Kingfish
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Location: Tampa Bay | Weekly Fishing Report
By JIM LEE
Posted January 01, 2009 by The Tampa Tribune
Freshwater:
Speckled perch catches get better and better. Night action is still the best. Fish at night with lights and live minnows for specks. Day fishing is best with jigs or the combination of jigs and minnows. Bass will be on the beds soon, as the males are staging.
LAKE TARPON: Tarpon Tom’s Fresh and Saltwater Bait & Tackle, (727) 772-0708: Bass fishing is getting better. The males will be getting the beds ready. Slow-troll a spinner bait or use a Rat-L-Trap or similar lure. Liver shiners are best. Specks catches are also improving.
KISSIMMEE CHAIN: Grape Hammock Fish Camp, (863) 692-1500: Most bass are still smaller, with an occasional larger one taken. Night action for specks is best, but good daytime catches are improving.
LORIDA-ISTOKPOGA: Trails End Fishing Resort guide service, (863) 655-0134: Big, fat specks are here. Night speck fishing is producing more than in the daylight hours. Bass 4 to 6 pounds can be caught. Live shiners are the sure way to catch bass.
OKEECHOBEE, THE WEST WALL: One of the finest fishing lakes in the U.S. is still too low, with no end in sight. Some bass and bluegill can be caught in the Rim Canal.
LAKE PANASOFFKEE: Pana Vista Lodge, (352) 793-2061: Speckled perch are keeping everyone happy. You can take home a sack of specks for supper. Yearling bass are the easy catch. Most bass are 2 to 3 pounds.
Saltwater:
Spotted sea trout are open as of Jan. 1; the bag limit is four fish. Grouper limits are two gag grouper and three red grouper. Offshore action has been fantastic. Fishing the 60- to 80-foot areas are producing keeper gag and red grouper. Fishing 200 feet, you have to beat the red snapper off with a stick in the middle grounds and the pipeline. One boat with six anglers limited out on gags. Inshore catches are excellent for trout, redfish, a few flounder, lots of sheepshead and a few snook.
10,000 ISLANDS: Captain Cory McMillin, (239) 695-4420: Great snook action is reported on medium-sized fish. Goliath grouper are the inshore nuisance fish these days. If they don’t steal your bait, they break you off. It is illegal even to take a picture. Redfish and lots of trout are the easy catch.
SARASOTA: Captain Rick Grassett, (941) 923-7799: As usual, Sarasota Bay is the best area to catch trout, pompano, redfish and bluefish. Use jigs or flies for excellent catches. Pompano are on the deeper flats, swash channels and beaches.
SUN CITY, BISHOPS HARBOR & COCKROACH BAY: John’s Bait & Tackle, (813) 376-1127: The only on-the-water bait shop in the South Shore area, with lots of greenbacks in stock. Big sheepshead are being brought to the dock. Shrimp, fiddlers and frozen fiddlers work well. Fish the pot holes and deep areas. A few redfish are also being caught.
WESTERN SHORE AND SKYWAY AREA: Captain Sergio Atanes, (813) 973-7132: Sheepshead are the target for nonstop action. Live shrimp threaded on the hook is one way to catch these. A few redfish are around Joe’s Island and Pinellas Point. Port Manatee ships channel is still producing grouper.
UPPER TAMPA BAY: Denny B’s Quality Bait & Tackle, (813) 885-9811: Stop in and ask about the hot spots. Live bait rules. Redfish and snook are the mainstays. The new year will have some resident snook that can be caught in the creek mouths and up Canal A.
SOUTH PINELLAS: Captain Paul Hawkins, (727) 560-6762: Pompano are keeping many anglers busy. Fish the oyster bars and spoil islands for redfish.
FISHING PIERS: South Pier, (941) 729-0117: Pier fishing offers most of the current species being caught in the bay. Fish the pier for speckled trout, redfish, flounder, mackerel and even a stray grouper.
MID-PINELLAS PARTY BOATS: Offshore bottom fishing from Hubbard’s John’s Pass Marina and Kingfish dock, (727) 393-1947: Go offshore for a fall deep sea fishing extravaganza. Fish the deeper waters for grouper, black sea bass, mangrove snapper and gray snapper (grunt). You also might catch porgies and amberjack on longer trips. The extended and overnight trips will produce the best catches of grouper and red snapper. You also might catch mangrove snapper 4 to 8 pounds and greater amberjack.
GANDY BAIT & TACKLE: (813) 839-5551: Whiting is a fish not many anglers seek out, but it is a fine food fish. Most are fried whole or the larger ones are split. There are lots of whiting in the bay. Flounder is the other winter fish up in the bay. Mullet are thick, and trout are coming on line.
TARPON SPRINGS: Captain Rich Knox, (727) 376-8809: Big trout have been the mainstay of this area, excluding the power plant. When the new cold front hits, the power-plant run-off area will jump into action again. Pompano, redfish, snook, trout, jacks and ladyfish can be caught on cold days at the power plants.
HERNANDO COUNTY: Captain Frank Bourgeois, (352) 666-6234: Lots of keeper gag grouper, keeper mangrove snapper, very large keeper black sea bass and grunt were caught. Action was nonstop on short red and gag grouper.
KEATON BEACH: One More Cast guide service, (850) 584-9145: Trout action is (as always) producing lots of trout more than 20 inches. Most were taken on plastic or live bait under Cajun Thunder floats. Offshore weather was good, but no report on grouper. However, all you need is chicken gizzards (or squid) and you will catch grouper.
HERNANDO BEACH: Captain Rick Rodriguez, (727) 992-9494: Now is the time to go for grouper. Lots of gag keeper grouper are being caught, but you can keep only two gags per person. Lots of red grouper and mangrove snapper are being caught. This is a prime time for offshore fishing.
FLY FISHING: Trout are back in season south of Howard Park. This is fly-rod heaven, with nonstop trout strikes. Just release while still in the water if possible without touching the fish. You can catch 24-inch trout on flies.
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Weekly Fishing Report - Jim Lee | TBO
