TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Wind Tends To Slow The Fishing

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

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

With small craft warnings up since Tuesday, there has not been much action on Tampa Bay this week. We really dodged a bullet with Fay, the tropical storm that wouldn't go away.

The last two guys I saw fishing were in a canoe at the mouth of the Little Manatee River after dark Monday night. The bite was on, as I could hear the fish thrashing around their canoe.

Ahead of a major storm, fish will usually chew the bottom out of the boat. The sudden drop in pressure is a signal that water conditions are going to get screwed up, and it might be difficult to find a meal for a few days. That proved to be the case this week, even though the storm went to the other coast, we got 20-knot winds every day. That's apt to send fish into a holding pattern in deeper water to wait things out.

Once the wind dies down I am going to look for redfish on the south shore of Tampa Bay. The fall run has apparently started already on the west side of the bay. Big schools of redfish, with many of them oversized, are found throughout Tampa Bay from late August to October.

These fish are here to feast on the schools of baitfish that blanket the bay this time of year. Tarpon are another late-August target around the Sunshine Skyway as they begin their migration south.

Snook are back on the menu Sept. 1, with the reopening of the season that closed May 1. The current limit on the west coast is one fish between 28 and 33 inches.

Visit captain Fred Everson's Web site at Tampabayfishing

guide.com for charter info or call (813) 830-8890.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT