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Few Bright Spots As Hot Weather Makes For Tough Going

Photo by FRED EVERSON

J.J. Johnigean with a bonnethead shark caught on cut bait on the 6-foot line off E.G. Simmons Park in Ruskin.

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By FRED EVERSON

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 20, 2008

Hot weather and sudden thunderstorms have made fishing in the southern part of Tampa Bay something of an adventure thus far in August.

But there have been a few days of dead-flat calm between sunrise and the arrival of the sea breeze that produced some fantastic fishing.

Capt. Mark Thomas said there were schools of Spanish mackerel around the shipping channel between Apollo Beach and MacDill Air Force Base that covered acres. Beneath the mackerel were some big sharks and they readily hit any piece of cut bait thrown into the melee.

Capt. Larry Malinoski said he saw a few tripletail in the Bay swimming on the edge of the weed line while trolling for grouper. That's been slow because of the amount of grass in the water. Capt. Billy Jordan said he trolled all day for one short fish, and one keeper.

Inshore fishing has been typically slow, and that's probably not going to change anytime soon. There is not much going on during the heat of the day in shallow water. It's partly due to clarity.

The last time I was on the flats, it was about the color of a cup of espresso due to all the rain. I did hear a few snook popping in the mangrove roots on a high tide off E.G. Simmons Park, but could not see much besides a few rays.

On a calm day, I had better luck finding cobia on the range markers off Apollo Beach. I fished with J.J. Johnigean of Plant City and we saw four fish, but they wouldn't touch anything we threw at them.

One pair of cobia came off the mark and passed right under the boat, and I had a live threadfin on a hook right in front of them but they ignored it. A single, short fish followed a plastic mullet back to the boat and rolled on it, and that is as close as we came to getting a bite.

We did some bottom fishing on the 6-foot line between Symphony Isles and the Simmons Park boat ramp, using chunks of threadfin herring rigged on jig heads. We caught a single Spanish mackerel and a 9-pound bonnethead shark.

I killed both fish, and when I cleaned them I was not surprised to find both stomachs empty. Fish are just like we are - they don't eat as much when it's hot.

There wasn't much happening on the surface of the Bay either. No birds diving, no mackerel feeding, just a few pods of threadfin.

I was able to net a few in shallow water with my 3/8 -inch net - just enough to keep alive in the well. They are even more fragile with the water so hot - it was 88 degrees at the mouth of the Little Manatee River early in the morning.

As they died, I cut them up and chummed with them, and that's how we caught the two fish.

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

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