Tampa Bay /St. Petersburg Fishing is Hot!!!
Capt. George Hastick
October 31, 2010
St. Petersburg - Saltwater Fishing Report
The time is right to get out there and fish. There is bait on the flats, the weather is great, and most of all the fish are very active with the favorable water temperatures hovering around 80 degrees.
A slam of Snook, Redfish and Trout are just waiting for you to go get them. Remember snook season is closed so it is catch and release only. Trout closes in the south region on November 1st so you will have to go to the north region to keep any, otherwise they will be catch and release November and December in the south region.
Snook are moving into their fall patterns but can still be found on the flats that are adjacent to deeper water and residential canals. They will also be near the mouths of creeks and rivers where backwaters connect to the waters of Tampa Bay and Boca Ciega Bay. Live scaled sardines are a good bet when targeting snook. Look for areas that will funnel bait to the snook as the current brings it to them,where they can ambush bait without alot of work. Places like cuts in the mangroves, between spoil islands, a deeper cut that runs through a grass flat or any where bait will get pushed to them.
Redfish have been very good this year and are still a good bet. Look for them to push up onto the flats and work their way to the mangroves and oyster bars as the tide rises. You can use the extreme low tides we have this time of year to your advantage to find deep holes, cuts in the grass flats, oyster beds and see what flats the birds are feeding on when the flat is exposed. Flats that have many birds on them especially the white ibis, which digs for small crabs can also feed redfish as the tide covers that flat. Gold spoons, live pinfish, shrimp and cut bait like ladyfish and pinfish are all good baits.
Redfish can be found from the beaches around Fort Desoto to the flats of Tierra Verde, Fort Desoto, Weedon island, the fourth street area and Double Branch.
Trout have been holding in the 4-5 foot depths in grass with a lot of sand holes in it and along the edges of grass flats where it meet the sand. Live baits like scaled sardines, small pinfish and shrimp under a cork will entice a bite. Artificials such as MirrOlures scented Lil john in gold/red glitter or watermelon/ red glitter, gulp white shrimp on a 1/8-1/4oz red or chartreuse jig head.
When the bite stops on the flats or there is not enough water due to the extreme low tides to get to your honey hole, you can turn your attention to the deeper waters of Tampa Bay and the beaches for a very mixed bag of action. Grouper, kingfish, mackerel, redfish, bonita, ladyfish and sharks are just a few of the fish that can keep you busy. Live pinfish or threadfins are a good bait for the grouper. Troll threadfins or large spoons for the king mackerel(kingfish) and smaller spoons, jigs, gotcha plugs can be pitched to the bait schools that are being attacked from the beaches to way up into Tampa Bay north of the Gandy Bridge and everything in between.
Capt. George Hastick is a fishing guide in the St. Petersburg/ Tampa Bay area.
If you would like to contact him or want more information go to the website below.
Capt. George Hastick
" The Fish Hunter "
Fishing Charters
Www.fishtampa.com
727-525-1005
Target Species:
Redfish,Snook,Trout, Mackerel, Grouper and More!!!
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