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Solunar Periods Triggered Bite

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Ray Markham.

The bloody stump of the trout weighed 3.75 pounds on my scale. That was all that remained of the trout I pulled to the boat after a bluefish slashed about 10 inches of tail from the fish that was slated for release.

The trout banged a new S7MRBCH bait from MirrOlure. Pete Cook and Linda Harvey, of London, figured the fish weighed close to 6 pounds when it was whole. That was one of more than 100 trout caught on CAL Shads and MirrOlures on Sunday, many biting around the major and minor solunar periods.

These fish were holed up in a large pothole on the flats near Port Manatee. We found them during the last three hours of our trip. The trip started on the major solunar period, kicking off the day with a grand slam within the first half hour on a CAL Shad in Terra Ceia Bay.

Heading into lower Tampa Bay, things became more lively. Tossing Love's Lures grub tails, we landed a dozen or so juvenile gag grouper, a half-dozen flounder to 18 or 19 inches, some black sea bass, a 28-inch kingfish, whiting, and loads of puffers, bluefish, pinfish and lizardfish.

The action lasted a solid two hours. Following the major solunar, there was a lull for a couple of hours, where we picked away at a few fish, but about an hour and a half before the next minor, I headed north of the Skyway, and that's where we hit the mother lode, just as the tide bottomed out and the solunar began.

The trout bite turned on, with bluefish to 4 pounds in between. Of approximately 75 trout caught, half weighed more than 3 pounds.

Ray Markham co-hosts "Florida Sportsman Magazine Radio Live," from 8-9 a.m. Saturdays on WWBA, 1040 AM, and can be reached for charter at

(941) 723-2655.

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