Outdoors Column | A year after red tide, triple tails are making a comeback in Gulf waters
While most anglers cruise offshore heading west for their favorite bottom structures, people like Erik Fatica are looking for structures on the surface that hold what he believes is one of the best eating fish in the ocean.
“The game plan is to run traps after a cold front,” Fatica said, “that seems to bring them in.”
What Fatica is referring to is the aptly named tripletail, a prehistoric looking fish with one of the coolest backsides in the ocean. Throughout the year they’re drawn to pretty much any structure floating on or just below the surface of the water. They’ll often sit with their noses against the structure looking like grass or trash from the distance.
The more natural growth on the structure the better. It could be something put into the Gulf on purpose like crab traps, markers, pilings, or docks. Or something floating into the Gulf like a tree, pallet, or other debris.
“There’s a lot of luck. When we find them we sight fish on really light tackle, 10-pound line and 20-pound leader. They can bust you off around structure so we try to get them to open water and let them run,” explained Fatica.
After the recent cold fronts Fatica was able to find some good weather and head out off the beaches of Sarasota. Calm conditions help spot tripletail as they hover near the surface of the water. Ready with one of their favorite meals, shrimp, he kept his eyes peeled as they ran across various structures. What he found was one of the biggest triple tail of his life, a massive 25-pounder that measured 29-inches.
“At first, I didn’t know it was that big. We drove by it and turned around. He wasn’t floating near the top of the water but was submerged a little bit, so we couldn’t tell size,” Fatica recalled.
“Once he hit I felt it was big, but didn’t even realize it was that big until he came to the top near the boat. I loosened the drag and let it run keeping it away from the structure. I didn’t force it and didn’t want to bust it off from pulling. It took about 15-minutes to get in.”
Triple tail are known to be extremely fast growing. They can reach weights of over 40 pounds, with the Florida record under 41pounds. The beach seems to be best when water temperatures are below 72degrees but they can appear randomly during any season.
“This year has been really good. Last year I think red tide kept them away so it’s good to see they made a comeback.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Outdoors Column | A year after red tide, triple tails are making a comeback in Gulf waters."