‘These fish are smart’: Capt. Krutzky’s secrets of angling in Tampa Bay

Capt. Chase Krutzky isn’t afraid to try extremely light tackle in Tampa Bay. When the conditions call for it, he’ll use as little as an 8-pound leader even when structure-loving gag grouper might be lurking.

I witnessed first hand why he changes tactics often this past week. Krutzky has been fishing around Tampa Bay targeting mangrove snapper along edges of the shipping channel with light tackle. But mangrove snapper are extremely weary, always having a keen eye for tackle that might make a bait’s presentation off. That’s when Krutzky goes lighter.

“I usually start with 15-pound leader, but sometimes have to go down to 8-pound to get a bite. These fish are smart, they know,” Krutzky explained. “You might break a few off, but if you hook them high enough you’ve got a little room to work with.”

Launching with Krutzky from south Tampa Bay, he made three throws of a 12-foot cast net at a deep channel marker to load up his livewell and partially fill a five gallon bucket with whitebait for chum. We didn’t venture far from there, stopping in 20 feet of water for snapper above some structure. Krutzky fished a 1/4-ounce jighead to start.

“I don’t like to chum right away, it can bring in mackerel and other fish we don’t want,” he said. “If the snapper are eating on the bottom you don’t need to chum.”

It took a bit but he was able to get the first bite, a mangrove snapper around 12 inches. A few more hit the deck but with a slowing bite he moved us to a jagged ledge along the shipping channel of Tampa Bay where the water dropped from 18 feet to 40 feet.

He dropped a live whitebait, this time getting hit on the drop.

“You can see them coming up on there,” Krutzky said, pointing to his Simrad depth finder. “That’s a good one.”

After a quick bite with more snapper, the biggest being nearly 18 inches, we were close to our limit when a dolphin showed up. It grabbed a hooked snapper, taking it for a run before ripping it off the line.

“He’ll sit there and eat every fish we hook,” Krutzky said. “Once that happens there’s nothing you can do but move.”

So we did, and, in an attempt to fool the smart saltwater mammal, he ran the boat the wrong direction to start before heading to another spot about 1/2-mile away.

“If you idle to it he’ll follow you. I lead it away then run so it won’t follow. They’re smart.”

We bounced around catching a few more snapper and then went to shorelines around Piney Point where the snook bite and more snapper was exciting in clean water. Another dolphin showed up, attacking the snook we released. When the tide slowed, Krutzky made one more stop to showcase what stellar snapper fishing we have currently in the bay.

“If the water’s not moving too much they’ll chum up. But they get smart and we might need to go to 8 pound,” he said.

He cut up baits from the bucket and immediately the snapper rose toward the surface. Dozens of snapper at a time took turns swiping in for a free meal. I dropped 15-pound leader rig with no weight, hiding my hook in the bait. I drifted back a chunk of bait that resembled the chum.

And none would eat it.

Before dropping a bait, Krutzky dropped to 8-pound leader he suggested. He hid a small weighted 1/16-ounce hook in the bait and was bit immediately when he hit the school of feeding fish. By hooking it at the surface, he had some room to play and worked another quality mangrove snapper into the boat.

By the end, we had caught a limit and released plenty more snapper with the occasional small gag grouper mixed in along the edges of the Tampa Bay shipping channel.

“The snapper will be good until it cools down a little, then it gets real good for gag grouper in the bay,” Krutzky said. “This is a great time of year to get some dinner for the table and then go have some fun catching snook and redfish after. It makes for a great trip.”

Capt. Chase Krutzky can be reached at 863-255-2844.