Mackerel stacked up, cold front Friday

Several groups got out on the water with us this week and the Spanish mackerel were chewing. Out of Apollo Beach the rods stayed bent around the platforms most of the morning, with a rainbow over the bay on the ride in. Out of Palmetto it was the day you dream about: glass calm, the mackerel stacked up around the towers, and the dock tables covered by lunch. One angler was on his first saltwater trip ever and left with a story he will be telling for years. He picked a good week to start. The pattern is classic November. The Halloween weekend blow dumped more than five inches of rain on the bay and pushed everything around, then the water cleared and the bite turned right back on. Spanish mackerel are thick on the bait around the towers, channel edges and range markers from Apollo Beach to the Skyway, with a bonnethead shark or two usually mixed in. Redfish are schooled up on the flats and oyster bars on the falling tide, speckled trout are on the deeper grass in the mornings, snook are tight to the mangroves and starting to slide toward the rivers and canals with a few weeks left in the season, flounder are on the sandy edges, and the sheepshead get thicker on the pilings every week. Kingfish are running the beaches nearshore. Now the weather, and it matters this week. Monday through Wednesday is as good as November gets: light north wind, highs near 80, cool mornings in the low 60s and a flat bay. Thursday the wind swings west and builds to 15 with gusts over 20 ahead of the front. Friday the front comes through on a northwest wind near 20, and Saturday wakes up to the first real cold morning of the season, lows in the low 50s and a high in the mid 60s. That is the kind of front that drops the water temperature a few degrees in a day, kicks the sheepshead into gear, and makes the next calm stretch a hot one.