Fall Run of Jacks Invade Little Manatee River
Capt. Fred Everson
October 18, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
There has been little change in water temperature for the past two weeks, and that is restricting the best snook bite to its nocturnal norm. If you want to catch snook in hot weather, it's best to be on the water from the hours between sunset and sunrise. That's particularly true if you want to catch big fish.
Redfish continue to hold to the west side of the bay, but have yet to show themselves on the Southshore. The waters around Fort Desoto continue to be the most productive fall redfish grounds this year, and bait on the flats all over Tampa Bay is abundant.
A great run of big Spanish mackerel continues to ravage schools of baitfish up and down the ship channels the length of the bay. The artificial reefs and range markers all seem to hold fish.
The Little Manatee River is full of jack crevalles this month, and that promises to get nothing but better. The very big fish have yet to arrive in force – that is usually a November thing. We did hook a big jack at the railroad trestle last week that probably went better than 15 pounds.
No word from anywhere on the bay concerning cobia or tripletail. My most recent trip came up empty, despite calm winds and sunny skies. Water clarity was not so good in the northern reaches of the bay between Apollo Beach and the mouth of the Alafia River.
There has been a good trout bite on the west side of the bay off Pinellas Point. There are some big trout outside the bar, and there were also some bluefish and Spanish mackerel mixed in with them.
Capt. Fred Everson has been guiding on Tampa Bay since 1995. He has written two books on fishing, Catch Snook! and Fish the Flats, and builds custom flats rods. See his website for details at Tampabayfishingguide.com.
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Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
Look for snook action to heat up this week with a drop in water temperature. Trout bite has also been hot on Southshore Tampa Bay this past week.
Target Species:
Snook, redfish, trout, Spanish mackerel, snapper, cobia, shark
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