Pier 60 Fishing Report

The water is warm and the snook and tarpon are biting. All snook and tarpon are carefully released into the water after photos are taken.

John Reynold shows why snook fishing is great on Clearwater Beach’s Pier 60.
John Reynold and friend, Jordan, proudly display the 32 and 30 pound snook caught on Pier 60, June 2009…….John says this is his largest Pier 60 Snook.

Spotted seatrout

Fishing in April has been decent when the weather cooperated. There were a couple of late-season cold fronts that pushed though, and some winds that turned the Gulf of Mexico into a mass of whitecaps. Temperatures sank into the low 70′s during the days, but there were still quite a few good fishing days and nights. Water temperatures are now firmly into the mid-70′s, and things look good from here out into summer.

Spanish Mackerel fishing has been very good, with the toothy speedsters biting well on live shrimp and plugs. A wide variety of other fish have shown up, including Jack Crevalle, Lane Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Black Sea Bass, Sheepshead, Whiting, Flounder, Key West Grunt, Gag Grouper, Pompano, and Cobia. Some King Mackerel have been hooked, but none have been brought up as yet.

Spotted Sea Trout have been biting very well, with some fish taken during the day, but a majority are caught at night under the lights on live shrimp, small greenbacks, or grub lures tipped with a bit of fresh shrimp.

Tarpon are here, with a few fish jumped, but none tamed. Any day we should see schools of Tarpon daisy-chaining off the beach near the pier. We have a No-Kill policy for Tarpon here on Pier 60. No Tarpon are to be beached, gaffed, killed or removed. Tarpon are to be released unharmed.

Snook fishing has started to pick up, but only a few fish have been taken. Most of the Snook have been powerful and quick to wrap the line around a piling and break off.

The local technique for catching Snook is simple and inexpensive. First, one rod is dedicated just for catching baitfish with a sabiki rig. Since we do not allow cast nets on Pier 60, the sabiki rig is used to catch a few Greenback minnows. The lively Greenback is hooked in the nose with a small live bait hook, or circle hook tied to a length of fluorocarbon leader material. The bait is free-lined, no weights, swivels or beads to alert the wary Snook. The Greenback is tossed just to the edge of the illuminated area off the pier, and the Snook usually take the baitfish in a gentle sneaky fashion. It is important to watch your line movement, because you won’t always feel the bite until it is well along. When the fish feels the hook, the Snook might jump once then lunge under the pier to try and wrap around a piling. The fight is usually decided in the first 30 seconds. If the Snook gets tired out, then stage two of the battle begins.

We use a large hoop net, or pier landing net to get the fish up top. The net is lowered, and the fish is brought into the net. Then the Snook can be brought up, unhooked, measured to see if it is a keeper, (28 inch Minimum / 33 inch Maximum total length) and photographed.

It is important to take care and support the belly of a large Snook while out of the water. Holding a big fish vertically lets the guts of the fish slump downwards, and can damage and mortally wound the fish internally.

The third stage of the fight is the release. The fish should be put back into the net, lowered gently, and revived with an up-and-down motion of the net. When the fish has recovered enough, it will be upright in the net, and alert to rejoin its’ friends. Most all of the larger Snook are females, and it is important to insure the survival of the large breeders. After all, it is the success of Florida’s fisheries management that has kept the Snook fishing so awesome here on Pier 60.

Good Luck Fishing!
Capt’ Tom