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Canoe Outing Not Quite A Breeze

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 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.

Lots of wind followed by a strong cold front made for tough fishing midweek on Tampa Bay's South Shore.

I did get out in my canoe one day early in the week and found some redfish on a mid-morning minus tide off Sand Key. I caught a 26-inch redfish on a jig rigged with a plastic mullet, and it was full of fight.

The water temperature was 69 degrees at the time, just about perfect for mid-February. Right after I caught the fish, the wind picked up and I turned around to head back to the dock. What took 20 minutes to get where I was fishing took 2 1/2 hours to get back to the dock because of the wind. Even in less than a foot of water, the wind about tipped the canoe over twice.

Thursday, I fished the Bahia Beach Reef with captain Tom Rinehart of Apollo Beach. We caught a half-dozen sheepshead, a couple of grunts, a mangrove snapper and a Spanish mackerel - all on live shrimp. I had heard that there were still mackerel in the bay, and we had several other hits that were clearly macks, and saw one leap out of the water.

The recent cold front pushed the Bay's water temperature back down to 64. Water clarity on the flats was not as cloudy as it was in the middle of the Bay, so we searched the flats between Simmons Park and Symphony Isles for bonnethead sharks but saw only a few. There were lots of rays and a few ballyhoo, but little else.

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

or visit his Web site,

tampabayfishingguide.com.

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