Home > Fishing Reports
Inshore: As expected the fishing turned on around the bay area with plenty of great catches being reported. The greenbacks/whitebait has moved onto every grass flat and with some chumming it’s easy to get all you need for a day of fishing.
If you’re chumming bait into cast net range try using any form of cat food (east expensive the better). I use Jack Mackerel (purchased at my local grocery store), mixed with menhaden oil, (purchased at my local tackle shop) and several cups of fish food (purchase at my local feed store). I dump the jack mackerel into a small plastic bucket, mush it up real good, add a cup or two of menhaden oil and several scoops of fish food then mix everything together. When you get to the flat just toss out small amounts and watch the bait come running. Tip: if you purchase a bag of fish food my certain you have something to store it in, do not leave it in the bag. I use a two five-gallon buckets with lids.
Ok, we’ve got our bait… let’s go fishing. Tampa Bay if full of fish and finding those willing to eat is not difficult.
Snook, Redfish and Trout are everywhere around the bay. But if you’re looking for snook, remember they are out of season and must be released until the first day of September. Circle hooks are more fish friendly than conventional j-hooks and usually result in outer-mouth hookups. However, it you’re not paying attention the fish will swallow the bait and hook which almost always results in death. Therefore as soon as you sense the fish has taken the bait, simply ease back on the rod get a good bend in it and when you feel the fish start reeling.
We’ve been catching snook around the mangroves and around structure. However, on a few recent trips I’ve found plenty of fish on the grass flats… fattening up on whitebait.
There are plenty of reds around and you’ll find some schooling fish from Double Branch Creek all the way into Sarasota. I’m finding most of the fish we find will push up to the oyster bars and mangrove line on an incoming tide and feed until the tide turns to go out. We’re catching them on live greenies and artificial lures. Some reel exciting action comes on topwater lures like MirrOlure, High Roller and Thunder Shad lures. As the water deepens you might try a Gulp Shrimp around the oyster bars.
Everyone loves a good trout bite and lately I’ve been finding some huge seatrout around the outside edges of some hearty grass flats, especially when the tide begins falling. The bigger fish tend to move to deeper water and live greenbacks and shrimp free-lined or under a popping cork will do the trick.
Now for some real fun… the giant Spanish mackerel have arrived and they’re ready to eat. Plenty of huge fish are patrolling the beaches along the gulf and quite often you hook up with the occasional kingfish. These speedsters will be moving into the bay offering some awesome drag screaming action on light tackle. These fish hit hard, run long and offer a terrific battle and they are good eating.
I’ve been smoking them for about a year now and they are delicious. You can even do it on a gas grille. Take a couple of lengths of aluminum foil, double it and roll some wood chips into a log inside the foil. Poke a few holes into the foil and place it under the grates on the rear burner. Take another sheet or two of the foil and place it on the grates, put the mackerel fillets skin side down and sprinkle with you favorite seasonings. I use a seafood seasoning and garlic salt. Cook with the rear burner on medium and the front two burners off. Sometimes I’ll turn the front two on about a minute or two before the fish are done. It doesn’t take long to cook about 20 to 30 minutes but watch them; you don’t want to dry them out too much. When done serve warm and eat away from the blood line. It’s as good as smoked mullet and if inclined it make some terrific smoked fish spread.
Mangrove snapper (gray snapper) have begun their typical summer push into inshore waters of Tampa Bay. Anglers are reporting good catches around any area with structure, rock piles, and area bridges such as the Sunshine Skyway and Gandy Bridge. The full moon should really heat up the action as fish prepare to spawn.
Offshore: The recreational harvest of gag grouper and red snapper from all Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida was from closed Feb. 1 through March 31. It might be interesting to see if this closure will help rebuild the population of this important species. It seems that closed seasons and bag limits seem to change monthly, so be certain to check the latest information at: myfwc.com/RulesandRegs/SaltwaterRules_index.htm
Typically the winds lie down in during the summer and making for calmer more pleasant offshore fishing. And with the water warming up in June the grouper and snapper fishery should be extremely active, around hard bottom or structure, from near shore waters out to about 100-160 feet. Either live bait or dead bait will do the trick but remember you must use circle hooks and have a Venting Tool and de-hooker. Team Marine USA still builds the worlds safest and most fish friendly venting tool. Check them out at: www.teammarineusa.us
The red snapper season opens in Federal and Florida waters June 1. The offshore snapper bite should be excellent. You can also expect good catches of mangrove snapper and structure and bait, are the key to catching these tasty fish.
There are plenty of artificial reefs and wrecks located just off the coast. You will find a list of them at: www.myfwc.com/docs/Conservation/REEFS.pdf#search=”reef”
There’s a good gag grouper, snapper, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bonito and the occasional yellowtail located around these reefs. Anytime you’re fishing a hard bottom reef and doing any chumming keep you eyes open for a nice cobia and late season kingfish. Permit will usually show up on the near shore wrecks and will hit silver dollar size crabs.
For those adventurous blue-water types, there are plenty of summer marlin and Wahoo out near the Gulf Stream.
If you’re interested in booking a trip, please visit my website: CaptainWoodyGore.Com or call at: 813-477-3814. Fishing Florida for over 50 years, I offer professionally guided fishing and teaching charters around Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Tarpon Springs. If you want to catch fish, have a memorable adventure or perhaps learning some new fishing tips give me a call. I specialize in group and multi-boat charters. Tell me what you need and leave the rest to me.
Expect good things to happen this month as the water continues to warm in the gulf, bays and backcountry. And if spring’s any indication, the fishing for the rest of the year should be awesome. Everything is eating and we’re catching plenty of fish. The redfish, snook and trout bite should continue with the big mackerel filling in the gaps. You also might get the opportunity to hook into a nice cobia on the flats. Snapper should be strong throughout the bay… so check the artificial reels.
You can expect the snook bite to continue particularly as the water gets warmer. Fishing tidal grass flat’s, passes, or cuts from upper Tampa Bay all the way to Sarasota will prove productive. When entering an area don’t stop on top of the fish, a few hundred feet away is plenty and fish your way in closer if needed. If you’re a live baiter, remember snook and scaled sardines are a perfect match. MirrOLure Top Dog lures also prove very productive and offer plenty of topwater excitement.
Spotted Sea Trout or Speckled Trout fishing continues to improve especially as the bait begins showing up on the flats. Look for lush grass flats with deep and shallow areas and plenty of sandy potholes. Try the DOA artificial shrimp under a popping cork… it works great.
Redfish are here and should begin settling in for the summer. Check your favorite oyster bars, cuts and broken bottom grass flats. The last of an outgoing tide should raise those black dotted flags as the fish begin to move out of the mangroves onto the shallow flats. Wading is often the best answer to a stealthy approach in shallow water but either way try to keep a low profile as you approach schooling reds. If the school gets spooked, just wait they usually will not move far and circle around especially if they’re feeding. Greenbacks and silver dollar size pinfish work well as live bait. Here’s a tip: If you’re using live bait and have some dead ones, cut them up and throw them around the boat. If Redfish are in the area the scent could bring them to within casting distance. Remember, a redfish can hear you change your mind… so being quite is the number one key to success.
Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing (813) 477-3817
We have four seasons in Florida – Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Christmas. But thanks goodness it’s almost summertime and fishing’s looking great for April.
I’ve had an awesome last three months catching nice spotted sea trout using shrimp and artificial lures. It’s always nice not having to throw the net for awhile. We had some really great days with trout measuring in the low to mid 20” range along with a few redfish, bluefish, some pompano and sheepshead.
Coming in April snook can be found around docks, bridges, mangrove islands, oyster bars or any other ambush spot. You often hear me talk about topwater action well this is a great month to a good topwater lure punched out of the water by a big snook. It’s also a great time to fish docks and bridge fenders at night. Any good lipped lure tossed at a lighted structure and ripped through the light line will produce everything from snook, redfish, trout or the occasional grouper.
Expect the trout fishing on any decent grass flat to be strong through the rest of the summer. Jigs with a plastic tails or shrimp free-lined or under a popping cork with do the trick. And don’t be surprised if you don’t pull up a nice pompano off some the sandy flats edges or in the beach surf.
Redfish are a staple of the area and you can expect to catch plenty from now right through the summer. Live baits or artificial it’s all fun tussling with these fighting dynamos. Targeting areas along the flats, edges of breaks and oyster bars should produce some nice fish.
Snapper, sharks, mackerel, bluefish should begin showing during the month of April especially when the large schools of threadfins show up.
Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing 813-477-3817. If you want to catch fish, have a memorable adventure or perhaps learning some new fishing tips give me a call. I also specialize in group or multi-boat charters. Tell me what you need and leave the rest to me. Fishing Florida for over 50 years I offer professionally guided fishing and teaching charters around Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Tarpon Springs. If you’re interested in booking a trip, please visit his website CaptainWoodyGore.Com or call at: 813-477-3814.
March can be a tough time to catch fish since it’s basically a transition period for cold fronts that result in fluctuating temperatures. However, informed anglers will use their skills to increase the March fishing action.
During this unsettled period, the majority of fish are still found relatively deep particularly around rivers, inland flats, bays and coves. Although the situation can be complicated, it’s not impossible to put the odds in your favor. You must consider a variety of factors when locating fish during this changeover time.
Chasing fish for years, I spend the majority of time in March poking around broken bottom grass flats. Broken bottom is simply a grass flat with plenty of sand or shell pot holes. Another ideal location which offers a feeding zone is a shallow bay or cove located off a grass flat, but near a deeper channel. Then should the temperatures drop, it offers a safe sanctuary from the cold. Fish like snook are usually still in transition from deep water and these are great areas during March.
Occasionally, we get to enjoy some milder weather as spring approaches, the sun out, the winds are calm, and the fish begin moving onto the flats. For best results, try fishing at the top of a falling high tide concentrating your efforts on areas of nervous water, oyster bars and structure; looking for sandy pot holes holding snook or reds pushing water. Start out by easing along the shore and with a little luck you’ll be able to flip a jig into a pot hole or cut off a slow-moving redfish.
If you’re starting out and looking to purchase the right inshore tackle, don’t go too heavy when making your choice. Keep it simple and choose a light or medium spinning reel, 15 pound braided line, fluorocarbon leader and a matching 6 ½ to 7 ½ ft. light to medium-action rod. Next, rig up with a white, new penny, or green/white soft plastic jerk shad or shrimp body threaded onto a 1/8 or 1/4 oz. jighead.
Fish this combination fished with a slow retrieve or twitching action around and over pot holes or oyster bars will certainly attract attention and a strike. Other than that, if you prefer watching a hungry fish crush a topwater lure, you can certainly find this heart stopping action on shallow water grass flats. Recently, I acquired a new bait from a company named Thunder Baits Unlimited, Inc and have fished them recently on several redfish trips. They manufacture several diving and topwaters baits. The action on their Saltwater Model 601 is unbelievable. With a slow retrieve the bait leisurely wobbles back and forth one to three inches under the surface and leaves an incredible wake for the fish to follow. I had great success fishing this lure and we’ve caught redfish, snook and some really nice trout. With topwater lures the heart pounding strikes are awesome, but the anticipation is unnerving.
Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing 813-477-3817. If you want to catch fish, have a memorable adventure or perhaps learning some new fishing tips give me a call. I also specialize in group or multi-boat charters. Tell me what you need and leave the rest to me. Fishing Florida for over 50 years I offer professionally guided fishing and teaching charters around Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Tarpon Springs. If you’re interested in booking a trip, please visit his website CaptainWoodyGore.Com or call at: 813-477-3814.
Snook: - There are greenbacks at the Skyway. Net some and there’s a good chance you can find a snook willing to eat them. I’ve been finding them back around docks in deeper water with muddy bottoms. I’ve also had several good days tossing diving or suspending lures around inshore canals, creeks and rivers.
Redfish - If you’re looking for bait the skyway is loaded with greenbacks and you normally don’t have to chum. Just throw into the shadow line and you’re usually done in one throw. I had several good Redfish days on the north and south end of the bay. Live or dead bait under a cork and you should get a good bite going.
Spotted Sea Trout- The trout bites been on fire all winter and should continue through February. There are some really big fish hanging around shallow water pot holes. And on negative winter tide, wading is the best bet with a tote full of good size shrimp. A good incoming or outgoing tide is usually the trick as they seem to eat better on moving water. Don’t be surprised when trout fishing with jigs if you catch several pompano. We’ve landed several nice fish this winter.
Cobia & Sharks – Last week I saw a few cobia cruising the warm water discharges near power plants and actually found a couple on the flats around the manatees. One was swimming under the big mammal and you could hardly see it. It seems there are always plenty of sharks, jacks, and ladyfish hanging around the power plants and they offer some first-class wintertime action.
Sheepshead - If you’re after these tasty fish the key places are bridges, pilings, docks, oysters and rock plies. Rig up with a #1 hook, small weight and a piece of shrimp, oyster or mussel, scrape the pilings and you’re in the game. Be ready… there are some really nice fish coming from around the bridges. “Give Me a Call & Lets Go Fishing”
Snook – You can still catch a few but if the water temperatures are lower than normal you need to look to muddy bottom inshore canals, creeks and rivers, deepwater docks. Occasionally you’ll find them on the sunny side a bank lying in the sun but you can usually forget about getting one to eat. Try targeting other species during the winter and give the snook a break, after all they normally trying to survive cold water temperatures.
Redfish – You can usually find redfish during the winter and sometime cut bait or artificial lures are your best bet. Again look around docks during the cooler months.
Spotted Sea Trout – Plenty of trout showing up and they are legal from January until November. Grass flats with moving water is the best, however some rivers and deep water channels hold smaller summer trout. Shrimp always produces but its more fun using soft plastics or topwater lures.
Mackerel, Cobia, Sharks – The power plants are the place to look for cobia and sharks during the winter months. But be alert as other species frequent the warm water discharges. During the winter months on the flats we still get the occasional mackerel and plenty of bluefish, ladyfish and jacks.
BE PREPARED… IT’S COMING
Falling temperatures mean cold water and granted ours is not what the neighbors to the north experience nevertheless things do change and fishing is one of them. Cold north winds, cold fronts and cold water should force changes in our thinking when it comes to catching wintertime fish. Winter also gives us other things to consider like staying warm. Nevertheless, do not let it keep you indoors, be prepared, get out there and fish.
As water temperatures drop, metabolisms weaken followed by generally slow sluggish behavior patterns. Since this change equates to less movement, less food is required. What does all this mean to you as an angler… as temperatures fall, metabolisms slow and fish become content to remain relatively immobile, preserving heat, energy, and eating only when necessary? Therefore, you must slow down you fishing techniques especially with artificial lures.
Cooling waters serve as preparation for migration. It triggers survival instincts sending them looking for refuge in deep bays, estuaries, marinas, harbors, canals, and rivers. Structure, not to be confused with cover, is any natural change in the bottom that might hold warmer water temperatures. Examples include creeks, humps, depressions, holes, springs, washouts, submerged riverbeds, sandbars, oyster beds, channels, and drop-offs. Cover, on the other hand is best described as anything natural or manmade. It’s interpreted as anything a fish or bait can use to conceal itself and consist of stick-ups, stumps, rocks, bridges, pilings, docks, weeds, fallen trees or limbs, boats, and boathouses. Now we know where they go - catching them is another story.
For generations, anglers where intrigued with the idea of outsmarting fish using artificial lures. During the winter and especially with the scarceness of natural baits, is a great time to use artificial’s. With artificial’s you get a different perspective and you can expect endless hours of fishing pleasu
Tossing artificial lures requires anglers to develop competence and it does not come overnight but involves practice and patience. Since it means developing the ability to deceive fish into eating unfamiliar shapes, sizes and colors it also involves learning where and when to look for certain species as temperatures begin falling.
Presentation is often construed to mean accurate casting. However, older lure anglers agree that while it plays a vital role there is more to it than pitching a lure into the water. It entails numerous things unrelated to casting, like types of lures, colors, sizes, shapes, noise, hard bodied or soft. Some float while others dive, sink or suspend at various depths. Most are designed to emulate a natural food source depending on how you work it.
In today’s world of high-tech fishing, there are hundreds of situations involving fish behavior that exist and learning them all could take a lifetime. For that reason, just start with some basics then figure out the rest by doing what we love…Fishing.
Snook – Snook season is open and the water temperatures should start cooling down a bit. When that happens, snook fishing ought to brighten up in Tampa Bay. We’ve maintained decent snook action all summer and October should turn out nicely. Anglers have been catching impressive quantities of fish on both half and three-quarter day trips with most averaging in the 22-27 inch range with several over 30 inches. Our big fish for September was a 39 incher. Artificial lures are a blast for those who enjoy matching wits with a linesider and live bait, free-lined or under a cork will always do the trick.
Redfish - The redfish where booming in September compared to August and this month should be outstanding as well. We’re still catching plenty in the 20 to 30 range with our big fish tipping the measuring stick at 33 inches. When redfish hesitate to take live greenbacks or pinfish, which is seldom, try tossing out a piece of cut bait, i.e. mullet, bluefish, or ladyfish. If redfish are in the area they’ll find it. I like to suspend it under a cork to let the scent travel with the current.
Sea Trout – The Trout bite will continue right into winter so be prepared for some decent October trout action. Drift any good grass flat, tossing livebait free lined or under a popping cork, or toss around some artificial lures and have a ball catching a mess for dinner.
Mackerel, Sharks, Bluefish, and Cobia - Large schools of mackerel, bluefish, yellowtail jacks and ladyfish are still around the bay chasing bait. As you travel the bay watch for diving birds and you’ve found feeding fish. Set up a drift near the activity and get ready for some fast and furious drag screaming action. I use 60 lb. Seaguar leader and long shank 2/0 hooks. Believe me when I tell you to be prepared to retie and use plenty of hooks.
Be prepared for the occasional cobia or shark to pop up at the worst moment, always have a rig ready to toss a small pinfish to a passing cobia. Cobia normally turn immediately to take a pinfish, we caught two in September one small one 35 inches.
It doesn’t take much chumming to get a shark bite going they seem to be everywhere. We normally catch plenty of smaller fish but our largest last month was somewhere close to 100 lbs.
Mangrove Snapper – these great eating fish are all over the bay and not bashful about eating small greenbacks or shrimp. You must be quick or they’ll clean you hook before you know it. If you feel the bump and do not hook up, reel in because your baits gone. Remember the first part of my report about Amendment 27/14 rule changes… well it applies to all snapper fishing… use circle hooks, have a vent tool and de-hooker.
Snook – The Snook bite has been good through October, however as the water temperatures start dropping look for bite to slow down. You can still catch this wily sometimes unpredictable fish… you just need to look in different places depending on the water temperatures. Snook are not cold hearty and migrate to areas with tolerable water temperatures. As the water temperatures drop their metabolisms slow considerably and they tend to exert only enough energy to catch food. They limit how much energy is used by not chasing bait, so slow down you presentation especially when using artificial lures. When using greenbacks during cool water temperatures I’ll often cut the tail fins off to slow them down. Remember, large shrimp, bridges, docks and deepwater structure results in a decent snook bite.
Redfish - The redfish action should continue into the cooler months and artificial lures are always productive and loads of fun when fished around mangroves, oyster bars and open water grass flats. Topwater’s or soft plastics on light jighead are your best bet. Live greenbacks, dollar-size pinfish, shrimp and cut baits also catch plenty of reds.
Sea Trout – The Trout bite’s been excellent especially on deeper water grass flats and should continue through the winter months. Here again artificial lures work really well especially on those cold morning when you can’t bring yourself to throw the net. But if you’re a die hard live baiter and can’t get greenies buy shrimp from you local bait house… they certainly need some business.
Remember, Steve Love’s original tandem jig… if not, they where excellent trout lures. Here’s the principal rig. Tie a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jighead on the end of approximately 30 inches of 30 pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. Then tie another one about 12 inches above the first and add you favorite small jig curly tail to each jighead. Now tie an Old Bayside Paradise Popper to the other end and tie the rig to your line. Toss it out, pop it a couple of times, let it settle and pop it again. How hold on because you’ll probably get a double hook up.
Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Cobia, Sharks, and Bluefish – Schooling fish action will continue until the water temperatures get too cold. Last year the mackerel stayed into December. As you travel the bay watch for diving birds and you’ve found feeding fish. You can set up a drift near the activity or I like to anchor, and hang a couple of chum bags over the side then scatter a few live greenbacks around the boat. Watch the water and when they start striking toss a live greenie… fish on. Tie on some 60 lb. Seaguar leader and long shank 2/0 or 3/0 hook and get ready for some fast and furious drag screaming action. I’m fairly certain we hooked a large king mackerel last week… only got a quick glance as it zoomed past the boat on its last run before spooling our light tackle.
Cobia and sharks will also show so be prepared by having a rig ready to toss a small pinfish to a passing cobia or shark.
Mangrove Snapper, Sheepshead – the snapper bite continues and sheepshead should start picking up as the waters begin cooling.
Fishing the tides:
Understanding tides, knowing what causes them, and comprehending how they work can definitely affect your productivity. Moving water dramatically affects feeding patterns in fish and especially in areas with strong tidal flows.
The bite in Tampa Bay for example is practically non-existent on slack tides. However, let the water begin flowing and hang onto you rod and reel because the bites about to turn on. It’s actually fairly simply, the tides move, the tidal currents flow, the bait swims and the fish feed.
Snook One more month and the season opens again on September 1, 2009. There are plenty of Snook lurking around piece of structure and open grass flat throughout Tampa Bay. Pick a good incoming high tide and check out you favorite grass line, broken bottom grass flat and the mangrove shorelines.
The best live bait is a greenback about 3.5 to 5 inches long and to get them means throwing that dreaded cast net. If you’re catching bait on the flats check bait size before you load up that net. If they are still small you might want to use a ¼ inch net instead of the 3/8 inch. No one likes a Christmas tree first thing in the morning. You don’t need to use greenbacks Snook also eat things like pinfish, shrimp, threadfins, grunts and artificial lures.
One of my “walk-the-dog” topwater favorites is a lure manufactured by High Roller Lure Company (www.highrollerlures.com). The 4.25″ High RollerTM is one of the most versatile topwater lures I’ve fished. Originally designed for Largemouth Bass in freshwater it’s characterized by its long casting ability and highly active back and forth jumping motion; I’ve found it deadly for a variety of elusive and exciting saltwater fish, specifically: Snook, Redfish, and Spotted Sea Trout. High Roller manufactures a variety of lures from stick baits to poppers and they all work equally well in saltwater applications.
Here’s a tip/secret for nighttime anglers looking for really large Snook. Use the large 7.5 inch RipRollersTM around bridges, structure and hang on. Originally, designed for Peacock Bass fishing this lure is a surefire big Snook lure. But don’t tell anybody else.
Redfish We’re seeing some nice Redfish pushing into shallower water looking for food on incoming tides. Find a large school of mullet and you’ll normally find a few Redfish. Green backs, small pinfish, shrimp, and for those that like pitching soft plastics are excellent baits for a few Redfish.
Sea Trout I’ve caught more big Trout this summer since before the last big Red Tide fiasco a few years ago when it seemed like they had disappeared for the bay. Well they’re back, and bigger than ever. Find a deepwater grass flat free-line a greenback or shrimp over some and its Trout for dinner. Paradise Poppers bobbers with a medium split-shot about 8″ above a 2/0 circle hook and work the cork by popping it, letting it set a moment, then popping it again.
Don’t be surprise if fishing deep water if you catch Mackerel, Bluefish, Ladyfish, Jacks, Sharks and of course Trout. Topwater popping plugs like High Roller’s ChugRollerTM is a great Trout lure or soft plastic jerkbaits over any deep broken bottom grass can offer artificial anglers some nice action.
Mackerel, Sharks, Cobia, and Tarpon Big Mack’s are everywhere in Tampa Bay. You must fish a moving tide and they’re feeding on anything that swims. Hang a chum block over the side, rig up using 60 # Seaguar leader and long shank hooks, hook a large greenback or threadfin at the joint near the pectoral fin, cast it out and hang on. If you want a few sharks try cutting chunks of Threadfins or Greenbacks tossing them out in the current… the sharks will come.
We’re catching some really big Mackerel with many measuring 30″ and weighing 5 to 6 lbs. Remember, that big Snook secret? It works on big Mackerel and Sharks. Take a fairly calm day, toss out a few chum baits to get them working and work the HighRollerTM 7.5 or 6.5 inch RipRollerTM across the surface. There is nothing as exciting as having a 5 or six foot shark take it on the surface. (use 90 to 120 # Tyger Leader/wire leader and bend down the barbs).
Cobia: I’ve been seeing a few Cobias around the bay most are cruising markers and cans or following large rays or manatees around the flats. When Mackerel fishing with a chum block keep you eyes open as Cobia’s like to hang around you boat. If you net your bait keep a few smaller pinfish and use them for the Cobia.
Tarpon: Plenty of Tarpon at the Skyway, Egmont and on the beaches. Large Greenbacks, Threadfins, or a crab should do the trick. Some are also showing up around the bridges at night. Don’t be surprised is you bait get eaten by a large shark as plenty of them also cruise the bridges during the evening hours.
