OUTDOORS: Pompano on the increase as spawning season begins

The Florida pompano has got to be one of the sleekest, most streamlined critters to swim in our waters. They have always been a very cyclical species hereabouts. The past couple of years has surely been a high point. Toss in the lack of commercial "wing-ding" nets which exploded along our beaches back before the net ban that helped immeasurably with their returned abundance.

From now through spring, when pompano spawning season begins, their numbers should be on the increase, mainly along the beaches and in the bays near our Gulf passes. Their diet consists primarily of crustaceans as shrimp, sand fleas and small crabs. They will readily take small jigs hopped on sandy bottoms, kicking up puffs of sand.

This time of year, it is not unusual to find similar-sized permit schooled along with pompano. The main way to identify the two is a pompano's dorsal begins ahead of the anal fin and the permit's dorsal begins directly above.

This is important as the rules are quite different between the two. Pompano have a minimum size limit of 11 inches (fork), a bag limit of 6 per person. Permit also have an 11 inch minimum, but a bag of 2 per person. Also, only one permit over 22 inches is allowed as part of the legal bag.

Permit grow much larger than pompano. A pompanos maximum growth length is about 24 inches and the state record is 8 pounds, 4 ounces caught near Port St. Joe.

When traversing the local bays over deep grass beds, have a lookout watch your boats wake for the pompano's unusual habit of "skipping" out of the water, giving up the location of a school.