Fishing Tampa Bay Before The Cold!
Capt. TJ Stewart
January 20, 2009
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
I believe change is coming! With the weather, that is. It might actually feel like it's really winter time. If the temperature does indeed get down in the 30's like the forecast is saying it will, the water temperature is going to drop drastically. When the water temperature drops, we won't be able to fish with live bait. We will have to move on to shrimp and lures.
Fishing has been excellent lately. Trout have come back in season so we've started fishing for them more. Sometimes each time a bait hits the water a fish is on, and other days they don't really want to bite. We certainly haven't had any trouble catching a good number of fish to take home everyday. The better days of trout fishing have been on cloudy days where the water has been clear off the edge of the flats.
Last week we managed to catch a few redfish each day, but for the most part, it was a little slower than usual. I have noticed that there isn't as many mullet on the flats lately. When there aren't as many mullet on the flats it seems like redfish are harder to catch. Most of the fish we have been catching have been in really shallow water. The fish get spooked easily when you're fishing for them in shallow water where the boat is hardly floating. The mullet make a lot of noise so they redfish don't spook as bad when they are around. The redfish also like to feed on the crustaceans, crabs, and shrimp that the mullet kick up while they are swimming.
Snook fishing has been unbelievably awesome lately. The numbers of fish we've caught and the sizes of them are off the charts, and we've been catching them with live bait. Much like snook fishing in the spring, once the fish are chummed up they get into a frenzy. We have caught many great snook over the past few weeks. Please visit www.castawaychartersinc.com and book your trip today.
More Fishing Reports:
