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Tampa Bay, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater & St. Petersburg

Capt. Clay Eavenson
November 8, 2007
Tarpon Springs - Saltwater Fishing Report

Scouting for my V.I.P. Client

My

son turned 3 years old last month. He's become my best fishing

buddy... on the neighborhood dock at least. But now, as he would

say, he's a "big boy". When I left this morning to go check some

new water for fish, he all but cried his eyes out that I didn't

take him along with me. He's been on the boat with me before but

never for a serious fishing trip. Usually it's just been a trip

to the beach to hang out with his mom, his little sister, and

me. So today when I saw those bright blue eyes turn dim with

tears because he couldn't go, I decided that if I found good

numbers of fish today that I would take him out tomorrow and let

him try to catch his first redfish.



I didn't leave the house early today because I knew the place I

wanted to check out and it required a high tide. High tide in

New Port Richey was going to be around 11:45am today. So I

rolled out of bed at the crack of 8am and took my time prepping

the little boat (Ranger 169 Ghost). I left the house about 10am

and hit the Ramp in New Port Richey around 11am.



I

have been fishing out of the big boat (Ranger 2200 bay) so much

lately that I forgot that the Ghost had the back of it strapped

down. So I backed it in and tried to get it off the trailer 2 or

3 times before I remembered that it wasn't going to come off the

trailer until I let it loose of it's binds. What was really cool

was that the ramp had absolutely no traffic but there were a few

people at Hooters watching me back the boat down like an amature,

all the while a big fat sticker on my back truck window proudly

said, "Capt. Clay Fishing Charters" on it. I laughed to myself

at how silly I looked while sporting an advertisement about my

naval prowess on my truck. Oh well... no body's perfect.



Once I was through with my circus at the ramp I headed South to

a little bay that I had seen a nice school of fish at over two

months ago. There was no guarantee that they would be there

today but it just seemed right. When I shut the motor off and

calmly dropped the trolling motor, I approached the shallow

point where I'd seen the school of redfish before. They weren't

there. That kind of placed a little doubt in my mind about the

day's plans. Never the less, I pressed on. I worked the

shoreline for about another 150 yards and I spotted the first

fish. He was lying there undisturbed and I made a perfect cast.

When the bait came close he turned it down. More doubt crept

into my mind. But it wouldn't stay for long as I quickly found

that he was the lead fish in a school of over 50 fish. I hit the

Powerpole and began making calculated casts. The third cast

produced the first fish of the day. It wasn't a large fish but

it was a fish and I felt the doubt begin to melt away.



Hooking

and landing that fish spooked the remainder of that school. I

never found them again but I kept working the shoreline and when

I came to a similar spot I found a similar school of fish. This

was a long stretch of shallow water lined with mangroves. But

every 200-300 yards or so, there was a break in the mangroves

and a shallow sand flat with sparse grass extending form the

water. The fish seemed to be milling around the grass that

extended from the shallow water. I hooked another 3 fish at the

next little sand cove.



After I had thoroughly bothered that small school of fish I

moved on. Eventually, I came to a tight cut through which opened

up to a large back country bay. Just inside this bay was a small

island that had a deep cut along it's Northern shore. The water

was crystal clear and I could see them . Tons of redfish were

just hanging on the edge of this deep hole. I began casting

around the edges and managed 6 more fish before the tide started

dropping to a point where I needed to leave.



On

the way back to the ramp I stopped at a few islands near the

mouth of a river that looked similar to the last island that had

produced so well. I decided to try them. As I worked my way up

to them I spotted what looked like a submerged log. It wasn't.

It was a 35"+ snook. I tried my best to get a good cast on her

before I floated over her and I thought I had made a good

presentation. But she disagreed and turned up her nose and swam

off. That's when I saw all the redfish. They were everywhere. I

worked those Islands for another hour and caught 8-9 more

redfish and 1 nice trout.



It looks like I've found my fish for tomorrow's very important

client. My 3 year old son. He's never caught a redfish before

and if he gets one tomorrow he may never remember it; but I will

and I can't wait.



Today the fish were broken up into two groups. I found good

numbers of fish that seemed to like a change in a shallow,

mangrove lined, flat. Whenever I found a large sand patch with

tall grass in it I found fish. I also had good luck near islands

that had deep cuts next to them. I tried a variety of baits

including clear/gold flake Exude RT Slugs, gold spoons, and Mirr-O-Lure

Mirr-O-Mullet. None of which coaxed a nibble. But, the hot bait

for the day was Gulp shrimp in a natural color rigged on a

Mustad weedless weighted hook. Total for the day was 15 redfish

and 1 trout. Check back tomorrow for my son's fishing report. I

have high hopes.

 

More Fishing Reports:

 

Tampa Bay Area Fishing Guide, Capt. Clay Eavenson, specializes in Light Tackle, Inshore, Fishing Charters for Snook, Redfish, Trout, Tarpon, and More! He guides on the inshore waters of Tampa Bay, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, and everywhere in between. Every time that you go on a Tampa Bay area fishing charter with Capt. Clay as your fishing guide, you will be provided with the use of the best boats, top shelf fishing gear, and the opportunity to have a trip of a lifetime.

Contact Info:

Capt. Clay Fishing Charters
7935 Grasmere Dr.
Land O Lakes, FL 34637
Phone: 813-300-2147
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