Winds of March Continue
Capt. Fred Everson
March 25, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
The winds of March continued to dominate the fishing scene on Southshore Tampa Bay, but the reports from anglers who braved the wind were encouraging. Capt. Mark Thomas told me he found some local bait on the flats and had a great day on Wednesday fishing the Little Manatee River with live sardines. He said he caught twenty-five snook up to 30 inches.
Despite the wind, water temperature has kept rising. It was 70 degrees in the Gulf on Saturday morning and that's the magic number for many species, including snook, tarpon, kingfish and cobia.
Wind has made it difficult to get out and look for fish, but on the last decent day I saw six cobia on the flats. I hooked one fish on a jig rigged with a live shrimp, but it was short. I had another shot at a much bigger fish, but he short struck a plastic eel, and that turned him off. I also looked for redfish that same day, but didn't see many. Wind, clouds, and the stage of the tide had them up on the grass where they are tough to see when conditions are good.
I spoke with Capt. Danny Guarino on Friday evening and he said the fishing was hard that day. He said bait was scattered, and that he caught only a couple of short snook in Little Cockroach Bay.
Capt. Marc Noe reported hot action in Bishop Harbor earlier this week where he caught several keeper sized snook and nice redfish.
It looks like it going to blow again for the next three or four days with no let up until Wednesday.
You can visit the captain's website at Tampabayfishingguide.com for charter info, or phone him at 813 830 8890.
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