 |
Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
October 15, 2002
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report for October 14
Fishing on the Southshore of Tampa Bay continues to be hot – literally. Mid summer temperatures continue to dominate, but it looks like the first cold front is going to push through later this week. That’s probably just what the doctor ordered to put the snook in the eating mode.
Capt. Billy Nobles of Ruskin reported a good day on snook last week, landing 20 to 25 fish. He also said that he found some bait inside the bay. Capt. Chet Jennings of Apollo Beach reports continued success with redfish. He said that he came onto a big school on the flats outside Fort Desoto.
I fished late yesterday afternoon and got caught in a little squall around 5:00 pm.
We just got of the boat and hooked and landed a short snook less than 10 minutes later. Suddenly the wind picked up, and then it began to howl. The bay had been smooth early in the afternoon, and the heat was sweltering. Now the air temperature seemed to drop 20 degrees and the wind was gusting into the mid 30’s, and the light chop was soon replaced by four footers. Getting from Big Pass to Shell Point proved to be a wet adventure. I finished the day in the river with live bait, but the snook proved uncooperative.
A few anglers caught some keeper sized redfish in the mangrove passes around Little Cockroach Bay. They were fishing with live shrimp.
On my way back from the Skyway on what was a fruitless run for pilchards, I spotted some pompano in my wake on the outside edge of the sandbar just south of the mouth of the Little Manatee. I threw the net ten times under the South Skyway fishing pier and went through four pounds of greenback chum on Sunday afternoon at slack tide to catch one large pilchard, and a half dozen pinfish. Last Sunday morning I threw the net twice and was back at the dock at Shell Point in an hour an 20 minutes. Some days the bear gets you.
There should be a hot snook bite just ahead of this cold front, then they will probably shut down for a couple of days. Snook do not like a change in temperature, but my guess is that a slight drop in water temp will produce a good bite once the fish acclimate. Coupled with ever shorter hours of daylight, snook know that the food supply is going to become scarce and that the water is going to get cold. The coming full moon should put a lot of fish into their fall feeding mode. I often hear complaints about fishing around the full moon, but I always seem to catch fish around the change of the tide. I look for a good bite on the late morning rise.
The big schools of oversized reds have apparently moved west of the Skyway, but not before every guide from Tampa Bay took a shot at them. For a while the flats south of Piney Point were starting to look like Boca Grande.
I will be conducting a free one hour fall fishing Seminar at Shell Point Bait and Tackle on Wednesday evening, October 23 at Shell Point Bait and Tackle, covering snook, cobia, jack crevalle, and shark. Call the bait shop for more information or directions at (813) 641 6632.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
