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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
December 26, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
The first major cold front of the season has come and gone, and it pushed water temperatures back into the 60s. That should send snook scurrying for deeper, warmer water, but I’m still finding a few on the flats. My buddy Gabe Krakowski of Brooklyn hooked a 26 inch snook on a jig rigged with a plastic shrimp just south of Apollo Beach, as well as a redfish and a cobia. It was only the second or third cobia I have seen all fall, and it was on the back on an eagle ray in three feet of water.
Tuesday we had a nice midafternoon low tide – perfect for wading -- but I did not expect much of a bite under high pressure following the cold front. We found three pods of redfish off Simmons Park, and Gabe hooked up with soft plastic and landed a fat 23 inch fish. I was throwing a snook fly at them, and they would have nothing to do with it.
We also saw several bonnethead sharks, and the drop in water temperature will concentrate them on the flats. I have been casting free-lined live shrimp at them with good success, and taking home the occasional fish to eat. The food quality of this fish is excellent. Tom White of Skipper’s Smokehouse in North Tampa also hooked a very big blacktip on my lightest rod as it cruised past the boat while we drifted off Mangrove Point. Mercifully the jig hook straightened or the fish would have either spooled us or probably broke my rod.
Winter patterns should settle in during the next few weeks. Trout are back on the table New Years Day, and the local guides I spoke to this past week all said that there seem to be plenty of big trout around. The deep grass flats in front of the Cockroach Bay boat ramp, and those from Piney Point to Joe Island are the southshore hot spots. Popping corks and live shrimp are tough to beat.
For more information, call Capt. Fred Everson at 813 830 8890, or visit his website at tampabayfishingguide.com.
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