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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
September 7, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Despite the recent spate of hot weather, Southshore fishing has been better than expected. Keli Emery of Plant City told me she caught two tripletail over 10 pounds on the south side of the bay under buoys. She prefers to fish the buoys instead of range markers because they get less pressure. Small sardines caught both tripletail.
Emery also reported success on redfish in Little Cockroach Bay fishing the shadow line of the mangroves on a high tide with cut bait. She used the same small sardines by simply pinching the head off.
The guides who fish for snook are reporting tougher fishing. Capt. Chet Jennings said he caught only four short fish on his most recent trip. I think snook are more affected by hot weather than redfish. Nocturnal feeders by nature, the heat of late summer drives them even more to eat after dark.
Capt. Danny Guarino told me he has been fishing the other side of the bay and until recently, he had some success on redfish. But that bite shut down recently, and the snook that are there don’t seem to want to eat anything.
Capt. Mark Thomas has also been fishing the St. Pete side of the bay and said that things are starting to pick up. He’s been catching a few snook, some redfish, and a pompano here and there.
The most consistent local bite has been jack crevalle in the Little Manatee River, but the fish are not schooled up. Instead they travel in small packs of two and three fish. Some of them are pushing 15 pounds.
I haven’t heard much from the deeper parts of the bay. The weather has been fickle, with thunderstorms popping up very suddenly at all hours of the day, so there hasn’t been much action grouper.
I’m still getting a few tarpon reports from the Skyway, but the fish are scattered and finicky. Even when you can see them rolling doesn’t mean they will eat.
Hopefully the fall run of cobia will be stronger than what we saw in the spring. For whatever reason, we haven’t had the numbers of cobia on this side of the bay for several years running. Maybe we are just in a temporary downward tick in the population. Cobia are among the fastest growing fish, so it could be temporary. A 25-pound cobia is about two years old, so young fish must eat everything that doesn’t eat them first.
Some good reports of hot trout fishing are coming in from the south side of the bay. The deeper edge of the flats between Cockroach Bay and Piney Point has been productive in recent weeks.
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