Pompano fishing has been excellent this week. Anglers at the Skyway piers have been having good luck vertical jigging yellow or white pompano jigs with pink teaser flys. Anglers fishing the morning tide at The St. Pete Pier, in downtown St. Pete, have been using the same technique and limiting out on pompano.

Fiddler crabs fished on the bottom near the pilings have produced banner pompano catches for anglers at the Frankland and Gandy bridges. This style of fishing keeps you in the bridge shade and out of the hot sun.

The outside edge of the south shore sand bar from the Skyway to Ruskin is also a good pompano spot. Look for them skipping in your boat wake and slowly motor back to the spot you saw them jump and fan cast pompano jigs all around the area.

I tarpon fished this week in Tampa Bay with Capt. Billy Miller, Jason Beyer and Brad Weary. We jumped 5 tarpon and landed 2 casting live threadfins to rolling fish along the Anna Maria beaches.

On another tarpon trip to the Skyway this week, we hooked 2 tarpon only to have one eaten by a bull shark and the other by a real big hammerhead.

Spanish mackerel have been biting well inside of Tampa Bay. A popular method is to anchor along side a big range marker and put over a frozen chum bag. Live shrimp or white bait under a cork will usually get all the mackerel you want if they are in the area.