Action Strong on reds and Big Trout
Capt. Stewart Ames
May 18, 2020
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
After not fishing for the full month of April courtesy of the stay at home orders, fishing captains in Pinellas County are back to catching fish. Recent trips have provided strong action on redfish and sea trout. The large redfish of March seem to have "shrunk" a little bit as many fish over 30 inches were caught during the last few weeks of March. In May, numbers have been decent, with most trips yielding 6 - 12 fish but most fish have been slot fish with few over 27 inches. No complaints though as action is fairly consistent.
Seatrout have made their annual move from inside locations out to the beaches. Some historically good areas have been a little thin on fish but others have been loaded up so, when targeted, big trout fishing has been productive. The average size of these fish is generally 18 inches or bigger so fish worthy of a picture are fairly abundant. Whitebait is catching almost all of these fish.
Snook have been a bit hit or miss the last few weeks. Plenty are being seen but getting the big females to bite has not been dependable. A cold front at the end of the first week in May dropped the temperatures back into the low seventies and this may have cooled these fish off. As of today's date, water temps are just about to the 80 degree mark and it is expected that this will get these bigger fish in an eating mood. Tarpon are beginning to show on local beaches as well so prime time for all of our major species is almost here. Good luck and good fishing.
Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
Trout starting to taper off. Redfish and snook fishing getting better. Tarpon beginning to show.
Target Species:
Snook, trout, redfish, tarpon
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