TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Big Year For Redfish Is In Store

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Mike Anderson, right, with "Reel Animals" partner Billy Nobles.

Last year was such a good year for 18- to 22-inch redfish on Tampa Bay, we could hardly wait to see what this spring would bring. Well, I think we're starting to get an idea.

Pre-fishing for this week's FLW Redfish Series tournament out of Charlotte Harbor, it was easy to get an idea of what we are in for. Good schools have shown up from Sarasota Bay all the way up to the north end of the Bay.

The first signs of bait are normally a good standard to go by. The minute you start seeing the birds diving on the flats and the large schools of bait moving across the Bay, it is time to start hunting for big pods of reds.

Captain Shawn Crawford reports from Sarasota Bay the fish there would still rather eat a shrimp than a white bait, but I believe that will change soon. We caught reds in just about all of the traditional haunts, including Fort DeSoto, Bishops Harbor, Weedon Island and the Cockroach Bay flats. We caught all of our fish using Berkley Gulp baits, with the shrimp outfishing the jerk shad by at least 5-to-1.

We also spotted quite a few snook starting to emerge from the deep to start soaking up some sun on the flats. Some of the snook we saw were of pretty good size, so here's to Mother Nature not hitting us with a brutal late-season cold snap.

A lot of big trout are also around, so if you have time to get out this weekend there should be plenty of action.

Catch captains Billy Nobles and Mike Anderson on the "Reel Animals Fishing Show" on Saturdays from 6:30-7 a.m. on WFLA, Channel 8, and on Sundays from 8-10 a.m. on WHBO, 1470 AM. To book a charter, call 1-866-GAMEFISH or visit www.reelanimalsfishingshow

.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT