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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
December 1, 2006
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fall fishing thus far has not been up to Tampa Bay standards of years past. The bright spots have been in deeper water -- Spanish mackerel, grouper, and snapper have all been consistently active and plentiful. Inshore fishing has been another story.
Snook are now staging in the rivers and backcountry passes, preparing their retreat from colder water. Capt. Danny Guarino reported catching some short snook, and said that the bite really took off in the afternoon. He also said catching bait was getting to be a pain, and that the next cold front would probably push what’s left out of the bay entirely.
Guarino also said the catch and release action on trout was great on the flats outside the mouth of the Little Manatee River. Most of the fish were good sized. Trout season will remain closed until New Year’s Day, so it’s catch and release only until then.
Ahead of a severe cold front I finally found a willing pod of redfish in shallow water. On a morning low tide on the flats off Simmons Park, I poled clients through several pods of fish, and they managed to hook four fish, and land two of them – 22 and 23 inches. I had been on these fish for several days prior without success. They finally ate soft plastic tails rigged on jig heads. These fish are very spooky in clear shallow water, and impossible to approach with anything other than waders or a push pole.
We also found some jack crevalles in the Little Manatee River. The first pod erupted at Devil’s Elbow, and we hooked a single fish out of it before they disappeared. Then as I was cleaning redfish at the dock, another pod blew up in the middle of the river and we hooked one fish on a jig. These jacks were all in the four-pound class, and not the jumbo jacks I have been seeing in recent weeks.
Water temperature should begin to drop, and will become ever clearer. Weeds and algae are about gone off the flats, and so are the snook. As the surface temps drop into the 60’s, snook will head into winter quarters upriver, and in the mangrove backcountry. They will still feed as long as it’s over 65 degrees, but snook become lethargic when winter conditions set in.
There are still some Spanish mackerel in the bay. I spoke to an angler off Simmons Park and he said he caught a bunch of macks just outside the six-foot line. He told me he came up from Sarasota and said that the red tide had messed up the fishing there again this year. We were luckier this summer, and saw none of the toxic tide on the Southshore flats.
Fishing should be good on the early morning falling tides in the beginning of the week. Full moon occurs about a week from today, and that should be it for bait on the flats, and snook.
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