Half Day Trip Along the South Shore
Capt. Sean Hagen
March 9, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
It was dink city in Cockroach Bay Sunday. The
big boys I scouted last trip could still be found
but wanted no part of anything we threw at them.
Heavy chumming with live pilchards on the
incoming tide only got us a few pitiful pops,
that were probably more out of irritation than
hunger. So, we ended up leaving Cockroach Bay
only catching 2 shorty snook,a barely legal
flounder and the memory of a nice redfish that
got away.
While idling along the shoreline I spotted a
good number of snook from my tower,but what got
my undivided attention was the redfish.
Scattered along the flats between Sand Point
and Shell Key in about a foot and a half of
clear water were some quality redfish. All of
which were over the slot (in the 30 something
inch range). These fish were travelling in
small groups and spookier than a long tailed cat
in a room full of rocking chairs.
Knowing we had no chance of catching these reds
with the rumbling of the outboard sounding the
fish alarm (or time to wait for them to settle
down) we reluctantly decided to leave them be.
I would have to come back later in the week to
pay them a visit.
With Mr. Ryan still wanting to catch a redfish
and only an hour to do it in, we headed up the
Little Manatee River to fish the mangroves in
four to five feet of water. A little live chum
tossed in the middle of the cut coaxed a nice
redfish out of the woods;the rest is history.
Congradulations Mr. Ryan on landing your 1st 27
inch redfish! Have a quality day and a safe time
on the water.
Capt. Sean Hagen
Target Species:
Snook, Redfish
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