Mackerel are showing up early this year and we have TONS of white bait around the pass. The snook are in the passes and on the beaches too. This past week some big snook were caught from the north Jetty of Johns Pass by Mahlon Washington and his buddies using swim baits and flair hawks on the outgoing tide just before sunset. The birds, bait, dolphin and fishing action around the pass and just off the beaches right now is very active. This past Tuesday night I was on the beach watching the sunset with my wife and I witnessed multiple guys catching snook and a few nice jack crevalle while the bait flushed out of the pass being chased by fish, dolphins and birds.
Our bait guy, Brian Harris, from Pinellas Park, has been filling coolers with nice-sized mackerel just past the surf, working the bait schools past the swim buoys. The big speckeled trout right now are pretty active inside the pass around the flats hitting the plentiful shrimp and white bait that are moving through the passes on this recent new moon tide. The sheepshead are still around the passes, too, with plenty being seen caught on fiddler crabs and pieces of shrimp around the structures of Johns Pass and the jetties.
It’s a great time to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, clearer waters and great fishing going on right now at most any pass including our very own Johns Pass.
