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Summer Doldrums Have Arrived

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 27, 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.

The summer doldrums are here, and local fishing is suffering accordingly. Despite a few days of calm winds and plenty of sunshine, the fishing I did can only be described as mediocre. I have been across the bay twice this week to fish for pompano and trout, and both trips were a bust, despite good tides and perfect weather.

The saving grace on Friday morning proved to be a few snapper and some Spanish mackerel in the middle of the bay. Captain Billy Jordan and I took his skiff west of Pinellas Point in search of pompano. We skipped a single fish on the flats and had a couple of bumps on pompano jigs, but that was it.

Trout fishing on the flats off Pinellas Point was slightly more productive, but we never caught a keeper, so we moved out to the marked channel.

Even the mangrove snapper bite was slow. We fished a dozen different channel buoys and caught only three fish between five anglers on two boats. Finally, we got into a few schools of Spanish mackerel. The first fish hit a chrome spoon that wound up right under its chin. The second fish hooked itself in the same spot.

There were fish boiling the surface of the channel all the way between Port Manatee and Bahia Beach, but they were sensitive to the sound of the engine, and you had to shut it down and sit around for a few minutes before they would resurface.

We had trouble finding bait big enough to fish on the bar off Pinellas Point. We finally netted some small pilchards, and they proved to be the key to catching the few snapper that we put on ice.

Visit captain Fred Everson's Web site at Tampabayfishingguide.com for charter info or call (813) 830-8890.

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