Cold, Windy = Slow Fishing
Capt. Fred Everson
February 20, 2009
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
If you are going to fish for anything besides sheepshead, it's a good idea to keep an eye on the water temperature. You don't need a thermometer, you can just go online if you have access to a computer and Google Florida Marine Weather. At this writing water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico was 59 degrees, which is mid winter cold by Florida standards. Before the severe cold fronts of early February, it was unseasonably mild and water temps hovered in the high 60's. That meant you could still find snook and cobia on the flats, and indeed I did on several trips. Since then it has been tough going
Sheepshead offer a good winter fishing opportunity. They can take the cold, but you will need a canoe or a kayak or airboat to get at them. You can find plenty of the striped fish on the flats when the tide is up, but they are wary and tough to catch. When the tide drops and they retreat into deeper holes and mangrove passes the bite usually heats up. Capt. Mark Thomas has been targeting Southshore sheepshead on extreme low tides for years now fishing out of his airboat. His technique is to tail hook live shrimp on jig heads and it's very effective when the fish are confined to the deeper holes in and around Cockroach bay.
The weather returned to normal mid month, and that should bring the water temperature back up to a more fishermen friendly level. There have been some redfish around the mouth of the Little Manatee River, and they will generally feed in the afternoon after the water has had a chance to heat up. I have had some luck recently on the flats in front of Sand Key with a mix of fish that are just short, and a few that have been too big. Suddenly the slot-sized fish have become scarce.
A break in the cold weather could heat up the trout bite. I haven't been hearing much about trout since the season opened the first of the year. Just prior to that we were catching big trout on the flats outside of Little Cockroach Bay, but I haven't hooked a single trout since the water turned cold.
I have seen some redfish on the flats south of the Little Manatee River on recent trips, but they have been skittish and hard to approach. I finally caught a single fish when I got out of my canoe to wade. Even with waders, the water was very cold.
The bait should start to show up in the next few weeks. The first place I look for greenbacks is in the Bahia Beach Basin – usually around the end of February, but it really depends on water temperature.
Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
Stay home until the wind lays down and the water warms up.
Target Species:
Sheepshead
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