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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
October 14, 2005
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
There were more anglers on the water this week, and most reported good fishing on the Southshore of Tampa Bay for a number of species. I finally heard a Spanish mackerel report, and one fisherman told me he loaded the cooler just south of the Port Manatee Spoil Island.
The other good news this week was that there was white bait all over the flats, from the mouth of the Alafia River all the way to Joe Island. Much of this bait is still small, and requires a quarter inch net.
This has been the best crop of pompano in Tampa Bay I have ever seen, but the bite has been very tough lately. Capt. Billy Jordan and I skipped dozens of fish one afternoon last week, but never had a hit on pompano jigs. I tried some frozen shrimp, but couldn’t keep the hardhead catfish away from it. Jordan tried again a day later, fishing a rising tide right up until dark. He said he skipped even more fish than we did, but the end result was the same.
I had an email from a concerned angler who told me that there is illegal netting of pompano occurring practically every night between midnight and 5:00 am. One of the local crabbers told me the pompano are so thick, they are jumping in his boat every time he checks his traps.
Capt. Chet Jennings had a good day on redfish Thursday with a couple of keepers, and a few oversized fish. He said the snook bite was fair. Capt. Danny Guarino and Capt. Mark Thomas also reported steady action on short snook.
Look for snook to start moving off the flats and into the river mouths and backcountry potholes with the arrival of the first cold front. Water temperature is holding steady in the low eighties with the recent spell of summer like weather, but that’s bound to change soon. Prevailing winds have been out of the north for the past few days, so we should get a break from the heat soon.
Visit Capt. Fred online at www.tampabayfishingguide.com or call Shell Point
Bait and Tackle at (813) 641- 3662
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