Why the start of stone crab season is good news for tripletail anglers in Tampa Bay area
If you’re anything like me and you’ve been on social media lately browsing posts by fishing friends, you may have noticed the yearly influx of tripletail pictures has begun.
It seems with additional structure now available to the prehistoric looking fish, they become a favorite target of keen-eyed anglers who seek out a tasty meal.
Much of this structure is a result of the October stone crab season beginning for both recreational and commercial anglers along with cold snaps moving them south.
Crab traps that lie in depths from 5 feet to 50 feet all have a rope and buoy, fish attractants that offer a stealthy hangout for tripletail waiting to ambush.
With crab traps now deployed over much of the Gulf beaches and Tampa Bay, tripletail seem to love them and other structures as cover. Anything that offers relief to the surface like a channel marker, piling, floating debris or shipping can could provide a temporary home that anglers should seek.
Last week, big ones were caught all along the west coast of Florida. Angler Geoff Groves, who fishes around Tampa Bay, times quick trips to go check a few of his preferred structures.
“Some days they just don’t eat, they’re so unpredictable,” Groves explained. “But the last few days, an hour before high tide has been good. Then the first hour of the outgoing (tide) has been fire!”
Groves, who targets tripletail with jumbo shrimp, says he hates how he has to fish for them, but it’s effective.
“Shrimp on a bobber, googan style. I hate bobbers, but it’s the presentation. They can be so smart or so dumb, but once you get them to bite the head off a shrimp, you know they will eat the whole thing eventually.”
On Thursday, Groves found himself fishing with Palmetto-based captain Griffin Deans. Fishing blind and targeting structures on a rainy and overcast day, they hooked a good fish that Groves thought was a cobia.
“We chased it with the boat, thinking it was a cobia for 10-minutes. It was a huge tripletail, probably 35-inches or better. About 15-minutes in, it just came unbuttoned on his last run, heartbreaking,” said Groves.
Not deterred, the pair got back to fishing, eventually landing another beastly tripletail at 29 inches. Tripletail are known to not stop eating when they’re in feeding mode, sometimes eating another bait even after being hooked by an angler recently.
“They just get aggressive and won’t stop. The one Griffin caught had one of my hooks still in it’s mouth. I once caught one with 21-pass crabs in his stomach, all fresh.”
If you’re on the water, keep your eye peeled running by any structures. Tripletail will often look like grass or a rope floating behind structure. A well-placed shrimp can land your awesome table-fair.
Take note, in 2019 the tripletail size limit increased to 18 inches with a two-fish-per-person bag limit.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 12:23 PM.