Somebody pinch me! My calendar says its mid winter but it feels more like spring! Temperatures in the low 80's with barely any wind is making for true Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce weather.
With afternoon water temperatures at 67 degrees on lower Tampa Bay the flats continue alive with action. My clients today Garry aka Larry and his wife Rosalyn from Alabama were treated to some amazing sights.
Our first stop in 4-6' on lush grass flats had us quickly on the spotted dea trout action. Both small white baits and live shrimp proved irresistible with steady action for over an hour. Double hook ups were common and it quickly became who has the most and the biggest! On one stop we had another double hook up….it made for a great photo with Rosalyn's fish much bigger.
Wanting to get Garry and Rosalyn on bigger fish I ran to Ft. Desoto to an area were I am having gangbuster results on redfish and big trout. We found the redfish with several large 35" bruisers cruising right past our offerings. Garry had a hit but other than that they reds wouldn't chew.
We relocated to another 3-5' grass flat area and started in on the trout again this time our catch was bigger in the 16-17" range. Perfect weather, over 30 trout landed and great clients. It doesn't get much better.
Captain Steven Markovich
