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Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
October 5, 2001
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Well fall is finally here. I must say that I?m ready for some cool weather after a hot summer in the sun. Anticipation is high right now, we had our first cold snap this weekend and that along with the last tropical storm has put our water temperature where it needs to be to really set the snook off. This week has turned in some excellent fishing, redfish and snook along with a few trout and a few cobia to mix it up a bit.
We are catching lots of medium size snook on live bait and just starting to catch a few on the fly. As the month progresses and the waters cool I expect to start sticking larger ones on the live bait and more numbers on the fly. Snook are definitely a lot more aggressive and consistent now that fall has set in!
As for redfish I doubt it will get any better, they are literally everywhere. It seems like I am even catching them in spots I don?t expect them to be. Today we left them biting after boating about 25 in the 23 to 26 inch class, not monsters but perfect eating size and great fighters. I have also located some schools of larger fish in the 30 to 35 inch class but because of the shallow open sand bottom they are feeding on they are a bit finicky. None the less they are very catchable on live bait and fly, the battle they put up is well worth the extra effort.
Trout are very abundant right now although I haven?t been targeting them, we are still catching a few keepers each day.
Cobia are starting to show up on the flats, we hooked and lost a forty pounder this week and landed a few smaller ones. Yesterday I blew a perfect opportunity on a 60 plus pounder. I just didn?t see him till he was too close to the boat, he was moving too fast. Gees wouldn?t I have loved to see my client Scott hook up on that fish.
Well If your planning a fishing trip over the next month I would definitely have to say redfish and snook are top on the list. The cobia fishing should get better and we should see those big kings show up offshore any day now.
See you on the water, and good luck fishing!
Capt. Matt
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