Bonita Bonanza Tampa Bay

With so so tides today and no wind we changed gears and ran an offshore trip. Offshore for this Captain is 5-10 miles in 25-40’ of crystal clear Gulf water. Along with a chum block we need a live well full of baits so we made the short run to my bait stop near the Skyway Bridge.

I have received some awesome reports of Kingfish, Bonita, Mackerel and Sharks on these wrecks and decided to get my anglers in some of the exciting action. As we approached Egmont Key which is at the entrance of the Gulf I spotted a school of Bonita chasing bait on the surface.

First silver spoon in was absolutely hammered and it the fun began. It’s amazing how much drag a 10 pound little tunny and pull. The runs are impressive on light tackle. The school moved a short distance so I used my trolling motor to get back up current and drifted back into the school. Bam another Bonita just like that. This time the fish was coming at the boat at a high speed and I soon saw why. A shark was in hot pursuit and took the Bonita like it was a morsel.

This worked all morning never leaving eyesight of Egmont Key. Big Mackerel, Sharks we even ran across Tarpon but had not takers.

Captain Steven Markovich
www.onthemarkcharters.com