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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
January 17, 2004
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southshore Tampa Bay Fishing Report
Wind and cold weather has kept most of the local anglers off the water at Shell Point Bait and Tackle, but the diehards are catching some nice trout. Capt. Billy Nobles has been finding trout up to 18 inches on the opposite side of the bay. Capt. Chet Jennings is also catching trout south of the mouth of the Little Manatee River after his early morning duck hunts on his cast and blast charters.
The latest series of cold fronts pushed the water temperature back down into the high fifties, and that will shut down most of the local fishing for the next few days. Afternoon fishing remains a best bet for those who just can’t wait for better weather.
I am getting reports of sheepshead stacked up in some of the passes south of Little Cockroach Bay, but no one can seem to get them to bite.
There seem to be plenty of redfish around too, but they aren’t eating either. We need a couple of days of warm, sunny weather, but it’s not in the forecast. Snook season will reopen in a couple of weeks, but that’s a moot point right now. I won’t fish for them until the water temperature gets back up over 65 degrees. They are just not the same fish when the water is cold.
The best cold water artificial bait for me has been RipTide's two inch crab. It has been deadly when sight fishing redfish over sandy bottom. The technique has been to crawl the crab slowly in front of the fish with a steady retrieve. They can't seem to resist it.
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