TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Now's The Time To Throw A Line In The Water

Photo by FRED EVERSON

Stewart Venables recently caught this trout with some ladyfish while fishing with Fred Everson near Pinellas Point.

ADVERTISEMENT

BY FRED EVERSON

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 21, 2008

Summer fishing conditions are upon us as the air temperature is beginning to hover in the mid-80s and the winds are beginning to diminish.

The next few weeks should provide some of the best fishing we will see all year. Never is there a greater variety of species available to area anglers.

Last week, I ventured over to Pinellas Point with clients and we caught six keeper trout and a bunch of shorts, along with some ladyfish and a lone bluefish.

I spoke with Capt. Mark Thomas, who normally finds himself in Boca Grande fishing for tarpon in May.

This year, the nearshore kingfish bite has been so good he has kept closer to home. He said the bite has been hot just a couple of miles off the St. Pete beaches. He also told me he was catching some big little tunny in his kingfish spots, where they were showering bait across the surface.

Capt. Chet Jennings told me he was fishing for tarpon at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge when one of his clients asked "What's that big brown fish circling the piling?"

It turned out to be an 80-pound cobia, which Jennings gaffed about a half-hour after it was hooked. That's a long battle, considering the fish was hooked on tarpon tackle. He said there was a deep gash on the fish's back behind the dorsal fin, and speculated that it was a prop scar.

Jennings said he had also done some snook fishing in the Little Manatee River and on the adjacent flats, and that the bite had been slow in recent weeks. All snook fishing on Tampa Bay will continue to be a catch-and-release proposition until Sept. 1.

I am also hearing some reports of big trout coming off the South Shore flats and in and around Cockroach Bay. This is prime time for a number of species with the water temperature hovering in the high 70s. If only the wind would lie down for a couple of days.

I hear that there are plenty of redfish between Sand Key and Piney Point, and that there is finally some bait on the flats. I haven't been to Piney Point in more than a month, but last time I was there it was scarce. The Pinellas Point flats have been covered with good-sized greenbacks the last three times I was there.

Look for good water movement early morning the next few days as we are just coming off a full moon. Snook and redfish should both feed on the strong falling tide.

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.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT