Guide bites
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George has been scoring inshore slams with regularity this past week. Most of his anglers have boated at least one trout, redfish and snook each to score the achievement, often multiples of each. He’s been fishing from Weedon Island to Pinellas Point, using free-line live sardines to take trout 16 to 22 inches. Jigs with Sea Shad soft-plastic tails also work. Grass with sand holes in 4 to 5 feet of water has been the ticket. Fishing flooded mangroves when the water is up and flowing has been producing some snook. Most have been smaller males to about 24 inches, though on one trip his anglers landed a 34- and 35-inch fish using live sardines. A number of big ones have been lost in the fight. Docks also are holding snook, so don’t overlook them. Redfish have been on the mangroves, as well, with plenty of slot-sized fish taking the live sardines. His big fish of the week was a 35-inch specimen. He’s still finding some schooling mackerel in 6 feet of water and deeper, though that bite has slowed over the past week or so. Fishing some deeper holes to about 12 feet of water has turned up some silver trout. Frozen shrimp on the bottom produces and they are easy to catch for young anglers on his boat. Fishing sandy bottom just off rocks or bars has produced the odd flounder.
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813-918-8356): Capt. Chuck reports an improved trout bite over the past week. He’s been working grass and patchy sand bottom in 3 to 6 feet of water in the area below the Gandy, including just south of Picnic Island. Using free-lined, live sardines, his anglers have been taking lots of slot-sized fish and a few jumbos. The live sardines are running very large on the area grass flats, so they have not been ideal for trout. Expect some short strikes from fish having trouble getting the big baits in their mouths. Letting them have a moment to get to the hook is a good idea. He’s picked up some smaller snook fishing flooded mangrove lines when the water is high and moving. He’s getting some reds in the same spots. He’s still connecting with a few flounder, though that bite has slowed in recent days. They are hanging on the sand just off oyster bars in areas below the Gandy Bridge. He’s spotting lots of tarpon. He isn’t fishing for them but noted that others have been hooking them at night under the Gandy. He’s also seeing some pompano skip in the wake of his boat, so anglers may want to keep an eye out for them. Once spotted, circling back and doing a drift while tossing Doc’s Goofy jigs bounced on the bottom is the way to go.
Tackle shop roundup
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Zack says customers are reporting better action on redfish over the past week, with small schools bunching up and following schools of mullet. There have been catches reported at Weedon and Picnic islands, but also above the Courtney Campbell Causeway around Rocky Creek. Live and fresh cut bait is producing slot-sized fish and a few oversized ones. Anglers are catching and releasing fair numbers of smaller snook around mangroves, but the bigger fish have mostly moved to the beach passes and along the Intracoastal Waterway. Many have done well fishing shrimp around the pilings of bridges for mangrove snapper, with a good ratio of keepers to throwbacks. The Gandy and Howard Frankland have been good. Tarpon anglers are taking some big ones fishing the bridges at night and there are lots of sharks in the bay. Schools of jacks have been around and provide some good sport on light tackle. When feeding, they’ll take about anything thrown.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Jacob Jr. reports the tarpon action this season is off the chain. He’s jumped some 40 fish over the past month, attributing the large numbers of silver kings this year to the explosion of baitfish including big schools of threadfin herring and scaled sardines. The tarpons have been along the Gulf beaches and in the passes, as well as all the bay bridges. Snook fishing has been solid, with fish spread out from around docks and mangroves in the bay out to the beach passes and surf lines, where the summer spawn is getting underway. Trout fishing has been pretty good on grass bottom in the mid-section of the bay in 4 to 6 feet of water over grass bottom. He didn’t get as many good reports of redfish over the past week but anyone looking to score them may want to work mangrove lines when the water is up, along with dock pilings. Live and fresh cut bait works. A few customers have scored pompano, most coming from the Gulf passes but also some from under bay bridges. The clean, deep water under the bridges at Tierra Verde and Fort De Soto have been among the better places to catch them.