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May 2010
My good friends, Mike and Chick, travel to
Florida each year to target Tarpon in Tampa Bay. After about a 30 minute fight on spinning tackle, Mike was able to
hold his catch for a quick picture. Chick battled his Tarpon for 1.5 hours, but after the fish turned
back toward the bridge, he got cut off on underwater debris. Grouper, Cobia and Spanish Mackeral are other catches while
fishing for Tarpon near the bridges of Tampa Bay.
May 2010 was a great month for fishing in the Tampa Bay
area! Tarpon, Redfish, Spotted Trout, Spanish Mackerel and Grouper were biting
well through-out the month. Mackerel and Grouper were nice by-catches while fishing
for Tarpon around the bridges of the bay. A large Cobia was also caught this
month by my good friend, Art, while visiting from California.
Tarpon
were feeding mostly on Threadfin Hearing and Pass Crabs, drifting with the current, near the bridge structure. The strong tides during the new moon phase had the best bite for Tarpon.
When the current slacked up a bit, the Grouper came up to feed. Pulling
the Grouper off the bottom and out of their rocky holes was a bit of a challenge when using spinning gear. Therefore, give the fish a little slack line, within a few minutes the fish will swim out of the rocks
and the fight will resume. Sharks were also out in abundance on the shallow flats. If you would enjoy catching sharks and watching them take your bait near the boat,
reserve a fishing trip this summer.
February 2010
Hello everyone. February remained almost as cold as January. The
best fishing days were the second or third day after a cold front had past through.
We found the Spotted Sea Trout bite was best in the afternoon after the moon started to rise. Mike and Stacey, visiting from up north, caught several nice fish on artificial jigs near the small Islands
lining the coast of Clearwater
and Dunedin. Clear,
clean water was the key to finding trout as the cloudy water near the passes did not produce fish. On February 23rd, Scott W. went fishing for his 60th Birthday. Although, weather was not ideal - we managed to keep eight nice trout for a family fish fry. Residential canals have been productive this month offering some protection from the cold windy days. Steve’s friend caught a large 34 inch Redfish under a boat dock in Clearwater. He was using shrimp for bait.
March should offer warmer days and water temperatures that make fishing more pleasant.
Come on Spring!
 January 2010
Hello Everyone. This January was the coldest
I can ever remember. We had ten straight days where the high's never reached 55 degrees. I had ice in my backyard
three day's in a row. Not bad weather for North Dakota, but not for Clearwater Florida. Water temperatures in
the low 50's killed and stressed many species including Mullet, Snook, Catfish, Jack Cravelle and Ladyfish, Luckily,
the unusual cold water did not affect my two favorite winter species (Redfish and Trout). On a recent fishing trip with
Dr. Mark Wilkes and son - the trout fishing was great. The largest fish caught that day was 26 inches with several fish
over 20 inches. The best catch of the day was north of Clearwater near a small oyster bar, in two feet of water, using
live shrimp for bait. In slightly deeper water, drifting the grass flats, we used 1/8 oz. jig heads with Mister Twister
Darts with great success. Sheephead are also biting well near the oyster bars and residential docks. Chumming
the area with diced shrimp, then hiding your small hook in a piece of fresh shrimp will catch the bait stealers. Come
fish with me this spring for great Redfish action in Clearwater and Tampa Bay.
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