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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
August 5, 2002
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
August 05 Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report
The good news is that redfish have already started to school up on the Southshore of Tampa Bay. Capt. Chet Jennings of Apollo Beach reported a hot day of fishing for reds last week on the flats south of Cockroach Bay. He said that bait was plentiful and the fish responded voraciously to live chum.
Catch and release snook action has been spotty due to fluctuations in water temperature, and routine thundershowers. Still, there seem to be plenty of snook around, and it appears that there are more fish in the slot than last year, and certainly more oversized fish since the 34 inch cap was implemented. Here on the West Coast, the May closure should reap dividends when the season reopens on September 01.
Late August through September is one of the best times of year to fish snook on the flats because the fish are returning hungry from the rigors of spawning. This presents an opportunity to catch very big snook in shallow water. My preferred method is wade fishing on low tides in late afternoon and early evening. Wading the flats is well suited to intermediate anglers and even beginners because casting accuracy and distance are not as critical as when fishing from a boat.
Sight casting to tailing redfish is another option on the evening wade trip. Until the water cools down some, weeds and algae will restrict the artificial offerings to weedless lures. Six inch RipTide Jerk baits have been my go to lure for the past three or four years for snook. Redfish seem to prefer weedless gold spoons. I wear a wade belt that allows me to carry two backup rods rigged with different lures.
Last night the tide was low around 7:00 pm and conditions seemed perfect, but the bite was slow. I did catch one 28 inch snook and several small trout. All hit a single hooked gold spoon rigged with a plastic tail and a weed guard.
Spanish mackerel bite continues to be hot. Tarpon are showing but the bite has been inconsistent. I’m getting a few reports of Cobia, but overall, that fishery has been quiet for much of this summer on the Southshore of Tampa Bay.
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