 |
Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
February 26, 2004
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report
Just when the snook fishing began to get really hot, another front bombed across the bay. It didn’t quite shut the fishing down, but it did lower water temperatures a bit. High wind and heavy rain has kept most anglers off the water for the past few days.
Before the weather turned sour, the Captains fishing out of Shell Point Bait and Tackle were catching plenty of snook, and there were even a few keepers in the mix. Capt. Chet Jennings of Balm said that the fishing was particularly good last weekend. He told me he boated plenty of fish in some of the passes on the Southshore flats on live greenbacks he caught at the Skyway. Capt. Billy Nobles of Riverview, also reported hot fishing for snook, and came back to the dock one day last weekend with three keepers. Both captains also had some big trout mixed in the bag.
I got out one day last week with Capt. Mel Berman of 970 WFLA AM and Tom White, co proprietor of Skipper’s Smokehouse in North Tampa. We found plenty of redfish, but the only fish we put in the boat were over the 27-inch max. Some problem, huh? These fish have been on the flats all winter, eating little white clams and sand dollars. The trick to catching them has been long casts on light line. Two-inch RipTide crabs have caught the most fish, but Mirrolure’s 7MR, plastic shrimp, and four inch white shad tails, have all caught fish, too.
We also came across several pods of snook, but they were having none of it. I did have one fish blow up on a pearl colored RipTide jerk bait, and that’s been about it for snook on the flats.
Larry Malinoski of Ruskin reports that the mackerel are in the Gulf, just the other side of the Skyway. If the run is anything like last year’s, this season’s crop of Spanish mackerel should be great. Speaking of mackerel, we are going to run a mackerel tournament on Sunday May 02. Details are still in the works, but you can email me at [email protected] for more information, and I will post the format and rules on my website at www.tampabayfishingguide.com as soon as it becomes available. Call Shell Point Bait and Tackle for more information at (813) 641 3662.
The May Mack Attack won’t have to do much to beat our last jack tournament. Not a single jack was caught by any of the registered anglers last Sunday. We had a beautiful day to fish, however, and celebrated that with a jambalaya feast following the non-weigh in. Don’t know where the jacks have been all winter, but they have certainly been scarce.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
