 |
Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
July 13, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report from Shell Point Bait and Tackle
Fishing was tough the past three weeks due to heavy rains followed by a long stretch of hot weather. But things have started to turn around. Capt. Chet Jennings of Balm scored heavy on redfish on Friday and Saturday, and so did a few of the other anglers fishing out of Shell Point Bait and Tackle.
The bait situation has been equally grim. All the rain has pushed the threadfin herring out of the bay, taking most of the Spanish mackerel and tarpon with them. Decent sized pilchards have also become suddenly scarce. There are still plenty of small baits on the flats, but these are not big enough to put on a hook. They won’t grow to useable size until September – just in time for the reopening of snook season. Shrimp have been mostly small, and in short supply. The shrimper we do business with brought us a good supply of large shrimp for the weekend, but he said they had to go 100 miles offshore to get them. Expect the availability of shrimp to be uncertain for the next five or six weeks.
Capt. Ray Markham won the bi-monthly One Lure Wade Fish Soiree on Wednesday for the second time, fishing a DOA Cal Jig tipped with a white shad tail. A 20-inch redfish proved big enough to best the small field of six anglers. We also caught a few short snook and some trout.
Capt. Chris Camp reports finding some big snook in the Little Manatee River. He’s fishing them with small mullet. I’m still catching some snook at the Port Manatee Spoil Island, but they have been mostly short. I expect many of those fish will finish spawning and return to their home waters after the full moon.
I haven’t seen or heard of anyone catching a cobia in weeks. Wherever the threadfin went, maybe the cobia went also?
Low light wade fishing remains a best bet this time of year, as the mid day sun can be absolutely brutal. Just remember to do the stingray shuffle, and resist the temptation to drag fish around on a stringer. Summer time brings lots of sharks into the bay, and a stringer full of trout is sure to garner some unwanted attention. I don’t worry much about the bonnet heads, but a big black tip or a bull shark should not be trifled with. These fish are not generally aggressive, but discretion is the better part of valor around such toothy critters.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
