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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
January 25, 2006
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
This week brought more cold weather, high winds and extremely low tides, and fishing was slow on the southshore of Tampa Bay. When the temperature began to rise in the 70’s Thursday afternoon, things began to pick up.
Capt. Nick Winger has been fishing some rock piles around Apollo Beach catching big snapper. He’s fishing live shrimp on number one circle hooks on light line, and says the snapper have been averaging a couple of pounds. Finding hard bottom is the key to catching snapper.
Capt. Mark Thomas took me fishing in his airboat on Friday. We fished for trout and sheepshead in Mag's Holes and caught a few 16-inch trout and a single sheepshead on live shrimp. Thomas said the tide was too high for the fish too concentrate in the hole. He says it’s best on minus tides when fish are forced off the flats. The last two hours of the outgoing tide have been the most productive for sheepshead.
I got overboard in my flip-flops to take some pictures and discovered why I haven’t been seeing any fish on the flats. The water temperature is currently in the high 50’s, which is pretty cold for most species. Daytime highs are forecast in the 80’s for the next few days, and that should bring water temps back up, and turn the bite on.
We saw quite a few redfish in Little Cockroach Bay from the airboat, but most were in backcountry depressions that are accessible only by airboat or kayak. I’m hearing very little about snook, but I suspect that’s mostly due to a scarcity of sardines.
Pinfish have also been hard to come by for several weeks. Gulf shrimp are the only abundant bait supply just now, but that should change as soon as the water temperature rises a bit.
Visit Capt. Fred online at www.tampabayfishingguide.com or call Shell Point
Bait and Tackle at (813) 641- 3662.
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