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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
March 20, 2006
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sheepshead bite continues to roll in deeper water
The best sheepshead bite in years shows no signs of letting up, but the fish have moved. They spent all winter in the holes and passes of the mangrove backcountry south of the Little Manatee River, but now they are in deeper water getting ready to spawn. Francis Henderson came in with a cooler full of big sheepshead and mangrove snapper caught on the artificial reefs off Bahia Beach and Port Manatee on Friday.
“We went through six dozen shrimp in an hour and a half,” he said.
Capt. Chet Jennings said he had a good snook bite on his Friday morning trip, and put one keeper on the boat. Captain Jon Turner also said the snook bite was hot, but most of his fish were just short of the 26 inch minimum, but he said his clients also got broke off 5 times.
Guides report that some good sized bait has finally found its way under the Skyway fishing piers, but netting it is still very tough. One captain told me this morning that he thought that last summer’s red tide really took it’s toll on pilchards. I’m inclined to agree. It sure killed a lot of other baitfish – pinfish were hit particularly hard.
The bright spot of the bait situation has been shrimp all winter, but that dried up on Wednesday. Shrimpers speculate that the full moon had something to do with it, but whatever the cause, shrimp were in short supply Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We got only half of what was ordered yesterday, but they were good sized.
No word yet on Spanish mackerel, but some tarpon are showing up on the flats. Threadfin herring have just begun to arrive around the mouth of the bay -- mack’s should be right behind them.
Visit Capt. Fred online at www.tampabayfishingguide.com or call Shell Point
Bait and Tackle at (813) 641- 3662.
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