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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
November 4, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report
Wind has dominated fishing on the Southshore of Tampa Bay for the past few weeks. The snook bite has improved somewhat, but it’s been less than explosive. Capt. Billy Nobles has brought a keeper to the dock last Sunday, and said he had a pretty good bite, along with some catch and release trout action.
Capt. Chet Jennings reports consistent action on redfish ahead of the last cold front, but he said that the fishing was slow behind it.
I saw several large schools of jacks in the Little Manatee River last week while I was working at the bait shop, but couldn’t find them when I went looking for them the next day. Speaking of jacks, Danny and I are going to run a Jack tournament on Sunday, December 07 from noon to five. Entry fee is $25 and includes the rod and reel you have to fish with, -- a shiney new Zebco spincast outfit, and a couple of lures. The angler who catches the heaviest jack will have his name engraved on a trophy to be displayed at the bait shop, and will win a more formidable professional rod and reel combination. Anglers must pre-register by November 28 so we can be sure to have enough rods and reels on hand for the tournament.
The guides fishing out of Shell Point have started looking for cobia, but thus far there has only been one fish brought in, caught while bottom fishing a rock pile off Bahia Beach.
The bait has become a little harder to catch because of wind and poor water clarity, but it is still plentiful. Saturday I struck out at the first two spots I tried, then when I got to a reliable marker, I found two guys in a high dollar flats skiff tied up to the mark. Tying up to any aid to navigation is, of course, illegal. And if you are trying to net bait on the mark, it’s stupid as well, because the bait is going to be on the down current side of the mark. If you are tied to the mark, this means the bait will be directly under your boat. You can chum all day in this situation and throw the net a hundred times and never put a bait in the net. Not knowing how to catch bait is forgivable, but if you can afford the price of a flats boat, you ought to know the rules.
The shrimp supply has been reliable and mostly good sized. We saw lots of large shrimp and selects in the last few batches. Look for cobia and snook action to heat up in the next two weeks, and remember that trout are now off limits until January 01, 2004.
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