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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
July 31, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Afternoon fishing this week continued to be a crapshoot with thunderstorms lurking in every direction. My fishing at the beginning of the week was confined to early morning. I had the boat in the water before daybreak on Monday, looking to head to Egmont Key for some shark fishing, but the Skyway was surrounded by boomers with lightning coming out of them. We stayed in the bay instead and opted to try for some redfish in Little Cockroach Bay. I had some frozen threadfins on the boat, but wanted to net some fresh bait. The water was murky and the surface choppy and we came up empty. We caught a single 25-inch redfish and a couple of catfish on the frozen bait.
Then my partner Gabe Krakowski and I ventured into the middle of the bay to fish for Spanish mackerel. We found plenty of fish on the surface just inside the ship channel north of Port Manatee, but they were mostly small and would not hit the chrome spoons we tossed at them. I finally broke out my 7-weight fly rod rigged with a tiny shrimp pattern. That proved to be the ticket, and it got hit right away, but it was the only small fly I had with me and it got cut off on the second cast. The small macks were feeding on glass minnows. As with most gamefish, it pays to match the hatch, with size of the lure being more important than color.
Capt. Mark Thomas called me early one morning later in the week to do some pompano fishing around the Skyway. We caught three pomps and one permit on flats around the bridges using Doc’s Goofy Jigs, and short skirted yellow pompano jigs.
Snook fishing at the Port Manatee Spoil Island has been a disappointment. My last two trips there came up empty. I spoke with Capt. Chet Jennings as he fished the mouth of the Little Manatee River and told me his experiences at the island this year were similar.
For more information, call Capt. Fred Everson at 813 830 8890, or visit his website at tampabayfishingguide.com.
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