By: Mark Bellotte

I was once taunted by a boat owner on a day that was less than favorable conditions. “I bet you don’t take your kayak out on days like today”, he said smugly. Instantly my mind starts racing through the memorable moments of my career as I have launched during strong cold fronts, freezing temperatures, even a tropical storm or two. It’s not for everyone because of the skill and knowledge that goes into surviving those kinds of days but with a few general pointers, even the fair weather fisherman can easily paddle trough some of these windy days ahead.

Protection from the wind is key. When the wind is blowing, I avoid open water and tuck behind structure such as mangroves and seawalls. The calmer the water is, the easier it is to paddle across even if you are still feeling the effects of the wind against your boat. Setting up a one way trip by leaving a vehicle at a second launch down wind is another alternative to paddling back against the wind. Canoe trails or mosquito trails through the mangroves offer the best protection while paddling on blustery days. It was some time back that I was using this tactic and learned how much fun it can be when you come across fish in the backwaters… Let me rephrase that. I learned how much fun it can be when you find fish in the waters behind the backwaters; the way backwaters.

Picnic Island, located near Port Tampa and Mac Dill Air Force Base, is one such place that was part of a mosquito control project in which a grid of ditches was dredged through the mangroves. This gridwork of channels has both high spots and low spots that funnel moving fish and offer ambush points for stalking prey. There are a few small lagoons and larger protected bayous that also offer plenty of opportunity. But in these tight corridors of exotic fishing pleasures, you’ll need some specialized tools.

There are a few items I recommend when fishing in tight situations. A shorter rod will allow easier casting with greater accuracy. A stakeout pole or an anchor on a short rope will help keep you from being pulled into the roots during the battle. Lastly, a GPS so you can find your way back out of the jungle. The last time I was there, I forgot my GPS at home and it took some time to find the right trail that brought me back to familiar scenery.

There are only a handful of baits that I use for this type of fishing. In the tight tunnels, I stay with single-hook soft plastics that don’t require a lot of action to be effective. The DOA shrimp is my “goto” bait for its silhouette but another good choice would be many of the scented baits. You want a bait that can grab a fish’s attention by sight or by smell. If throwing artificials isn’t your cup of tea, live shrimp or crabs are another option. In the bayous, I like to throw search baits; spoons, jerkbaits, MirrOdine, topwaters, etc.

Across the bay from Picnic Island is a kind of “sister” park with similar features called Weedon Island. Located on the St. Petersburg side of the bay, it was also dredged with a grid of mosquito ditches and has many backwater bayous. It does, however, require a higher tide to maneuver a kayak or canoe through the trails. There are areas of the park that are accessible to waders with access to great fishing areas overlooked or not accessible to other kayakers and boaters. If you are wading either location, it is a good idea to take a wading stick with you. The bottom in some places can be like quicksand and suck you down if you are not careful.
Fishing on days with less than perfect conditions is no picnic but maybe these tips can help feed your appetite for stretching a line. Get out there… check that… get in there and catch something!

Contact info: cooknfish@hotmail.com or www.facebook.com/cooknfish

By: JOSH A. BROER

On an unusually warm and Spring-like day in the beginning of February, I set out with ace Tarpon Springs flats guide Captain Trever Meyer to try an old winter trick we had used before. Our goal was, in the absence of our beloved Scaled Sardines (whitebait) during the winter, to round up some creek chubs from the beach. Creek chubs, killifish, mud minnows, etc., have been known to produce some banner redfish days when you find them schooled up and hungry. The captain dropped me off on the beach in some chilly water with a relatively small and light cast net with the proper ¼” mesh needed to avoid gilling these small, shoreline baits. The water temperature was actually tolerable, the creek chubs came fast and easy with this small and easy to throw net, and I was ready to fish.

Just then I saw my ride come skimming around the corner of the beach, hands waving madly from the tower. I knew something was up. “I’ll bet he knows that I scored on the creek chubs” is all that I could think of. Waddling across the beach with a heavy 5-gallon bucket and cast net in my hands, I approached the boat with a cocky sort of smile, ready to impress my mentor with my successful mission. Handing the bucket and net over, I hoisted myself up onto the deck and scrambled for a towel and dry shirt. The captain opened the lid to see a few dozen chubs bumping around. “Well done!” he said. “But look what done up and jumped into my livewell” he said with the slang and tone of the local flavor. I opened the lid to the massive 60-gallon well to see top-to-bottom blackness of medium, large and giant scaled sardines. Not only was there enough bait to fish for a solid two days, it was an arsenal of all the right sized baits to target just about anything that swam.

Finding the motherload of whitebait in the middle of winter is a not-so-common occurrence. There are of course those cold, “out of season” days when you do find the bait and it pays off big. But it’s rare. The water temperature was slightly warmer than it usually is for this time of year but not by too much. Something was different. Something was happening, we discussed, that blessed us with this bounty of bait. The winter had been relatively mild and the fishing exceptionally good – we knew that. This winter season had produced only one freeze and it lasted a mere two nights. The fish had been eating throughout the season and they were chewing on live shrimp, crustaceans, artificials, flies and more. So with this livewell o’ gold, we knew we couldn’t go wrong.

Armed with the region’s best bait and very few boats on the water that day, we had only one roadblock ahead and that was a typical winter negative low tide. Even with the capability of the captain’s huge 21 foot, air entrapment hull which skims across the flats in a mere 10” of water, there simply wasn’t 10” of water in much of the area we wanted to fish. But we knew if we could get to certain holes and deeper flats, the fish would be there. And there they were!

For the next few hours we scooted around from flat to flat and hole to hole catching some of the fattest trout of the season. With a few slot-sized redfish mixed in at most of our fishy haunts, we made it a mission to keep looking for bigger and bigger fish. Despite not finding some over-slot reds on our hunt, the trout were fatter and longer at each new spot. By the end of the day, almost every fish was a gator over the 20” mark. Our second angler on the boat and rabid pompano and flounder angler, John Guiseppi, was doing some serious damage on these fish with back-to-back-to-back hookups. “Now where did you say you were casting?” I pleaded.

Heading back to the ramp it was clear to us that a different pattern was developing this year. Winter was merging into Spring about a month early. The fish were thick and everywhere. Whitebait in the winter – this is how to catch! To set up a charter with Captain Meyer, he can be reached at 727-481-1302.

By: CAPT. BILL MILLER

One of the fishing lessons I remember from my boyhood was that sheepshead are sneaky so you have to “jerk before they bite.” That may be just an old saying, but there’s a lot of logic in those words. The sheepshead deserves its nickname “convict fish,” and not only for its black and white stripes. This is one tricky fish and you’ll need sharp attention and quick responses to catch them.

The good thing is that sheepshead are not very picky. They like a lot of different crustaceans and shellfish, so just pick your bait and go to work.

Shrimp is a common sheepshead bait that’s easily obtained at most bait shops. Shrimp doesn’t have to be alive, but fresh is best. You’ll find that a bait holder hook with barbs on the shank will help keep shrimp threaded on the hook.

A lot of times, it’s smart to only use cuts of shrimp, so when a sheepshead bites, he takes the whole piece of bait and that puts the hook right in his mouth. If you use a whole shrimp, your hook can’t cover the entire length of the bait and sheepshead always seem to nibble around the hook without getting nabbed.

Another way to fish your shrimp is to thread it onto a ¼-ounce jig head. This keeps the bait, hook and weight all together in a compact form that’s especially effective around rock piles where a separate weight may get tangled. A similar concept is the knocker rig, which is formed by slipping a slip sinker onto your leader and tying directly to the hook. The weight slides against the hook, but a fish can pull the hook and leader through the weight so it’s not spooked by any initial resistance.

Fiddler crabs are one of the top sheepshead baits, but they’re sometimes hard to get. Some bait shops carry them, so I like to call ahead and reserve my order to make sure I have them. As with shrimp, live is best, but freshly frozen crabs will also work well.

For easier handling, remove the crab’s big pincher. The best place to hook a fiddler crab is where the legs are attached. Insert the point, but don’t push it all the way through the body. When a sheepshead bites the crab, the hook pushes through the crab and into the fish’s mouth.

I like to fish fiddlers with no weight whenever possible. They can be difficult to cast when unweighted, so I’ll use a light split shot about 12 inches up the leader from my hook. This benefits casting and helps get the crab to the bottom.

Of all the sheepshead baits, barnacles are my favorite. Approach pilings at low tide and scrape the “barnies” into a bucket of saltwater to keep them fresh. When hooking barnacles, run the point through the back, or flat side. Thread as many barnies as needed to make the bait the size of your thumbnail.

Barnacles are most effective when free-lined around bridge and dock pilings. If you scrape off a few fresh barnacles, the sheepshead will respond to the scent of fresh food. Drift your baited hook in this chum line and stay alert for strikes.

A sheepshead bite will be subtle; in fact, you might not even feel it. Just watch your line and if it stops sinking or if it moves off to the side, you’re probably getting bit. Remember, sheepshead have tough mouths, so when you get a bite, jerk hard so your hook penetrates.

Braided line (I prefer 15-pound) helps with hook sets. It also prevents break-offs when sheepshead dash around barnacle-encrusted pilings. Go with about 18 inches of 20- or 30-pound fluorocarbon.

Sheepshead are available all year, but you’ll find them gathering in large spawning groups during February and March. Fishing during these periods of cooler water gives you the chance to catch lots of fish.

Look for sheepshead mostly around structure. You may find a few on the flats, but the greatest concentrations will be around solid habitat that offers protection and food sources. All of the bridges, reefs and rock outcroppings throughout the Bay area will hold winter sheepshead. Rock jetties like Clearwater Pass, Demons’s Landing and Venice are popular spots. Also, the rock piles along the edges of Tampa Bay shipping channels offer great opportunities.

Moderately moving water is always best, but if the tide is too strong, you’ll have trouble getting your bait to the bottom. You’ll find that certain spots produce best on different tide stages, or direction. Only experience can tell you what works, but don’t over-analyze it. Fish whenever you can and keep moving around until you find a spot that works. Remember the details of tide stage, location, etc. for future trips.

Sheepshead can be very challenging, but their tasty filets are worth the work. Handle your fish with caution, as those sharp dorsal fin spines can give you a painful wound. The skin is tough, so use a sharp filet knife and remove the large rib cage. You can cook sheepshead in a variety of ways, but I like to fry mine. The good thing is that a liberal bag limit – 15 per day, 12-inch minimum length – allows you enough to try different styles of preparation.

For weekly fishing reports, hot tips, catch photos and lots of angling resources, visit www.billmiller.com. For fishing charters in the Tampa Bay area, call (813) 363-9927.

When a line pops from an outrigger, it sounds like someone dropped a thick book on a table… When that line’s attached to a Penn International 30 wide, the safe assumption is – pelagic.

That’s what Capt. Dane Karcher and I thought when the first of a double header popped over a wreck in 150 feet. Tournament pro Art Bergerman had provided his 36-foot Yellowfin, “Caliente” for the first offshore trip of Capt. Bill Miller’s new web-based program, “Fishing With Bill Miller,” and the triple Mercury outboards covered the 50-mile run in under an hour. Bergerman’s plan was to troll ballyhoo around the wreck for wahoo, sailfish and winter kings before anchoring and going to work on the hordes of amberjack below.

Apparently, the resident wreck bullies were impatient this day because about five minutes after Miller and Capt. Jesse Mayer grabbed twin trolling rods, they were holding chunky AJ’s in the 25-pound range. One more trolling pass netted another AJ, so Bergerman canned the pelagic pursuit and set us up for an amberjack rally of epic proportions.

Put it this way: Had we not taken the requisite time for all the important filming angles, still photos and interviews, a 50-fish day would have been no problem. Karcher spent about 15 minutes in a wet suit, filming the swarm of AJs subsurface – that is, until what he described as “a wall of sharks” hastened him back aboard.

Get ‘Em Going
As our trolling efforts showed, amberjack need no coaxing to swim 25 fathoms for a meal. However, if you want to bring the entire gang topside, drop the hook, toss out a few handfuls of live sardines and just watch the water. Slight glimmers in the water column gradually take shape and those shapes quickly turn into ravenous beasts driven by a perpetual hunger.

“Chum and keep chumming – you don’t want to lose their interest,” Mayer said. “A lot of the fish are getting a bait with no hook in their mouth, so they stick around.”
The payoff, Mayer said, more than merits the effort: “Once you get into them, you get into a bunch of them. Especially with the grouper closure right now, they’re a good fish to target. They fight hard, they pull a lot of drag and they eat just about anything.”

Top Tactics
After the first trolling pass nabbed a pair of AJ’s, Bergerman pulled the ‘hoos back across the wreck. Heading the opposite direction, he was not happy with the presentation.

“It’s hard to make them bite against the current – it doesn’t look natural,” Bergerman said.

Ten minutes later, when our third AJ smacked a trolled bait, the captain grinned: “See, this time we were going with the current.”

Once we had transitioned to the chumming phase, Miller broke out his 10-weight fly rod and used a simple roll cast to present a chartreuse streamer fly about 30 feet behind the boat. AJ’s were dialed in on the live chum, but on Miller’s third cast, they fish noticed his fly and he would have had an easy hook up, had two gluttons not bumped into one another at the surface. The next cast drew a clean hookup – a 20-pounder that looked a lot like the one Mayer would catch an hour later on the skinny rod.

Next up was a stumpy popping plug. As Mayer seeded the water with livies, Miller flung the plug off the stern and worked it with short, sharp strokes. The fish took a while to warm up to this noisy presentation, but once they decided it was on the menu, two violent pops – think “Godzilla snook” – preceded the kinda surface strike you talk about for years. No kidding, this AJ was so amped for that plug, he literally surfed a good six feet – back out of the water – to crush the popper.

Mayer would later add a couple of AJ’s on the butterfly jig. The dynamics of a heavy jig with a dangling hook harness give head-shaking jacks plenty of opportunity to throw the bait. However, each time he lost a hooked fish, Mayer kept the bait in play and found another willing player within seconds.

Live blue runners, tomtates and sardines would also produce amberjack action. Though our methods varied, one thing remained consist
ent – a hooked amberjack is a handful-plus. Karcher offered some good advice on winning one of the sea’s toughest battles.

“The key to fighting an amberjack is to use finesse – don’t try to muscle them,” he said. “Try to lead them up by their head. When they run away from you, let them run and when they stop, you try to get their head coming your way.

“I like to use a good amount of drag and keep the line as tight as you can. When you feel them stop running, that’s when you want to start using short pumps. You’ll only gain an inch or two at a time, but you’ll gain a little more each time. Eventually, you’ll lead them right to you. It’s kind of like leading a horse.”

Looking Ahead
Having hosted “Hooked on Fishing” (Brighthouse Sports Network) for 16 years, Capt. Bill Miller recently advanced into a multimedia role with his new online program titled “Fishing With Bill Miller.” Plans for a national network television show are also in the works. Check www.billmiller.com for updates on Capt. Bill’s forthcoming projects.

I started seeing a few bonito in mid-February. Then came schools of Spanish sardines moving in… All signs indicate that any day now, the offshore action will bust loose!.

As the days get longer and the Gulf temperature climbs, the massive migration of various pelagics fill local waters. The offshore regulars like grouper, snapper, and amberjack revel in the warming water and the soon-to-be abundance of bait.

Spring is here, are you ready?

Grouper
The bite is great, but it’s still catch and release with no end in sight. The gag grouper are biting good on the shallow breaks, especially when you can find some water and structure in that 65-degree or over range. Early in the month, you can start in as shallow as 30-feet but fish are likely to be wary of heavy leaders, so lighten up. Starting with dead bait is a must in shallow. It gets the grunts and little grouper moving, which, in many cases, fires up the big boys.

If the weather is good, I wouldn’t stop inside of 75-feet. Just work your breaks and hard, live bottom roll-offs until you find what you need. The northern area (Tarpon to Hudson) is great this time of year. That area is full of breaks and live bottom that hold a lot of gags. You’re going to weed through some shorts but you’ll catch enough keepers to make it worth it.

This time of year, the more productive breaks and ledges will sometimes have clouds of fry bait on them. Find the fry and the grouper are usually close-by.
The red grouper are in better numbers (and mixed in with the gags) in the 130-foot-plus rang. Look for these fish to move in as shallow as 100-feet as they follow migrating bait pods to the east.

Snapper
The mangrove snapper are showing up on breaks and other structure in 75 to 100 feet. The fish were a little picky last month and the only way to get the bite going was by scaling down scale tackle and having live sardines or small pinfish. As the water warms, the fish get more aggressive and the dead sardines start to work better.

The deeper you go, the better the snapper bite will be. Toward the end of the month (and on through Summer), the mangos will start populating the shallower spots.
If you have a spot that maybe you caught one or two mangos on or saw them showing but couldn’t get them going, you might just need a little lunar help. Try hitting the spot closer to the full moon.

Amberjack
The amberjack are consistent over the springs and wrecks in 120-feet and deeper. The jacks on the southern springs and wrecks have been better-size fish and in bigger schools. Big live baits like beeliners (vermillion snapper), pink porgies, runners and grunts are often the key to get them going. The deeper haunts will still be better but look for the jacks to start to show up on wrecks as shallow as 75-feet this month.

If the jacks are hard to get firing (as they often are, especially on common spots), break out the downrigger. Trolling some live baits on straight 30 at mid-depth can get the ball rolling. When they hit, be ready to feed them line and let them eat the bait. Picky jacks will mouth a bait often, especially on the troll. If the ajay feels any drag or tension on the line, they will spit it in a hurry.

Kingfish
Have some kingfish rigs ready when you’re ajay fishing. I can’t tell you how many early-Spring smokers I’ve caught while jack fishing in March on a deep wreck or spring.

The kingfish are pushing up from the south. At the beginning to mid part of the month, the action will be sporadic. Toward the latter part of the month, it should be all you want.

Be sure to keep a flat line out as much as possible while bottom fishing this month. A lot more smokers come up in the early part of the Spring and you could find a knot of big fish on a small piece of bottom. Doing this has helped me find areas of larger kings which set me up for tournaments the following month.

The first kings are schoolies that typically show up in the hundred-foot range. They’ll hang around here terrorizing bait and then start moving east. By the end of the month you can find the big ones all the way to the beach with schoolies on the wrecks and reefs.

Best of the Rest
The Spanish mackerel show up in good numbers this month. Look for them from right on the beach out to the 50-foot range. The cobia also start to appear this month on the artificial reefs, wrecks and ledges. They can be very aggressive and curious when they first show up. Be prepared with a flat-lined live bait.

March fishing can be outstanding on the North Suncoast… Water temperatures warm in to the magical 70’s, triggering the return of the bait which in turn, kicks-off great action from a wide variety of gamefish.

Redfish
Spring will inspire an upswing in the redfish action. After a long winter of seemingly-endless low tides, the high tides will finally start to creep up on to the oyster bars and mangrove roots. This will bring the reds back on to the shores of the mainland and barrier islands. Some will be in small groups and some will gather in large schools. You’ll find them in many of the same areas of the snook as well as out on the flats in areas around Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands and up toward Sand Bay and Green Key.

Under the right conditions, chumming with live sardines can excite the largest schools into a huge feeding frenzy. These fish will return to the same area for many days if not spooked too bad every time they return.

Be sure to remove any bobbers lost into the mangroves on your way out. Leaving them is a good way to sacrifice your spot and also poses a serious danger to birds and other inhabitants of the mangrove system.

Trout
The spoil islands between Crystal Beach and Honeymoon Island are holding schools of good sized trout. These fish have been hit pretty hard over the last few months and their numbers have dropped. If you happen by however, and find one of the islands desolate with no boats nearby, it is still worth making few casts. Most of the trout here are over 18 inches and some are over five pounds.

Snook
Snook are showing a good comeback, but we still need to treat them right. If you’re into catch-n-release, live sardines are the key to success. Tracking down a livewell-full of good-sized whiteys can be more difficult than catching the snook but it is definitely worth the effort if you are serious about snooking. The bigger your bait is, the better your chances of a monster snook eating it are. Big snook in particular can be picky about which bait they eat, especially if a lot of snook fishermen have shown up. Smaller baits will often be ignored by snook that will jump all over a jumbo as it comes darting through their location with the tide.

Fish that receive a lot of pressure are harder to catch so don’t bother sitting on the most popular snook spot in the area all day waiting for a bite. Do a little exploring. Try areas off the beaten path and places you seldom go. This is where the snook are most comfortable and are much more willing to bite. Look for fish around creek mouths in the Anclote and Cotee Rivers as well as along all the residential canals from Indian Shores north to Crystal Beach and Ozona. The snook are heading toward the edges on the Gulf and you will intercept them somewhere between the back country and the beach.

Cobia
The cobia hunters will be out in full-force this month as the fish return to the flats. From Anclote northward, look for the fish on the flats in three to six feet of water. They’ll be tailing the rays and working any edge they can find. No need to be the early bird here as the fish are easier to spot once the sun is up in the sky a good ways.

Best of the Rest
The mackerel should start showing up along the beaches and up inside the sound. Look for the joining in with the ladyfish and bluefish working bait clouds on the deeper flats.

Shallow water grouper fishing often turns on in the spring as the gags move in closer to shore to feed where the bait is most abundant. Areas off Bayport, Aripeka, and New Port Richey are perhaps the best but you may encounter them just about anywhere you find large rock formations or structure in shallow water. You could find them as shallow as 10 to 12 feet, but you better release it.

Amberjack fishing is good over the deeper wrecks and reefs. This should remain strong and other species such as kingfish, blackfin tuna, barracuda and permit should join them as things warm up. If you’re headed offshore this month, make sure you bring tackle for a variety of different kinds of fish. Just about anything is possible out there in the spring.

Fishing and great weather have been good most of this year… March is usually a windy transitional season. Remember that everything on our local waters depends on which direction it blows from and its intensity. North winds will mess us up; but southern winds push Spring migrations of fish our way. West winds churn up our Gulf shoreline, but east winds clear it up. Flocks of screaming gulls and terns are a sure sign the masses of baitfish are arriving. With them are dark balls of minnows followed by hungry schools of Spanish and king mackerel, sharks, cobia, and many other species. Tarpon and permit follow close behind, usually arriving sometime in late April.

Inside action picks up when some of the minnows drop into Charlotte Harbor, Gasparilla Sound, and Lemon Bay. Trout and redfish are already here and hungry. Snook were getting excited on warmer days last month. Sheepshead will peak this month and more pompano should drop in. Flounder action was good last year and they should be larger now? This is an exciting time to be fishing around our Boca Grande to Venice area.

Mackerel
Mackerel and more. The action will start as those baitfish balls move in, the gulls are obvious indicators. Observe carefully to locate the slashing mackerel and striking fish. Minnows are of course great baits if you have the gear to capture, hold and fish them. Spoons and lures are fine and catch plenty of fish if you learn to use them. Your best bet here is to find a local bait shop like Cook’s Sportland in Venice and let them match your gear up with appropriate tackle. Look for a local shop near you in our advertisements. Please consider that you are going to lose some lures fishing because of the razor-sharp toothed macks and buy several extras!

While wire is best for king macks, cudas, and sharks try thirty to fifty pound mono or Fluorocarbon to catch more of the smaller mackerel. Note that both have big eyes and feed in very clear waters so keep leaders and swivels to a minimum.  Also troll or cast around the schools of feeding fish not thru the activity. This is a fishery that you can keep a mess of fish to eat and share; always carry plenty of ice to store your catch to enjoy later. Mackerel are great cooked many ways including; fried, broiled, blackened, or grilled. Try marinating the kings and eat all fish as fresh as possible. You can freeze fish but don’t leave them too long. We will have great action here soon make your plans for March and April ASAP!

Trout and Redfish
Trout and redfish are our inside action until it warms up and minnows are dependable again. We’ve enjoyed good action so far and it will just improve as we get minnows to chum fish with. I was able to catch some whitebait minnows last month on warmer calm days but I can’t count on it yet. Look for activity, “birds, mullet, baitfish, etc…” on t he water surface to help determine productive spots. Shrimp or lures are baits to use now.

Snook
Snook actually bit well several days last month and are looking good locally. We have plenty of smaller snook and quite a few larger ones already showing up. We still can’t eat any but we can catch and release quality fish for fun if you like? I look forward to outstanding snook fishing this spring and summer from Englewood thru Venice.

Best of the Rest
Sheepshead and pompano are helping provide tasty dinners for many of our trips recently. Both should get better in March. These can be challenging fish for some anglers but fight and eat well if you can catch em. Just be aware and reel when you feel a nibble. Don’t pull until you feel solid resistance; that’s the big secret! Shrimp, fiddler crabs and sand fleas make great baits here. Fish shell bottoms and structures for concentrations of fish. I frequently us jigs but knocker rigs are fine too.
Flounder action has been better recently and they should be larger now when they get hungry. Fish deeper, near the bottom with jigs or natural baits for flat fish. Let he barely legal ones grow up if you want larger ones latter!

Sharks, cobia, barracuda and more; are ready to your test tackle now. We have plenty of larger fish near shore and off shore to tangle with. If you want big fish action you just need the winds to allow us to get to the big ones. Use lively, larger baitfish to catch the attention of the big ones!

Tarpon and permit will be into the Boca Grande area sometime in April for sure and we had a few already around teasing us in February. Action is not dependable until waters hold around eighty degrees but fish start showing up in the seventies. We may have a shot at tarpon soon but water temps and winds control the action. Tarpon will start out south around Pine Island Sound and move up into Boca Grande area soon after. It’s time to lock in your snook and tarpon dates!

I’m excited and looking forward to hot Spring fishing action, don’t miss out!

Contact Captain Van Hubbard at www.captvan.com, email at charternow@captvan.com or phone is 941-740-4665.

Fishing for reds and trout on shallow flats of Sarasota Bay should be strong in March as baitfish become more plentiful… Top water plugs should work well due to warmer water. You might also find sheepshead around docks and oyster bars. Look for catch and release snook in the ICW at night. In the coastal gulf, king and Spanish mackerel and more should begin to show up towards the end of the month or sooner due to the warm winter we’ve had so far. Keep your eyes open for early arriving tarpon in Sarasota Bay, lower Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.
 
Snook
Catch and release snook fishing should be good in the ICW between Sarasota and Venice this month. Cast 1/16-ounce jigs with shad tails and jerk worms beyond shadow lines and swim them through the lights. Plastic shrimp can be dead drifted, reeled slowly with an occasional twitch or skipped under docks. Fly fishing for snook at night should be very good this month. Cast small white flies up tide from structure and let them sink before stripping them across shadow lines. They may eat Gurgler type flies when they are chasing shrimp across the surface. Fish peak tidal flows for the best action. You may also find snook feeding on shallow grass flats on sunny afternoons, especially due to the warm winter we’ve had so far, where they might eat jigs with shad tails or jerk worms and wide profile baitfish fly patterns.
 
Reds
There should be good action with reds this month. They’ll spend more time feeding in shallow water due to more plentiful bait. Look for them along mangrove shore lines and the top of bars when the tide is high or in potholes and along edges of bars when the tide is low. I like to pole and cast 1/16-ounce jigs with shad, grub or 4” jerk worm tails ahead of my drift to find fish. Focus on seams where grass meets sand. You’ll need to approach them differently when fly fishing. Avoid crossing seams with you fly line, instead just cast your fly and leader across seams. It is better to start with shorter casts and lengthen them to avoid spooking fish you may not see. I like lightly weighted flies (bead chain or extra small lead eyes) with weed guards fished on 10’-12’ leaders on a floating fly line.
 
Trout
Trout fishing should also be good in March. Baitfish will become more plentiful as water temperatures reach 70 degrees or higher, which means good top water action. I like to use surface walking top water plugs and prop baits. A “clacker” float/plastic shrimp combo should also work well in this situation. Drift deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay and cast ahead of the drift with jigs and a variety of plastic tails, plastic shrimp, tandem rigged jigs and weighted flies on sink tip fly lines. You’ll find the biggest trout in skinny water along with reds. Look for them in potholes or on shallow grass flats. Cast 1/16-ounce jigs with shad tails or jerk worms or weedless-rigged plastic tails beyond potholes and seams and work across them. Fly anglers should do well with 12’ or longer leaders and lightly weighted flies or fly poppers. North Sarasota Bay, lower Tampa Bay and Gasparilla Sound have some great flats for trout and reds in the spring.
 
Tarpon
Be on the lookout for early arriving tarpon. These are probably resident fish moving out of rivers and creeks where they’ve spent the winter. They may be rolling on deep grass flats or “laid up”, sitting still just below the surface. Cast plastic baits or plugs to them on medium heavy spinning tackle. Don’t hit them on the head or cast beyond them so that the lure or fly comes toward the fish. I use 50-pound braid on a 7’ rod with an 80-pound fluorocarbon leader. Fly anglers could use floating or sink tip fly lines on no less than an 11-weight rod and wide profile baitfish fly patterns. You may find early tarpon in Sarasota Bay, lower Tampa Bay and lower Charlotte Harbor including Gasparilla and Pine Island Sound. They may frequent some of the same deep grass flats where you trout fish, so be prepared when fishing those areas.
 
Best of the Rest
You might find pompano, bluefish or Spanish mackerel mixed with trout on deep grass flats. Surface walking plugs, “clacker” float/plastic shrimp combos and fly poppers or Gurglers may make blues and mackerel show themselves. Techniques are the same as for trout, drifting deep grass flats and casting ahead of your drift with jigs or weighted flies on sink tip fly lines, but you’ll need to add 6” of multi strand braided wire or heavy fluorocarbon to your leader when toothy fish are around.

Look for Spanish and king mackerel, blues, tripletail, cobia and false albacore (little tunny) in the coastal gulf this month. When the water temperature is in the high 60’s to low 70’s, baitfish and predators should be plentiful. This might normally happen towards the end of the month, but with the warm winter we’ve had it could happen at any time. Look for diving terns and breaking fish to find mackerel, blues and false albacore. Cobia and tripletail may be around crab trap floats and buoys or over structure. I use jigs with plastic tails and small surface walking top water plugs for mackerel, blues and false albacore. Fly anglers should do well with sink tip fly lines and weighted flies.

I like jigs with shad tails or plastic shrimp on spinning tackle for tripletail. Fly anglers should score with lightly weighted flies fished on floating or sink tip fly lines. Jigs with longer, wider profile jerk worms, and plastic baits should work well for cobia. Wide profile baitfish fly patterns fished on 9 or 10-weight fly tackle with floating or sink tip fly lines should work for fly anglers. Your tarpon fly tackle isn’t too heavy and the same flies should work for cobia so it could serve a dual purpose when tarpon or cobia are around.

There should be lots of action this month on both shallow and deep grass flats, the ICW and the coastal gulf. We’ve had a warm winter, so action in the coastal gulf could explode early. Whatever you choose to do, please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!

Contact Capt. Rick Grassett of Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.at (941) 923-7799 or email snookfin@aol.com; www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com

All signs point toward an early spring…  A warm February felt like a typical March and fish behaved as it was.  Migratory mackerel made early appearances, cobia showed up, and the popular black drum fishing in the shallows caught some by surprise.  If this trend continues we will be fishing like it’s already April this month which is a good thing. Historically, the months of March, April, and May offer our most spectacular fishing opportunities.

Bait Fish
The key to great spring fishing is the availability of bait fish.  Some bait never completely left our region during the entire winter affording us a jump start to the action.  As more bait fish begins to fill in expect the predator species we seek to follow.  More bait fish equals more targets for us.  Top producers will include scaled sardines, Spanish sardines, thread fin hearing, cigar minnows, pin fish, and blue runners.

Sheepshead
Sheepshead are generally considered a winter time go-to, but they should not be overlooked even in our warmer conditions.  Their bite should peak with the full moon happening early this month.  Large concentrations of fish can be found on near shore rocky formations and artificial reefs as they complete their annual spawning rituals.

Trout, Redfish, and Snook
The top 3 inshore species are all an excellent target this month.  In many scenarios they can all be caught from the same location completing what is referred to as an inshore slam.  All three will respond to live chum, and all three will be willing to chase down a baited offering presented in the melee.  Look for action to come from sandy pot holes, oyster bars, and deeper mangrove shorelines around Bay Pines, Coffee Pot Bayou, Coquina Key, Pinellas Point, Mullet Key, Tarpon Key, Tierra Verde, and Boca Ciega Bay.

Spanish Mackerel and Kingfish
Spanish mackerel should invade our beaches this month providing non-stop drag pulling sessions.  They will also bunch up at the mouth of the bay corralling tightly balled up bait.  Diving birds will give away their location as the fish gorge themselves.  It’s also highly probable that kingfish will make an impressive early appearance if the bait fills in as expected.  Trolling spoons around bait pods will help locate them.  Once found, live baits can be deployed to connect with the larger fish. Artificial reefs, well known wrecks with published coordinates, and most of the outside buoys of the shipping channel are all perfect places to begin the search.

Best of the Rest
The best of the rest could be anybody’s guess.  It’s an unknown month with the early arrival of spring.  Cobia should be considered.  Pompano would be great.  The usual suspects will always round out the list.  Snapper, white grunts, flounder, and sea bass, will all make their way to a dinner plate. Fish to amp up the pure fun factor could include jacks, lady fish, bluefish, sharks, and barracuda.

Capt. Brent Gaskill operates both inshore and offshore in the St. Petersburg area and can be contacted at 727-510-1009 or e-mail captbrent@summervacationcharters.com. His web site can be viewed at www.summervacationcharters.com for more charter fishing information

Well, we didn’t have much of a winter this year, so I don’t feel as excited as I did in years past for spring……but I’m not complaining. The warm weather we have been having has changed things this year. We have already started to fish our springtime patterns and have been getting bait almost all year. It hasn’t been a bad thing; actually, it has been a good thing. The bite in our region and others has been on fire. As more bait shows up and moves inside the bay, things will really start to turn on.

Redfish
The redfish bite continues to be hot. Areas around Cockroach Bay south have been holding some nice fish. You can fish most of the areas on both low and high tide with success. On the lower tides, work the potholes on the grass flats. It’s a numbers game. Work as many holes as you can, and you are sure to find some fish. On the higher tides, work the trees and oyster bars. Live scaled sardines (white bait) are a great choice. Live shrimp will also do the trick. As for artificial baits, when working the potholes, a D.O.A. or new Tsunami shrimp is hard to beat.

Trout
The trout has been great and will continue all spring. Most areas in our region have been holding some nice trout. The Little Manatee River, Little Cockroach Bay, and Joe Island are good areas to start. The key is to find good, clean moving water. A live scaled sardine rigged free lined with a 25lb Berkley fluorocarbon leader with a 1/0 Daiichi circle hook is a perfect live bait rig. The rule of thumb for artificial baits is a top water plug in the morning and soft plastics in the afternoon.

Snook
The snook have started their move from our rivers out onto the flats and other early springtime areas. Areas with good tidal flow and ambush points seem to always hold snook. Live scaled sardines are essential for the bigger snook. I prefer a 30lb Berkley fluorocarbon leader with a 1/0 Daiichi circle hook. Remember, snook season will remain closed until August, so please handle each fish with care and return to the water right away.

Best of the Rest
As bait continues to make its way into the bay, look for the Spanish mackerel to be close behind. Areas from the Skyway Bridge up the southshore will hold mackerel. I prefer mono leader versus steel leader. You will have more cutoffs with the mono, but you will get more bites. A long shank hook and a 40lb mono leader is a perfect rig. With the warm water temperatures and the abundance of bait around, maybe we will see some early season tarpon…shhh!

Captain Will Shook is a full-time captain and has been fishing the waters of Tampa Bay for over 20 years. To book a charter with Capt. Will Shook, call 813-732-5971 or visit www.Tampa-StPetersburg-Fishing.com