Tampa Bay trout action

Greetings anglers

I am happy to report the water temperatures are rising to comfortable levels once again. Mild days and nights this last week were a welcome relief for the long freezing cold spell. It will some time before we know the full extent of damage to the fishery.

Saturday we were greeted by mild temperatures but winds 12-15 not the 4-8 mph forecasted just the day prior were not welcome. My plan was to take my anglers 17 miles north to a power plant that expels warm waters and attracts all types of fish. With white caps popping up as we left the protection the Skyway Bridge I changed gears and ran to Ft. Desoto.

Tucked away from the wind my goal was to get today’s anglers Brandy and David on the sheepshead bite. Deep canals and old dock pilings are a great place to target these crafty fish.

I was shocked to find another boat sitting on my sheepshead spot. Even worse they were fishing it totally wrong tossing shrimps away from the structure the sheepshead hold on. So I set up on another nearby spot and had no action. The next stop had the same results.

Enough of that I motored over to an area I had great trout action on last week. And just like last week the action was hot and heavy. Trout and ladyfish eagerly slammed live shrimp and Cal 4” silver soft plastic on 1/8 oz jig heads. Double headers were common and the action was nonstop till we decided to check out another area. We found trout once again and took full advantage of the action.


Capt. Steven