 |
Tampa Bay - South Shore
Capt. Fred Everson
March 27, 2007
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Schools of big jack crevalles continued to ravage baitfish and mullet around the mouth of the Little Manatee River last week. The fish had foot long mullet leaping onshore to escape the frenzy. That’s about all the action we had this week because it was so windy. My boat never left the lift.
It is March, and the wind has been relentless for more than a week now. Despite that, water temperature continues to rise, and I expect to start seeing some Spanish mackerel in the Bay this week. I’ve had several reports from the offshore guys who tell me the macks are already starting to show around the Skyway. Spanish mackerel have been on the range markers off Port Manatee -- Cliff McLeod of Ruskin emailed me that he’s been catching big macks on live bait there for two weeks.
Winds have kept many boaters confined to the Little Manatee River, but there was not much of a bite. We have been under a big high pressure center with a steady barometer for days now, and that generally makes for mediocre fishing. Watch for a change in pressure and plan to be on the water when that happens, because the flats are getting ready to explode. Snook are stacking up in the passes between Sand Key and Cockroach Bay, and when they finally come out, they will come hungry.
Capt. Danny Guarino said he fished Cockroach Bay, Little Cockroach Bay, and the mouth of the Little Manatee River with scaled sardines and caught plenty of snook. He said netting bait was tough – here one day, gone the next.
There are some sardines starting to come back onto the flats around Bahia Beach to spawn. We should have plenty of bait around between now and mid June, when the sardines head back offshore after breeding.
Capt. Billy Jordan and I got out Sunday ahead of the seabreeze and found hundreds of redfish on flats south of Apollo Beach. They were thoroughly spooked by all the boat traffic and would not hit anything.
We also found several schools of big jacks. I hooked a 14 pound fish on eight pound monofilament and fought it for the better part of an hour before finally leading it into the net. It hit a RipTide mullet on one of their superior jig heads.
For more information, call Capt. Fred Everson at 813 830 8890, or visit his website at tampabayfishingguide.com.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
