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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
June 22, 2002
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
June 22 Fishing Report
Summer Fishing
Summer officially arrived this week, and most fish seemed to celebrate the event by fasting. The daytime bite on Tampa Bay was pretty slow for everything except catfish. I was catching redfish in the mangrove roots at high tide pretty consistently for about a week, but even that bite died off.
I found a pod of tarpon in the Little Manatee River and saw lots of fish. Had one hit on a jig and another fish mouthed a bait but that was about it. We threw big pinfish and threadfin herring at them, and they popped a few chummers, but never put a good bite on anything that had a hook in it.
I had better luck on a snook soiree Wednesday evening with Power Pole inventor John Oliverio. I hooked three snook, a trout, and a jack while wading a Southshore Tampa Bay flat on a 6-inch RipTide Jerk Bait in pearl glow. The biggest snook was a hefty 32-inch fish that pulled a lot of drag. It swam off after posing for a few photographs no worse for the encounter.
I have been using the new Exude worm hooks, which have a little lead screw affixed to the eye of the hook. You turn the mouth of the bait onto the screw, and then hook it in the belly as you would with a conventional worm hook. The advantage is that it’s much easier to get the bait to run straight. It also adds weight to the lure, which makes it cast better. Baits stay on this hook better and last a lot longer. I’m sold.
I find the best time of day to fish in the summer months is around sunset. I theorize that fish on the flats lay up during the heat of the day and remain inactive. But as the sun goes down, they seem to move around to feed. I think the sunset bite is more productive than sunrise – particularly for catch and release action on snook – because these fish will feed all night on the right tide.
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