 |
Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
May 16, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week saw plenty of wind and more than a little smoke on the Southshore of Tampa Bay. You had to pick your days but early in the week Capt. Billy Jordan and I found some hot fishing for grouper trolling deep diving plugs over rock piles around the Sunshine Skyway. We put three keepers in the box in two passes and called it a day. The following day we went back to the same spot and didn’t get the first hit.
Capt. Chet Jennings said the trout bite was hot south of the Port Manatee Spoil Island. He also reported catching a few Spanish mackerel and bluefish.
Capt. Larry Malinoski reported a good bite on Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle around Port Manatee on Thursday. He said that part of the bay was covered with bay anchovies and threadfin herring, and the macks were tearing them up.
Friday the wind shifted and blew out of the northwest and the smoke rolled in from the fires in north Florida in Georgia. It was so thick on Friday afternoon I could not see across the Little Manatee River in the early afternoon. A hazardous day to be on the water to be sure – not only was the visibility restricted to less than 100 yards, the smoke was almost too much to bear.
By Saturday morning the smoke had diminished and the winds died down so I hopped on the boat to do a little scouting around the mouth of the Little Manatee River. Water clarity was murky, and while I did not see many fish, I saw numerous pods of big baits. I didn’t have a cast net with me but I’m quite certain they were pilchards. I did come across a big fish cruising over the flats in front of Sand Key. Turned out to be a four-foot blacktip shark that followed a plastic mullet back to the boat, but ultimately refused it.
For more information, call Capt. Fred Everson at 813 830 8890, or visit his website at tampabayfishingguide.com.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
