Big Trout Await
Capt. Fred Everson
December 24, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Winter fishing conditions have been in effect for the past few weeks with lots of wind, some rain, and fickle temperatures. It will be hard to plan a fishing trip in advance for the next few months because of regular cold fronts. Wind is the culprit, and when it blows harder than 15 knots out of the north with extreme low tides, it really limits where you can fish. On the bright side, it's a good time to explore, even if the fishing is slow. Clear water and low tides will show you holes that are invisible the rest of the year, and the safest way to look for them is at idle speed. Also beware that tides can be much lower than forecast when the wind is out of the north. It pushes water out of the bay, and getting caught inside a sandbar on a cold windy day is no fun.
Another result of extremely low tides is that it puts manatees in harms way. In December and January I see many manatees just outside the six-foot line between the Simmons Park boat ramp and Apollo Beach. If you run on plane here, it is advisable to stay a hundred yards or so off the poles that mark the manatee zone. I saw several manatees there earlier this month, just outside the poles, so take care. Even if they could read the signs, there is not enough water for manatees inside the zone on spring tides in the winter months.
I was surprised to see several pods of bait on the flats in front of Sand Key last week. The big sardines were in tight clusters but scattered. It's surprising to see bait in shallow water in December.
The sheepshead bite has been on in the Little Manatee River. We have been catching fish by casting live shrimp at the dock pilings around the mouth of the river, and some of the fish have been good sized. A few flounder have also found there way into the frying pan, also caught on live shrimp.
Trout season reopens on New Year's Day and there seem to be plenty of big trout on the flats in front of Cockroach Bay. Limit stays the same as it was – four fish between 15 and 20 inches with one fish over the 20-inch limit allowed in the bag. Trout are not particularly sturdy so hand with wet hands and use a hook remover to release fish.
When fishing for a trout dinner, I like to have a cooler half full of ice on board. Trout flesh is delicate and will quickly turn to mush unless it is iced. For the best eating fish, ice them as soon as they are caught, then gut the fish as soon as it's dead and return it to the ice.
My last trip was south of the Little Manatee River and I caught a single redfish on the flats on a high falling tide. I couldn't get anything to hit a variety of artificials, so I finally put the anchor out and rigged a chunk of frozen ladyfish on a jig. I caught one oversized redfish and a couple of hard head catfish on the cut bait.
Target Species:
Trout, redfish, bonnethead shark,
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