Snook season ended Wednesday and I failed to put a keeper in the box, despite seeing quite a few fish along the mangrove in front of Sand Key. I did catch a 22-inch redfish on the flats in front of the island, and that fish went home for dinner. It hit a 5-inch RipTide mullet fished on a half-ounce jig head. I did better fishing off my dock on the Little Manatee River the day before catching a snook, jack and ladyfish in about 15 minutes using the same lure.
The trout were biting off Pinellas Point earlier in the week. I went across the Bay with Gabe Krakowski of Brooklyn, N.Y., and we put five keepers in the box, and released another four or five fish that measured right at the bottom of the 15- to 20-inch slot. Terry Akroyd told me he was there the same day, but couldn’t buy a 16-inch fish, but caught plenty of trout.
Spanish mackerel have yet to make their presence felt, but they are here. Most of the reports I heard were from the middle of the Bay, but the bite was somewhere between slow and nonexistent.
There are some small bluefish hanging out between the Skyway and Pinellas Point. Break out the wire leaders for these fish. Even the little ones will cut through heavy monofilament, and wire doesn’t seem to deter them as much as it does Spanish mackerel.
Keli Emery reported hot fishing for redfish on the South Shore flats, and also said she caught and released three snook the day after the season ended.
I have yet to see the first schools of threadfin herring, and they are already about two weeks late. Everybody is commenting on the size of the bull sharks on the flats south of Apollo Beach. I have seen several fish in the 6-foot class.
For more information, call Capt. Fred Everson at 813 830 8890, or visit his website at tampabayfishingguide.com.
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