 |
Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
August 6, 2002
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Hello fellow fisherman! Hope you?re enjoying your summer. It?s been pretty hot lately but compared to the weather they?re having up north lately we should be feeling pretty lucky down here in the sunshine state. I thought the idea was Florida in the winter and Maine, or perhaps the Smoky Mountains, in the summer. I don?t know but if you where going by just purely temperture I?d guess the coast of Florida would be the place to stay. Many of my fishermen coming from the north are talking about temperatures of 105. I guess I should feel lucky, the hottest days are only reaching 95, and with a sea breeze it?s really not that bad. Anyway, enough about the weather, lets get down to business.
Our snook fishing has remained strong, on some of the better days we have been catching over 20 and the action has been fairly consistent from day to day. Most of the fish are smaller in the 22 to 25 inch class, but a trophy over 36 inches is still possible.
Redfishing has started to pick up and most days we are able to catch a few slot fish. Nearly all the reds we are catching at this time are falling in the slot, ranging between 22 and 24 inches. I just started to see some big bull reds schooling up. Remember most of these fish are in the 30 to 34 inch class, sometimes larger and when you get on them the fishing can be good as it gets. Basically you?re either reeling them in as fast as you can cast or you?re not catching any. The schools are large, sometimes over a thousand fish. As long as you?re getting the bait in front of the fish you will be catching them. They are probably the least finicky we fish for all year. Hands down traditional August and September our are best months for bruiser redfish, although October can be equally good. Well that?s what we have going on around the flats now with the exception of a few trout and snapper.
Now for offshore, over the last couple of weeks our offshore fishing has picked up considerably. Especially for little tunny and Spanish mackerel. Many days over the past couple of weeks we have spent the morning chasing snook and reds, the afternoons on those drag screaming little tunny. Most of the little tunny are running good size, I would say between 10 and 15 pounds. When they?re hot it?s fast as you can put a bait in the water. Last weekend fly enthusiast Ran Edelstein traveled from north Florida to spend a couple days fly-fishing. We spent most of our time offshore and it was awesome. The first day we had to work for the little tunny, the second it was as fast as it gets. Both Ran and I sat in one spot pulling in little tunny up to 14 pounds. By 12 o?clock we had given up, the fish had just plain worn us both out. Even on 10 weight fly rods battles where lasting up to 15 minutes, pulling as hard as we could without snapping the rod. What a lot of fun!
Well I guess that pretty much sums it up. I hope you have enjoyed my report. The next couple of months should be great whether you prefer light tackle or fly-fishing. If we can?t find them inshore then we can find them off. Give me call if you?re looking for a fishing trip. Until next time, Good Luck Fishing!
Capt. Matt Ercoli
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
