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Warm water offers mixed bag

Photo by FRANK SARGEANT

By moving only a few hundred yards, species such as spotted sea trout find water as much as 10 degrees cooler.

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By FRANK SARGEANT

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 7, 2009

Staying home in an air-conditioned setting is an appealing option as spring turns into summer, but for most anglers there's really no choice. You have to get out there and get your fix, no matter how hot, humid and sticky it gets, and no matter if even the fish seem to have headed for cooler climates.

Fish, though, often don't have to go far to find the AC. Knee-deep water might reach the mid- and upper 90s from now through mid-September, but by moving only a few hundred yards in many areas, species such as spotted sea trout and mangrove snapper find water as much as 10 degrees cooler. They simply go deeper.

Along the south shore of Tampa Bay, there are numerous deep grass beds and hard bottom areas that provide ideal habitat in 8 to 12 feet of water. These areas are loaded with trout and snapper all summer, to say nothing of sea bass, grunts and even some passing Spanish mackerel and tarpon.

The same is true around Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County. The shallowest flats there offer great action in spring and fall, but hitting the deeper grass along the edges of areas such as Bunces Pass is often the trick in summer. And from Anclote Key northward, there are vast stretches of deep grass in 8 to 14 feet of water to Crystal River. At Charlotte Harbor, the deep flats inside Captiva Pass are a good summer bet, as are the drops off Jug Creek Shoal on the north end of Pine Island, and the holes around Devilfish Key on the north side of the main harbor.

What's more, catching fish in this habitat takes far less skill than that required to consistently hook up with the same finny critters in 2 feet of water. Simply tie on a three-eighths-ounce jig with a 3-inch plastic tail - your choice of styles and colors - and you're' in business. If you have the patience to let the jig hit bottom before you flip it upward, you're almost sure to get a bite from something on every cast.

Many times the fish that bite in this sort of grab-bag fishing are not the glamour species. You'll catch plenty of lizardfish, catfish, ladyfish and jacks. But you'll also get lots of trout, snapper and keeper-sized sea bass, and occasionally you'll be surprised by the slashing strike of a big mackerel.

It's more or less constant action, which makes it a good venue for taking the whole family. If you want to make lots of bites even more certain, add a sliver of cut shrimp to the jig hooks, though in some areas the pinfish might drive you nuts.

Basically, just cast ahead of the drift of the boat as far as possible, watch the line until it stops moving - indicating you've hit bottom - then flip the rod tip about a foot to make the jig hop. Take up your slack and repeat, always watching for the "tap" that indicates a fish has grabbed the lure. The strikes usually come on the drop, so be alert.

If your crew is a bit shaky on casting, you can put out live shrimp under popping corks, sinking the shrimp down to within a foot or two of bottom. Again, pinfish and catfish can be a problem, but you can catch some nice trout this way without paying much attention. Plastic shrimp also work for this tactic, and the pests don't chew them off the hook nearly so often as the real thing. Just pop the cork now and then, and set the hook when it goes down.

To add a little extra interest, you can put a 4-inch pinfish out under a cork, drifting along behind everything else. Occasionally, a leftover cobia, shark or even a tarpon finds this guy, and then you've got a story to tell.

Fish caught from the warmer waters of summer make good table fare, but only if you drop them into an ice chest as soon as you take them off the hook. Fish allowed to die in a live well fed with warm water are likely to be inedible. Carry plenty of ice and keep the fish chilled until they're filleted and bagged. (Cold fish are much easier to clean, in any case.)

The deep water pattern usually continues until mid- to late October, so you've got plenty of time to perfect your techniques - and enjoy some very nice mixed-bag fish dinners.

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