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Fish Find Feeding Switch

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By BILL MILLER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 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.

Spring is here and fish are biting like we would expect. Warmer temperatures combined with longer days have turned on the feeding switch for just about any kind of fish.
Captain Billy Miller and I have been running charters with great success.

When we focused on snook in the Gandy area, using white bait, the bite was on despite slower tides and a passing front. Normally, most of the snook caught are below the slot limit.

However, one day we each had five snook over the slot limit, and two went more than 20 pounds.

After a morning of snook fishing, we switched to trout and easily filled our anglers' limits fishing the deeper grass edges of the flats from Weedon Island to Pinellas Point. Along with trout came Spanish mackerel, jacks and ladyfish for nonstop action.

Redfish were an easy find as the tide came in and put some water on the flats and under the mangroves. We moved from the grass edge to the mangrove edge and picked up redfish cruising the bushes. After one redfish was hooked, we threw out live chum and the rest of the school attacked every bait in the water.
Captain Larry Blue reports scattered kingfish .No reports of the soon-expected big migrating schools. Areas to look for the first kingfish include No. 1 and No. 2 markers in the Egmont ship channel, the South County Reef and the Clearwater hard bottom.

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

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