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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
May 16, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Shell Point Fishing Report for May 16
The bite rose with the air temperature this past week. Capt. Nick Winger of Apollo Beach reported a stellar day with two tarpon over a hundred pounds, a 35 inch redfish, and a bunch of catch and release snook, two of which were over the 26 inch minimum.
Capt. Chet Jennings reports that tarpon fishing is heating up. He’s been hunting the Southshore flats, and continues to score on cobia.
Eight anglers turned out for the Wade Fish Soiree at Shell Point Bait and Tackle last Wednesday night. Ed Childers of Ruskin caught the biggest fish – a 35 inch snook, and a 23 inch redfish on a brown Charlie’s shad tail. Rules for the by informal tournament are that only one lure, rigged one way, may be used. John Arico of Arcadia also caught two fish with his fly rod, a nice trout and a short snook. The next One Lure Wade Soiree is May 28, when low tides occur around sunset.
I had friends John Krofft and Larry Law visiting from Ohio and they hooked a fair sampling of what Tampa Bay serves up this time of year. Larry caught his first snook, a 26 inch fish that would have been a keeper last month. He also got broke off by a fish on the edge of a flat. We never saw it, but by the way it bent the heavy spinning rod and took drag, my guess is that it was a cobia. We also caught good sized Spanish mackerel while fishing for tarpon around the Sunshine Skyway.
Snook should be stacked up at the Spoil Island at Port Manatee. Catch and release action should be hot on the outgoing tides. Capt. Chet Jennings recommends live shrimp hopped across the bottom on jig heads.
Cobia and tripletail should be hanging on structure and channel markers all over the bay as the water temperature rises into the high 80’s.
Threadfin herring blanket the surface of Tampa Bay just now, and there are still plenty of good sized greenbacks on the Southshore flats. My last two trips to the skyway for bait were a waste of time. Most of the bait is now inside the bay. The shrimp supply has been consistent, but the individual shrimp are getting smaller. We are seeing virtually no selects and few large.
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