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Sheepshead Are A Good Bet In Current Weather Conditions

Photo by FRED EVERSON

A plastic crab rigged on a jig head fooled this redfish off Sand Key.

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By FRED EVERSON

Tribune Correspondent

Published: February 11, 2009

Inshore fishing continues to suffer from cold fronts, a drop in water temperature, wind and some unusual but much-needed rain. Water temperatures inside the Bay were in the high 50s early in the month, and that generally makes for tough fishing on the flats.

The offshore bite has been better. Capt. Larry Malinoski said the grouper bite was hot but the fishing itself was tough in cold, windy conditions.

Capt. Danny Guarino reported slow fishing on the flats off of South Shore for snook and redfish. He said he was concentrating his efforts on deeper water for sheepshead. They afford the most reliable bite in the winter months, since they congregate in the middle of the bay to spawn.

Live shrimp fished on the bottom with super-sensitive, low-stretch line and stiff rods are the ticket for these striped bandits. Sheepshead are very adept at picking a bit of shrimp off a hook, and you can't catch them unless you keep your line tight and set the hook on every tap. The artificial reefs at Port Manatee and Bahia Beach are the easiest spots to target these fish.

You can also find sheepshead around the railroad trestle in the Alafia River, and that structure is reachable from the fishing pier. The trick to catching sheepshead here is keeping your bait close to the piling and keeping your line tight. The old adage for sheepshead is to set the hook before the bite, but with microfilament lines and super-sensitive graphite rods, it's easier than it used to be.

We will still have to deal with extremely low tides for the next few months. Minus tides will continue to plague the bay's boat fishermen, but those who fish out of shallow-draft-flats skiffs, canoes and kayaks can get where the fish are.

The nice thing about fishing this time of year is that the fish are so shallow, it's hard for all but a few boats to get at them. Most of the guides on Tampa Bay run 20-foot-plus bay boats, which limits them to two feet of water or more. Winter redfish get much skinnier than that. They are not easy to catch in shallow water, but they can be easy to see on low tides when they are pushed away from the mangroves and have to cruise over bare sand.

With cold water, the fish slow down. They still eat, but they eat less, and this means smaller lures and baits that move slower. Medium shrimp are the best bet for live baits, and crab and shrimp imitations are the prime artificial choices after cold fronts, when the water is clear and shallow.

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 e-mailing ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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