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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
September 9, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report for Sept. 09
Tropical Storm Henri did not have any adverse effect on Tampa Bay fishing. Most of the heavy rain fell to the south of us, and we had anglers fishing every day despite weather warnings. Remarkably, most of the guys who got out before and even during the storm, caught fish.
Snook fishing picked up once the skies cleared. Capt. Billy Nobles reported a hot day on snook yesterday in Bishop Harbor. He said there is bait all over the bay and much of it is now big enough to fish with. He caught a 38-inch snook on one of the small baits and reports that the action was nearly non-stop.
Capt. Chet Jennings had a similar report on redfish Sunday morning. He brought four clients back to the dock with a limit of fat redfish caught just outside the mouth of the Little Manatee River. Chet had a rare day off yesterday so we decided to do a little recreational fishing. I poled us along the mangrove shoreline north of the river on a rising tide and we managed to land three redfish despite murky water. Two of the redfish were oversized at 28 inches and they were a rich copper color due to the tannin stained water. We kept one slot size fish and it had two blue crabs in its stomach, one of them about three inches, swallowed whole. It takes a rugged fish to gulp a live hard crab, and also makes a good case for some of those realistic looking plastic crabs like those put out by RipTide and DOA
.
Plenty of pilchards all over the bay, but there are still a number of gillies mixed in with the useable baits. A quarter inch mesh net is still the best choice for these baits, particularly in shallow water, or when the bait is close to the surface in deeper water. Even the baits that readily shake out of the 3/8-inch net seldom survive the ordeal.
Snook are in transition, on the flats and feeding heavy after the rigors of spawning. This is my favorite time of year to wade fish for snook. Water temperature is already declining due to the rain, and the minus tides will start to occur in the morning next month. Soon as the water settles and clears, look for the snook bite to explode.
The shrimp supply is good and getting better. We are starting to see more big shrimp in the mix, but the selects and larges usually sell out early in the morning.
We have a booth at the Florida Sportsman Show in Tampa next weekend. Please stop by and say hello. I will also be doing seminars at 2:00 on Saturday and Sunday on the inshore stage. The topic will be “Wade Fishing for Snook and Redfish with Artificials.”
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