February 27, 2011 - Spotted Sea Trout remains my main target fish throughout February.
The shallow grass flats from Clearwater north to Tarpon Springs have been abundant with Speckled Trout this month.
My favorite artificial bait has been the Mister Twister Exude Dart or Gulp’s three inch shrimp on 1/8th.
oz. Mission jigs. Although trout love live shrimp, you can out fish someone using shrimp with one of these jigs. You can cover
more water and find more fish fan casting as you slowly drift the near shore flats. Speckled Trout is my
favorite inshore fish to take home for a fish fry.
Next month I will be turning my attention back to Redfish. The
deeper residential docks with oysters and shells underneath will be a gathering place for larger fish. I
have done entire fishing trips around a few docks in the Clearwater area.
The Scaled Sardines will also be
showing up inshore in March. It’s been several months since I’ve thrown the net and I am ready to get started.
See you on the water.
Oct. 15,
2010 was a great day for fishing the shallow waters of Clearwater FL. Bait was plentiful on the grass flats
just inside of the barrier islands passes. I was targeting Redfish on the edges of the flats in 1 to 2
feet of water. The fish were not schooled up but scattered about the edge waiting for the incoming water.
All three anglers today caught Redfish: the largest at 29 inches. Mike, from Tampa, got the Inshore
Slam consisting of a large Snook, Redfish and several Speckled Trout. With the lower water temps. the Snook have been migrating
further inshore away from the beaches. A few Spanish Mackerel were also mixed in with today’s catch.
This month and through November should bring excellent catches of these fast swimmers.
July 18th. Spotted Sea Trout remains a decent catch throughout June and July with several large fish being landed.
Miss Lydia, visiting with her father, from Alabama caught a 25 inch fish using a Scaled Sardine for bait.
Lydia also had a blast catching several Black-Tip sharks. While several sharks were swimming around
the boat, she would just lower her sardine to the nearest one and the fight would begin. Many Tarpon were
seen on this fishing trip in a deep cut near the Islands of Tampa Bay. We had a few bites but no solid
Tarpon hook-ups on this trip.
Shark fishing should be excellent all summer long.
Late afternoon trips ending around 9 or 10pm can be scheduled in order to avoid the heat of the day. Rock
piles along the beaches will hold Redfish, Black Drum and Flounder through-out August and September.
May 2010 was a great month for fishing in the Tampa Bay area! Tarpon, Redfish, Spotted Trout, Spanish
Mackerel and Grouper were biting well through-out the month. Mackerel and Grouper were nice by-catches
while fishing for Tarpon around the bridges of Tampa Bay. A large Cobia was also caught this month by my
good friend, Art, while visiting from California.
Tarpon were
feeding mostly on Threadfin Hearing and Pass Crabs, drifting with the current, near the bridge structure. The
strong tides during the new moon phase had the best bite for Tarpon. When the current slacked up a bit,
the Grouper came up to feed. Pulling the Grouper off the bottom and out of their rocky holes was a bit
of a challenge when using spinning gear. Therefore, give the fish a little slack line, within a few minutes
the fish will swim out of the rocks and the fight will resume. Sharks were also out in abundance on the
shallow flats of Clearwater Harbor. If you would enjoy catching sharks and watching them take your bait
near the boat, reserve a fishing trip this summer.
February remained almost
as cold as January. The best fishing days were the second or third day after a cold front had past through.
We found the Spotted Sea Trout bite was best in the afternoon after the moon started to rise. Mike
and Stacey, visiting from up north, caught several nice fish on artificial jigs near the small Islands lining the coast of
Clearwater and Dunedin. Clear, clean water was the key to finding trout as the cloudy water near the passes
did not produce fish. On February 23rd, Scott W. went fishing for his 60th Birthday.
Although, weather was not ideal - we managed to keep eight nice trout for a family fish fry. Residential
canals have been productive this month offering some protection from the cold windy days. Steve’s
friend caught a large 34 inch Redfish under a boat dock in Clearwater. He was using shrimp for bait. March
should offer warmer days and water temperatures that make fishing more pleasant. Come on Spring!