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Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
March 5, 2003
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Well Well, spring is in the air and midday water temps have reached the low 70’s. That equals one thing, great fishing. Finally after a long and what seemed like endless cold winter we have begun to breakout. Snook, redfish and very large trout have begun their invasion onto our shallow clear backcounty flats. We are gearing up for some of the fastest flats fishing of the year. This past week has been a solid one for snook, they are just starting to awaken from their near dormant stage in the frigid waters of winter. They are moving onto the shallow water staging areas for what is some the most consistent snook fishing we have to offer. This past week we had a day where we boated over 15 snook, not a lot by any means but a real good start. A few more days of some good warm weather and snook fishing will explode. Days of 25 to 40 snook will be the norm and on the very best days it is possible to break a hundred.
We have also had some decent red fishing this past week, most of the reds are in the 20 to 24 inch class and perfect eating size. They too have really started to pick up and it seems each and everyday I run across more and more of them. A lot of fellow fishing guides are seeing the same thing and the general consensus is that we are predicting a great year for redfish.
Trout have really come on strong. Although this winter has been good on numbers the really large ones have just started to really turn on. Yesterday we caught a pile of trout, nearly everyone was between 18 to 24 inches and it should only get better.
We are also catching some nice pompano mixed in with the trout. Most are in the 3 to 4 pound range, they are my personal favorite to eat.
Spanish mackerel have moved into the bay in larger numbers and the average nice size is between 20 and 24 inches.
I have not been offshore yet but I figure in about three weeks or so the kingfish and little tunny should really start cranking up as well. We were still catching some flounder and really nice sheeps head this week. We had a sheeps head that would have gone 7 pounds I bet.
That pretty much sums up our catches lately and it’s only going to get much better from here on. I still have a few days left in March and April. If you are planning a tarpon trip you had better start making plans. May, June and July are the very best months and I am filling up fast. I hope you have enjoyed my report, if you’re heading out on the water in the near future good luck and have a great time fishing
Capt. Matt.
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