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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
January 2, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report
Inshore fishing continues to be a late afternoon proposition as water temperatures hover around the 60-degree mark. Even the sheepshead bite was slow for my last trip of the year on December 30. We managed to hook only two fish, and didn’t put either fish in the boat. One threw the hook at the gunwale, and the other took the leader into a piling. Nothing easy about catching sheepshead. Both fish were big, and both hit bits of green mussel.
The bright spot on the Southshore of the Tampa Bay fishing scene last week was the grouper bite ahead of the New Years Eve cold front. Rick Bollinger of R&R Charters stopped by the shop to get his photograph taken with a pair of nice grouper caught trolling the ships channels off Bahia Beach. He said he hooked and landed about a dozen fish, three of which were keepers.
Capt. Chet Jennings reports some action on tailing redfish on low tide. He’s throwing Rip Tide Jerk Baits at them in pearl glow. Other baits to try would be the DOA Shrimp, and RipTide’s two-inch crab. A redfish with his nose in the sand has crustaceans and shellfish on his mind.
Capt. Billy Nobles reports seeing cobia around the power plant but said they are pretty well spooked. Afternoon trout fishing continues to be productive, and they are back in season as of New Year’s Day – limit is still four fish between 15 and 20 inches, with one oversized fish permitted.
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