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Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
January 31, 2001
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Redfish, redfish, redfish, that is the name of the game now and the action is getting hotter. Everyday on the water we are running into more and more redfish. My partner Capt. Shawn and I have been able to locate several schools over the past couple of weeks and we have been able to capitalize on all of them. It's almost as if we have a place to catch them no matter what the tide is doing. The choice bait is definitely live shrimp but we have also had some very productive days on reds with flies' and jigs. Some of the areas we have been catching redfish on flies' are great for beginners, the fish are laying in areas where the water is a little deeper and the fish are not as spooky. Long casts are not a necessity in this situation. Some locations are in extremely shallow, very clear water, where it takes a good fly caster to pick them off, they are very challenging. That is also where jigs come in handy. Jigs have actually been more productive in the very skinny water because of the distance you are able to cast them. My favorite colors are gold flake and root beer flake. As for flies,' hands down, natural colored shrimp patterns are best.
Redfish are not the only thing on the bite though, believe it or not, we have been getting on a few snook just about each and everyday. Live shrimp and shrimp flies with a little yellow in them seem to do the trick. Most of the snook are of the smaller size 20 to 25 inches, that is a start and indication of better things to come shortly.
We also boated some real big sheephead this week in the 6 to 7 pound range. As for other fish we are catching a few keeper trout, flounder, some smaller grouper and that pretty much sums it up for this past week.
My partner Capt. Shawn and I have some short notice availability. So if you would like to get onto some hot redfishing give us a call. Also if you are interested in fishing this spring you need to call soon, we are running out of space. Remember its already time to start making those tarpon plans, mid march through April can actually be better for catching those big boys than the traditional summer beach fishing.
Fly guys, if the water keeps warming the way it has been, we should be right on track for early season snook fly fishing which starts in late February.
Hope you have enjoyed the report, and get out there and take advantage of our beautiful weather!
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