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Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
June 29, 2002
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
June 28 Fishing Report For Southshore Tampa Bay
Weather continues to dominate the fishing scene on Tampa Bay, with lots of rain, thunder and lighting in late June. But for those who dare to dart in and out of the cloud bursts, the fishing has been as hot as the weather.
I did two catch and release snook trips last week and we caught fish on both. On an evening wade fish trip, I landed four snook and a jack crevalle south of Apollo Beach. I fished weedless 6 inch RipTide pearl glow jerk baits in less than two feet of water where the sand meets the grass, and the snook were willing. One of the fish was a good one – a 32 incher that whacked a pearl colored jerkbait. It threw the hook, and then wacked it again when I tossed it back at her. There was another big snook that hung with the hooked fish for most of the battle.
On Sunday afternoon I traveled south to the Port Manatee Spoil Island with Power Pole inventor John Oliverio for more catch and release snook action. There was a big falling tide ripping past the northwest point of the island and we were the only boat there. We didn’t have a lot of bait – a few threadfins and pinfish, but as it turned out we didn’t need it. John switched off to a Catch 2000 after hooking a number of short snook on live bait, and hit a bigger snook with his first cast. I struggled to put a hook into a fish, and lost a couple of shorts on live bait. John had switched again to my favorite weapon, a six inch pearl colored jerk bait, and was getting strikes practically every cast. The fish were right tight to the shoreline in the rocks, and feeding heavy on the swift water of the falling tide. We spent an hour or so there and John must have released close to a dozen fish to my two.
Then we decided to try wading for some redfish on the flats north of Cockroach Bay. We saw plenty of tails, but only hooked up a couple of times and landed none of those redfish. We did catch two nice trout on the white jerk baits, and a few more short snook. John said he went back two nights later and caught two big redfish with a flyrod and a white bodied snook fly, but he said they weren’t tailing. That tells me there was some bait around -- redfish are easier to catch when they aren’t tailing.
Capt. Chet Jennings of Apollo Beach reports seeing plenty of tarpon in the north end of Tampa Bay, but said the bite was slow. He’s been catching snook, mackerel, trout, and jacks, but said he’s said he’s working for them. I’ve had no trouble finding tarpon either, but they have been very tight-lipped.
The tides should be right for catch and release snook action late in the afternoon June 28, 29, and 30 at the Port Manatee Spoil Island. The best low tide action should occur later in the week, starting around the 4th of July, long as the boomers and the lightning give us a break.
We’re seeing quite a few nice trout this summer. More than last year. Best bite for me has been the low falling tide just before dark. Any plastic bait seems to catch ‘em long as it’s white and weedless.
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