are still about, and are best seen rolling in the early morning. These fish are hooked on a variety of live and dead baits, usually fished under a float. Fish in the 60-80 pound class have been common, but a few Tarpon hooked and jumped were well over 100 pounds. Some of these larger fish were jumped later in the day just before sunset.

Snook continue to school and feed off the end of the Pier. We had a lot of catch-and-release Snook action throughout the month of August. Anglers had to be patient to be there when the fish decided to feed. Best bait continues to be a lively Greenback minnow free-lined.

Flounder showed up quite often in August, with the fish averaging about15 inches. Some were substantially larger with some of the flatties going 20 inches or so. Live shrimp seemed to be the most reliable bait for Flounder, but small minnows caught the largest fish.

Mangrove Snapper are caught daily on a variety of cut bait, and the fish have been up to 15 inches. A few Bluefish were caught, along with a smattering of Pompano. Cobia are caught and released almost daily, but few of the fish met the 33-inch minimum. Larger fish were seen but not hooked. We also saw Jack Crevalle, Key West Grunt, Black Drum of respectable size, and Whiting.
In addition, Spadefish, Ladyfish, Triggerfish, Gag Grouper up to 20 inches, Sheepshead, Blacktip Shark, Bonnethead Shark, Bull Shark, and StingRay up to 100 lbs. were caught. Bull Redfish are seen swimming off the end of the Pier, usually at night, and there have been a few slot-sized fish taken.
Snook season opened on September 1st. So far, plenty of slot-sized fish have been seen nightly, but few have been hooked. The fish are still moving about in small groups, more interested in each other than the offered baits. The fish will soon get on a feeding binge, the trick is to be there and be ready when they decide to feed.

Good Luck Fishing!