Tampa Bay Spring Fishing Fever In The Air!
Capt. TJ Stewart
March 19, 2009
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
The fish are in a frenzy! Lately, we've caught them all. We've caught snook, redfish, trout, and flounder, just to name a few. As I expected, the fishing has improved. This is due to the spring weather and higher water temperatures. A few fish that are normally biting this time of year have yet to appear. However, over the next couple of weeks, that is going to change.
The bigger snook are definitely coming around, and we are catching more and more of them. Each fishing trip, we've managed to catch at least 1 to 2 keeper sized snook. Snook have to be in a slot of 28 inches to 33 inches to be considered a keeper fish. Sometimes you have to work harder than others to catch big baits, but it is well worth the extra work. The bigger snook are starting to eat the big baits. Most of the bigger snook we've been catching lately have been in dirty water. We will continue to see great snook action through the next couple of months.
The redfish bite is back. The water temperature has climbed to the 70's, which has turned the redfish on. Many fish we caught last week were over the slot of 18 inches to 27 inches, which is a great fight on light tackle. Most of the redfish we've caught lately are still in very shallow water, but we've caught some in a little deeper water.
Trout fishing has been great. We've continued to catch some trophy trout and many fish over 20 inches. The trout have been doing a lot of moving around. It seems like they move to a different area daily. One day they will be in shallow water and the next they will be out off the edge of a bar in deeper water. The trout have been hanging around big schools of bait. Although flounder are a hard fish to target, we've caught some every trip lately. The flounder adds to the slam of snook, redfish, and trout, making it a grand slam. We've had a lot of grand slams lately.
Unfortunately, the tarpon have yet to show up. We've targeted this fish a few times, but have not been successful in catching it. We have, however, caught many grouper while fishing for tarpon. Most of the grouper we've caught have been between 18 inches to 25 inches. Although grouper are fun to catch, they are still out of season. Please visit www.castawaychartersinc.com and book your trip today!
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