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Fishing On The Flats Can Be A Hit

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

Updated: 11/19/2007 07:13 pm

The wind stopped howling for a few days and the water temperature dropped into the high 60s. That makes for lots of activity on the flats.
Snook are still in the shallows, fattening up in anticipation of leaner times and colder water, and another couple of degrees should push them off the flats and into winter quarters. Anglers have until Dec. 1 to take a legal snook - the season will end on that date and remain closed until March 1.

We had some extreme low tides mid-morning early last week and I took advantage.

One particular day I had bright, sunny skies and a fairly light breeze out of the north. I fished the flats just outside the sandbar in front of Mag's Hole and didn't find a lot of fish. But when fishing with the fly rod, I'm not looking for numbers. One fish will usually do - especially if it's a redfish or a snook.

With the water temperature down to 67 degrees, I was comfortable in lightweight waders and a jacket.

I didn't have to go far to find a willing fish, and it proved to be a fat red. It hit a snook fly with an orange head and white bucktail and swallowed it so deep I had a hard time getting it back.

I put that fish on ice anyway with visions of blackened redfish dancing in my head - 'tis the season, almost. That was the only fish I caught. I had a few shots at others, but no takers.

After a couple of hours I got on the poling platform and drifted across the flat toward Cockroach Bay to see what was there. I didn't see any bait, but I did spook one pod of snook, a few more redfish and a bunch of sheepshead.

On another day, I took a box of frozen squid and some frozen ladyfish up to the flats south of Apollo Beach and hooked three bonnetheads on the squid. I saw a few redfish, but they would not eat the frozen ladyfish or the pompano jigs I put in front of them.

I saw local guides netting bait at the mouth of the Little Manatee River last week, but when I went out to investigate a few days later, I didn't see any. I am seeing some small baits around the docks in the Little Manatee River - strictly quarter-inch net stuff, but there were some 3- and 4-inch baits in the mix.

I talked to Capt. Mark Thomas on the flats in front of the Simmons Park boat ramp last week, and he said the ladyfish were there in big schools, but he didn't find any bait. Keli Emery called from the middle of the Bay and said there wasn't anything on the buoys or range markers, either. She was looking for a tripletail or a cobia but found none when I talked to her.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. All South Shore fishermen and guides may submit information and photographs by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail to ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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