Snook Bite Remains Steady
Capt. Fred Everson
April 15, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
I have been seeing some very big jack crevalle in the Little Manatee River this week. After fishing 3 days in a row with company and catching very little, I hooked five fish off my dock the afternoon after they left, but landed only one of them. The other four broke me off on pilings. I was tossing RipTide Curtailers on their half ounce jig heads.
There were some kingfish on the nearshore reefs off Pinellas Point early in the week, but they were gone by Tuesday. They should be back. The water temperature is a near kingfish perfect 75 degrees. There are plenty of mackerel in the bay, but as yet they are staying deep for the most part. They should start crashing the surface soon as the threadfins arrive. That could be any day.
I have also seen a few tarpon crashing mullet around the mouth of the Little Manatee River this week. They should invade Tampa Bay in force between now and the first week in May.
I haven't seen any cobia in my last few trips and only a very few eagle rays. There were some ling on the flats a couple of weeks ago, and some bull sharks and bonnetheads, but they all disappeared when the fronts came through last weekend. Same thing is true for the redfish I have been seeing south of Apollo Beach. We saw only two or three reds on my last trip.
Early Friday morning I rowed my canoe down the mangrove shoreline between Sand Key and Big Pass. I didn't see much on the way south, but coming back later in the morning I saw plenty of small snook. These fish have been on the flats for a while as they are silver colored. Those that have just come out of the river are usually much darker. I saw only a few redfish, and most of those appeared to be short.
Capt. Danny Guarino fished the west side of the bay for redfish and had much better luck than I did on Friday. He said he was on a school of big redfish with live bait and they about chewed the bottom out of the boat.
You can visit the captain's website at Tampabayfishingguide.com for charter info, or phone him at 813 830 8890.
Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
The next few days should provide a good opportunity to wade on tailing redfish. We will have some low tides early in the morning, and the wind is supposed to calm down by Thursday
Target Species:
Redfish, snook, cobia, flounder, Spanish and King Mackerel
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