September Has Been Hot and Dusty
Capt. Fred Everson
September 24, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
The wind calmed down and thunderstorms abated this past week, and local fishing picked up. Capt. Chet Jennings reported a great day on Bahia Beach reef where his clients hooked and landed a 50 pound tarpon, a bunch of big Spanish mackerel and a few limits of mangrove snapper.
I had two trips last week, one 8 to 12, and the second 4 to 8. The first trip was pretty futile. We hooked a Spanish mackerel on the flats on a pompano jig, but the fish cut through the 30 pound leader next to the boat. The only other bite the rest of the morning was a small mangrove snapper. We fished a variety of live pilchards, pinfish, and chunks of threadfin herring in and around Little Cockroach Bay targeting redfish and snook, all to no avail.
The afternoon trip was much better. First cast we hooked up with a 25 inch snook, followed by another short. The we finally got into a 25 inch redfish. It ate a quarter sized pinfish under a float. Shortly thereafter we hooked another red on another pinfish. In between we caught a dozen catfish. Hardly a stellar outing, but a lot better than the morning trip.
There was also a lot of bait stacked up in the mouth of the Little Manatee River early in the week, and every game fish imaginable was in on the action. Around sunset I saw schools of lady thrashing on the surface, along with some snook under the docks, some jack crevalle over the oyster bars, and even a pod of tarpon were feeding in the channel.
Water clarity is starting to improve, though temperature is still in the high 80s. It was a bit cooler on Saturday, and that should pick the action up a bit for the next few days.
Join Capt. Fred for an evening of inshore fishing instruction at Skipper's Smokehouse on Tuesday, Oct 14 7 to 10 pm. $25 fee includes a copy of the captain's latest book -- "Fish the Flats" -- a $17.95 value.
Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
Snook bite will continue to be slow until it cools off a bit. Good news is that there's bait everywhere on the flats.
Target Species:
Redfish Trout Snook Spanish Mackerel Cobia
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