Guide Bites
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George says the Spanish mackerel action has been “phenomenal.” Schools are ranging from the Skyway Bridge to the Gandy Bridge, and he’s heard of catches up to the Howard Frankland Bridge. The St. Pete artificial reef also has been a hot spot, and any range marker is a likely place to find them. His anglers have boated fish up to 26 inches using live sardines and spoons. Trout fishing remains steady, with fish still in some canals in about 6 feet of water, but also along the drops off grass flats in 3 to 6 feet of water. Jigs with soft-plastic Sea Shad tails and live sardines are working on fish to 20 inches, with good numbers between Pinellas Point and the Gandy area. Snook are hanging close to mangroves and moving a lot to hunt baitfish. Most of the fish landed over the past week have been between 23 and 25 inches, with the largest being 33. He’s been finding redfish along mangroves on the Pinellas side of the bay, with a number of them also coming from under docks. Live sardines or shrimp have been working, with the sardines responsible for the largest fish.
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813-918-8356): Capt. Chuck reports he is finding some nice-sized trout in very shallow water in the Gandy Bridge area. Fish have been on rocks, bars and sand in as little as 20 inches of water. His anglers have been taking plenty between 20 and 26 inches over the past week. Live sardines have been working well on them. The sardine schools, along with threadfin shad, have taken up around channel markers and are easily chummed up in the early morning. There have been some schools of nice reds in Mullet Key Bayou and snook have been on the outside bars and mangroves from there to well up into the bay. A lot of them are smaller males, but a very big fish was lost by an inexperienced angler on a recent trip. Live sardines are the best bait for them right now. His anglers are starting to hook more flounder, with most taken around sandy bottom and off oyster bars.
Tackle shop roundup
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Zack says customers over the past week began reporting more catches of flounder. They like to feed on sandy bottom, often near oyster bars, with jigs bounced on the bottom taking them. Tipping the jig with shrimp improves the odds. Some bigger mangrove snappers are being taken in the bay shipping channels along the rock edges. Bridge pilings also are producing nice ones on live shrimp. The Spanish mackerel bite is on, with big schools and big fish from the mouth of the bay to above the Gandy Bridge. Look for pods of bait and diving birds to find them. The redfish are around, with fish around Weedon and Picnic islands. They have been getting a lot of pressure from anglers, which has been breaking up the schools into smaller pods of fish. That’s made them a bit spooked, so some have turned to anchoring and soaking dead bait for them rather than giving chase. Snook are out of the backwaters and canals, so hunt for them on the outside mangroves and structure. Tarpons are in the bay in good numbers and anglers fishing for them under the Gandy and Howard Frankland are hooking up at night. Lots of bull sharks and blacktop sharks have moved in, which is typical once the tarpon arrive. Anglers have been reporting only so-so trout fishing over the past week.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Capt. Angelo reports that the snook are out of season, but they are out in the bay and feeding around structure and mangroves and in the passes. Trout fishing has been solid, with fish from the grass flats at Fort Desoto up to the Gandy Bridge area. Redfish have been schooling in the same region, though there often are a lot of smaller fish around 14 to 16 inches. More flounder have been showing up in catches in various parts of the bay. The Spanish mackerel schools are everywhere, with some very large fish being landed. Fishing the pier at Fort De Soto himself, Capt. Angelo landed three nice pompanos and there have been some reports of pompano taken in John’s Pass. Mangrove snapper fishing has been getting better every week, with the average size of fish getting bigger. Shrimp around structure of any kind takes them.