Friday The 13th...

Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck. What does that have to do with fishing? Nothing unless your fishing. I didn't get to go fishing today so I guess it is bad luck...so bad in fact that I didn't get to fish since Tuesday...and probably wont get to fish all weekend either. So it is probably worse luck for me than it is for you, my readers. But just in case it is bad luck, I will make it good luck for you because I am going to talk about some fishing destinations.
Cockroach Bay. Located just south of Ruskin FL. Take I75 to college blvd Ruskin Exit go west. Turn south on US41 and a couple miles down the road you will see Cockroach Bay Rd across from a Circle K. Turn right on Cockroach Bay Rd and the ramp is at the end of the road. Good fishing there. There are lots of snook and redfish to be caught in the mangroves all along the channel that leads out to the bay as well is back in the little passes on your left hand side as your heading out into the bay.
If you choose to head back inside Cockroach Bay (CRB) by going left after launching instead of going out into the bay, there are lots of interesting little passes and coves that are worth exploring. The whole area is either slow speed minimum wake or idle no wake so please observe the signs. By ignoring them you are only hurting yourself and the other fishermen in the area because you are spooking fish. And believe me there are a lot of fish in there.
On a strong outgoing tide the current really rips hard out of the channel and the fishing is very good along the mangroves in the channel as well as just outside the mouth of the channel. During the summer months there is also lots of bait to be caught saving you a trip to the skyway or the markers to net bait.
If you head south the grass flats hold lots of trout, jacks, ladyfish and mackerel all the way down to the Port Manatee Spoil Island, which is designated as a Combustion Exclusion Zone and also holds lots of fish. Do not even think of running your motor inside the No Combustion Zone as the security at the port is very alert and will send a boat out to run you off or call the FWC or Sheriff's Office. Push poles or trolling motors only.
If you head north out of the CRB channel there are several passes along the shore line as well as the mouth of the Little Manatee River. These passes can be very productive as well with lots of snook and redfish and trout on the deeper flats. In the winter explore the backwaters inside these passes. This area is known as Little Cockroach Bay. Pay attention to the depth. On low tide there is not a whole lot of water in there and you could be stranded for hours waiting for the tide to bring the water back.
There are also fish inside the Little Manatee River all the way back to the US41 bridge and probably farther but I have never been past it.
I'm not gonna give up any specific honey hole spots but if you explore, you will find them. Look for areas where water is funnelled and the tide is moving well. Also look for points, bends, coves, oyster mounds, mangrove islands, any kind of distinguishing terrain feature is worth checking out. Of course that rule would go for any area being fished.
Good Luck I will get back to fishing again next week and hopefully I can put up some interesting action packed fishing reports to keep you coming back.

Lets Talk Diversity

I have only been fishing in Tampa Bay waters for a couple years but I have caught quite a mixed bag of fish. Not counting a few offshore excursions. Here is a list of the fish I have caught inside the bay, using the skyway bridge as a boundary using a hook and line.

Redfish
Snook
Speckled Trout
Silver Trout
Whiting
Flounder
Gafftop Sailcat
Hardhead Catfish
Jack Crevalle
Mangrove Snapper
Gag Grouper
Goliath Grouper
Pompano
Spanish Mackerel
Ladyfish
Bluefish
Sheepshead
Black Drum
Toadfish
Pinfish
Pufferfish
Cow Nosed Ray
Atlantic Stingray
Key West Grunt
Cobia
Tripletail

Not too shabby I would think. Of course there are still a few species left like Tarpon, Permit and various shark species, so I got something to shoot for in the upcoming days. One of the best things about the bay is the wide variety of fish you might catch on any given day.

Fall Fishing is Almost Here!

The last few weeks the fishing has been a little spotty. The redfish schools began showing up on the flats and in the mouths of the various passes along the South Shore area of Tampa Bay and the Snook were moving back from the spawning areas along the beaches.

Last week I had pretty decent success finding the snook in some of their cool weather haunts. Fall fishing is almost upon us. In my opinion fall and spring are without question the best time of the year for fishing on the area known as the South Shore. The South Shore runs from the Alafia River all the way down to the skyway and Miguel Bay just outside of the skyway. As the weather and water temps fall, the fish start moving in to the back waters and begin to establish their fall fishing patterns. Bait is still plentiful on the flats and is the weapon of choice when targeting fall snook, redfish and trout as well as big schools of jack crevalle, and ladyfish. Big schools of hungry spanish mackerel are also easy targets out in the bay proper with an occasional kingfish mixed in to keep it interesting.

If you are in the bay and see a flock of birds dive bombing the water, check it out and you might get on a school of hungry fish. Make sure you have either a light wire leader or even 50lb mono if your gonna mess with the macks because they will slice through 20 and 30lb leader like a hot knife through butter. My favorite mack rig is a couple feet of 50lb mono or flourocarbon leader with a 2x long shank 1/0 eagle claw j-hook with a live scaled sardine or threadfin herring. I get cut off occasionally, but I would rather lose a box of 50 j-hooks than a couple gotcha plugs.

For redfish, if the water is high fish the edges of mangroves near passes and up inside the backwaters. I like to troll and prospect with live baits tossed as close as I can get them to the mangroves or with jigs with rubber tails or even jerkbaits rigged weedless with a little weight to get them down to the bottom. You can use weighted flutterhooks, weighted keeper hooks, or a regular worm hook with a small splitshot pinched right above the eye of the hook. A company called DOA also makes a pinchable weight that attaches right to the hook.
If the water is low, look for dropoffs along the edges of channels etc, and also keep your eyes peeled for disturbances in the water. If you are really lucky you might even see a school of redfish tailing. I usually find tailing redfish in the morning when there is an incoming tide flooding a flat. They like to get on the flat and look for little shrimp, crabs and small baitfish and will root around in the sand and seagrass trying to flush out a meal. Sometimes when they are tailing they are so busy concentrating on feeding that you can sneak right up on them and present your lure or bait to the fish of your choice. When your on a school of tailing redfish stealth is paramount. When I see tailers I will cut off my trolling motor 50 - 60 yards away or more and hopefully drift closer to them or put my anchor down and slowly and quietly wade to within casting distance.

For Snook, look for moving water. Try to find areas where bait will be swept from a shallow area to a deeper area, or past a mangrove point or even a cut where the water flows by and swirls into the cut. Present your bait so it gets carried by the current into the areas where the snook are waiting for an easy meal. Another favorite type of area that I like to target are creeks with low overhanging mangrove branches. I like to toss my bait so it will get carried underneath the overhanging branches to the snook waiting in the shadows.

I have been having lots of success using these tactics on these type of areas and they will only get better in the comming days and weeks.