Early winter is loaded with inshore fishing options on Tampa Bay. Bait remains easy to gather with water temperatures a mild 65. Snook, Redfish and Trout along with a mix of Mackerel, Bluefish, Flounder tossed in for good measure.
Monday we started on Tampa Bay's eastern shoreline focusing on Mangrove Islands. Scaled sardines free lined tight to Mangroves with under cut banks resulted in quick snook action. Beautiful juvenile snook to 22" attacked often even during a slack tide. We took a grand slam within 30 minutes!
Next up we ran to the Little Manatee river where the tide was still coming in. Our first bait in resulted in a spunky 20" redfish. The bite however was not indicative of the quick start.
Next up we targeted docks and the fun began. Again the first bait in did the trick as I saw Jim's rod bend deeply. I first thought he was hung but quickly discovered he was on a big fish. It was 5 minutes before we got a look at a thick redfish well over 30". The Red saw the boat and went ballistic. A few minutes later it was high fives and pictures time with a 34" redfish.
We ended the day drifting a lush grass flat catching trout, bluefish, mackerel and flounder on both live bait and MirrorOlure MirrorOdines. The day ended with flat calm water tons of sun and 81 beautiful degrees. You have to love Florida in the winter.
Captain Steven Markovich
