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Winds Slow Fish Bite, But There's Still Plenty Out There

Photo by FRED EVERSON

A pompano jig is a great lure for many species, particularly during the winter months when the water is cold and fish aren't as hungry.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 26, 2008

RUSKIN - Water temperature in the Gulf has dropped into the low 70s, and that's a magic number. It usually triggers some fine fall fishing.

Cold weather might make it less than comfortable, but the fishing usually gets pretty good when the wind dies down. Unfortunately, it usually blows gale force for much of November, and that's been the case more often than not this year.

I have been fishing in 15 knots of wind and skipping a few pompano, but the bite has been very tough. Mike Strickland hooked a fish on the second cast of our first drift, and that was a good start. It was a 13-inch pompano, and it ate a pink jig with a 3/8-ounce chrome head.

Then we pounded the water for another hour without so much as a bump. We skipped a few more fish as we idled along, but never hooked another fish all day.

We did have two shots at cobia. As we drifted, the first fish passed within 10 feet of the boat. He cruised by on the back of a big eagle ray and spooked when somebody on the boat pointed at him. With the sky cloudy, we quickly lost sight of the fish and the ray.

A half hour later, we saw two more cobia cruising the edge of the grass and actually got a good shot at one fish; it turned on the lure but ultimately veered away. Both fish quickly vanished over the grass. Had the sun been out and the water a tad clearer, we might have gotten another shot, but conditions for sight fishing were pretty tough.

What was really disappointing was the lack of redfish on this flat. They are usually here for the winter by Halloween, but I have yet to see anything but singles north of the Little Manatee River this year. South of the river, I'm seeing more fish on the sandbar between Sand Key and Big Pass. I also saw a few flounder while poling that bar last week.

Capt. Chet Jennings said his fishing was fairly slow except for jack crevalle and ladyfish at the mouth of the Little Manatee.

I saw Capt. Mark Thomas at the E.G. Simmons Park boat ramp. He had a keeper snook and said there was still plenty of bait around, and it looks as though it will stay with us all winter.

The recent rapid drop in water temperature should push cobia and sharks into the hot-water outflow of the Tampa Electric Co. power plant in Apollo Beach. Live shrimp will catch either, but if you want to keep a blacktip, use a wire leader.

For bonnetheads, monofilament will suffice, as the location of their mouths usually keeps the hook in the corners away from their teeth. The limit for sharks is one per angler or two per boat, whichever is fewer. Cobia must be 33 inches measured to the fork of the tail.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. All South Shore fishermen and guides may submit information and photographs to be included in this column by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail to ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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