Captain Steven sounds more and more like a broken record these days. Good news we did get some decent weather last Saturday through Tuesday. Overall the weather and water temperatures are screaming mid January when March is at our door step.
Spotted sea trout have been the fish of choice at On The Mark Charters the last month. For the most part I have worked Lower Tampa Bay, Pinellas Point, Ft. Desoto and Tierra Verde. I have purposely shied away from the eastern shoreline from the Apollo Beach power plant south to the Skyway Bridge. As the winds abate and water temperatures settle into more normal ranges I will include the Little Manatee River, Bishops Harbor, and Little Coachroach back into my trips.
Personally I can't wait to start throwing the cast net again and hunting snook. Meantime I continue to score with the feisty trout. I have been targeting trout in 6-12', then as the water warms in the afternoon I move to shallower grass flats 4-6'.
I did get a report from Captain Jim Fesperman of Hook Setting Charters who took redfish on the flats Wednesday while tossing shrimp. Jim's clients also scored on sheepshead and trout on a mixture of shrimp and plastic jigs. The redfish while not large were a good sign.
I ran a late afternoon trip strictly artificials and took 20+ trout in several hours. We made only 3 stops all held fish. Same tactics DOA CAL 4" silver glitter jerk baits on 1/8 oz Mission jig heads. Slowly bounce the jig along the bottom it's that simple. Most hits will occur as the jig falls, a light hook set and you are on you way to fun.
Look deep and slow everything down.
Captain Steven
