Snook Bite is On Again
Capt. Fred Everson
May 12, 2009
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
The wind continues to howl, much as it has since January. But with the water temperature hovering in the mid 70s for weeks now, something had to give.
I got up early on Tuesday needing one more fish for the family fish fry, so I decided to try for trout in front of Sand Key, south of the Little Manatee River. I poled the skiff across the flats while blind casting a Mirrolure hoping for a trout. Instead I hooked a 24-inch snook. The water was still murky on the low rising tide, but I could see more fish in the shallows. They were snook and there were a lot of them. It looked like the whole river emptied out onto the flats at once, and the fish varied in size from 42-inch trophies to 12-inch dinks. Outside of the one fish that hit the plug, the rest just scooted away. I decided to head up to the flats in front of Cockroach to see if I could catch some live bait.
When I got there I was surprised to see no one there throwing nets. Usually this is not a good sign, but I saw some surface disturbance and it turned out to be white bait – more bait than I have ever seen in 15 years of guiding. I filled the well with two tosses of the net and then motored back to the flats in front of Mag's Hole. I still needed a trout, and after several fish bumped the chartreuse 7MR, I switched to a 52MS – a silver slow sinker. Five casts later I hooked what I thought was a jack crevalle, but it turned out to be a very big trout. That mission accomplished I went back to where I had seen all the snook.
I free lined a large pilchard and it only took a minute for it to get hit. That was a 27-inch snook, and the next five casts yielded carbon copies of that fish. I also caught a keeper redfish, which also went into the cooler. For the better part of an hour I caught a fish on every cast. That makes up for a lot of bluebird days of no fish.
Captain Fred can be reached by calling 813 830 8890, or visit his website at Tampabayfishingguide.com.
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