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So Far, Typical Winter Fishing

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 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.

Our weekly cold front passed across the area on Friday, and the few anglers who braved the wind caught some fish. There were some big trout hanging out around the oyster bars at the mouth of the Little Manatee River, and I saw a few fish caught on the outgoing tide of late morning.
Water clarity is as good as it gets, but it is a tad chilly. The average Gulf water temperature was 60 degrees a day ago, and it's likely to get colder overnight. A drop in water temperature is seldom conducive to good fishing.

Captain Tom Rinehart of Apollo Beach tells me he caught some bonnethead sharks south of Symphony Isles on live shrimp. He said he also saw a couple of small cobia, but they would not bite.
Captain Billy Jordan spent a long day trolling the shipping lanes for grouper with no success earlier in the week. Prior to that, he said he caught a couple of big fish but the bite has been slow in general.

Captain Chet Jennings has been staying in the Little Manatee River and said he caught a big redfish near Devils Elbow on a live sardine. Bait has become scarce in the bay, but it is still under the Skyway fishing pier if you have the boat to get you there and back.

Snook anglers have another month before the season reopens on March 1. I haven't seen any snook around the mouth of the river since Christmas, and we lost a few to cold weather the day after New Year's.

Thus far, I would call this normal winter fishing. My tactics are to sleep in until things warm up. The forecast for the next few days is better, with a high in the low 80s today and in the high 70s for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

To contact captain Fred
Everson, call (813) 830-8890,

or visit his Web site,

tampabayfishingguide.com.

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