Tampa Bay Fishing Report

Capt. TJ Stewart
September 20, 2005
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report

Snook on!

Let’s start with the Trout although we have not had many chances to fish for them. Most of the Trout that we have caught have been when we were catching Snook and Red fish. We did have one day last week that I did have some guys that really liked to eat Trout and we managed to catch them a limit but did have to work for a little while because there were a lot of small Trout. One of the biggest thing about Trout fishing this time of year is finding big schools of bait on the flats. Where there is bait usually there is fish. Once you find the bait then find the edge of the flat where the grass drops off or it gets deeper. This is were you want to anchor and if you have enough bait throw out some chum and get these fish feeding..

Then let’s talk about the Red fish. This fishing has been a lot of fun and we have managed to get these fish into a frenzy just about every time we have fished for them. If you are looking for locations to fish for these fish this time of year the tide is a big factor. On a really high tide you want to be fishing up in and around the mangroves. Then on the lower tide you find the edge of the flat where these fish will fall off. Having a lot of bait is another big factor when fishing for the Reds so that you can chum these fish into feeding.. Most of the trips that we have been fishing lately we have had to catch bait a few times a day. We have had a lot of nice Red fish over the last couple of weeks most of these fish have been within the slot 18-27 inches with a few oversize fish. The fish of the week was a 28 inch Red fish.

Snook, Snook and more Snook This fishing has been very good as well. Like the Red fish just about each trip you can get these fish into a frenzy. This is just like the Red fish in the locations to fish for them on the different tides. Most of these fish lately have averaged 20-25 inches which on the light tackle is a lot of fun. If you are looking for a Snook to bring home then you just have to do a little harder fishing We have had a lot of nice 26-30 inches Snook if you are wanting to keep a Snook to bring home. One of the big factors for the Snook fishing lately has been bigger bait for bigger fish but the biggest Snook caught this season we caught last week on a bait that was very small, almost too small to put on the hook but we managed to catch a Snook that was 40 inches long. It was an awesome fish as you can see in the picture. It was a great fight. To see pictures come visit www.castawaychartersinc.com.

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