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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
July 6, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Water clarity in the bay is excellent at present, but the surface is matted with great plots of algae. I was fishing in Mag’s Hole on an incoming tide last week and there was so much stuff floating through the pass that I couldn’t keep a line clear.
I headed offshore to look for cobia on the range markers and channel buoys, but saw only two. I had a plastic shrimp rigged and was prospecting under the cans for tripletail when two cobia surfaced next to the boat as I was reeling in. The smaller fish made a dash for the shrimp and quickly sounded, but I didn’t get the hook set with the soft tipped rod, and it pulled seconds later. Those were the only cobia I saw all day. I did lose a couple of baits to Spanish mackerel.
There are plenty of mackerel in the bay, but most of the fish I’ve seen on the surface have been small and unwilling to take a chrome spoon. Capt. Chet Jennings says there are plenty of mackerel around the mouth of the bay. He’s been fishing for tarpon, and says the mackerel have cut him off numerous times.
The water is so clear that you can see the bottom at 12 feet. This makes netting threadfins a chore, especially in places where they get a lot of nets thrown at them. In the Bahia Beach Basin for example, these baits are practically uncatchable – even with a 10 foot net with half-inch mesh. I threw the net six times one day to catch a dozen baits. I finally gave up on them, and went out to deeper water to look around some of the range markers. These baits aren’t quite as skittish, and I was able to fill the livewell with a single toss.
Little Cockroach bay continues to hold good numbers of redfish. I have been fishing them on the high tide, pitching chunks of threadfins on half ounce RipTide jig heads. The trick is to get the bait deep into the shadow line, and then just wait until a redfish picks it up. I have caught redfish and snook around several of the passes using this technique in recent weeks.
We will have a strong rising tide for the next few days beginning late morning.
I like to target redfish with these conditions, and there are plenty of fish around. When the fish are out on the flats, I have been freelining live threadfins and catching some big fish. But even the bottom of the slot fish seem to have no trouble gulping the large baits.
I have had good luck tail hooking them on 2/0 circle hooks. Threadfins don’t hold up as well as pilchards do when hooked through the nostril. They also cast a lot better when hooked through the tail.
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