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Plenty Of Fish To Target

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By BILL MILLER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 8, 2009

GO FISHING is a look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Bill Miller.
Speckled trout continue to provide good action for anglers in the St. Joseph Sound and the Fort DeSoto area. Berkley Gulp and MirrOlure soft plastics have been the hot baits.

Sheepshead is my favorite winter-time target. Tampa Bay artificial reefs and bridges are loaded with them. Live shrimp is the easiest bait because you can buy it at the bait shop on your way to the water. Green mussels are free, but gathering them requires a little work. On low tides, most sea walls and bridge pilings have exposed mussels attached that can be scraped off with a flat head scraper or shovel. Open like oysters with a knife or break open with a hammer and you have a great sheepshead bait. It is messy, but it works.

Captain Jim Ross took the "Hooked on Fishing" film crew on a giant redfish adventure in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon areas last week. We found big schools of oversized redfish and black drum on the shallow flats. There was only one problem: They were very finicky and did not want to bite. We tried drifting quietly up on them and tossing live shrimp, we tried chumming with cut shrimp and ladyfish but nothing worked. On certain days, no matter what you do, the fish do not bite. The good news is we get to go back to that beautiful pristine area and try again.
Snook season has opened. Snook are heavily pressured and most snook caught are below the legal limit. If a snook, in the slot, is caught, it usually goes in the fish box. Consider releasing all snook or not fishing for them at all.

Captain Bill Miller hosts "Hooked on Fishing" on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. on BHSN, Channel 47.

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