GO FISHING is a look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Frank Sargeant.
It looks like Florida's version of winter has ended at least a month early this year, making it highly likely the spring bite will break open in advance. And, with the full moon on Tuesday, it's almost certain that hundreds of big sheepshead will move to the rock piles and channel edges in Tampa Bay to spawn. The first mile or two of the ship channel just inside the Skyway is a famed spot for this species. Fish fresh-cut shrimp just off bottom on a dropper rig, with 2 ounces of lead or more to allow you to reach the rocks in the current.
Sheepshead also stack up in rocky canals like those on the west shore of Sarasota Bay, around Bunces Pass — the boat ramp often holds loads of them — and in the Apollo Beach canals.
Now through March is also prime time to run the crab trap buoys off the beaches looking for tripletails, which often hang just under the floats. The tails take lightly-weighted live shrimp or live killifish, and occasionally grab a crab fly or jig. Average size is 3 to 4 pounds — one of the more tasty fish in the Gulf.
The warming water on the flats should have a few snook creeping out of deep-water holes to catch the sun on afternoon tides, and reds and trout will be in the same areas — a DOA shrimp or Gulp crab are good bets.
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