Tampa Fishing is still strong during the winter

On the east side of the bay Tampa Fishing is in full swing with the Cobia, Pompano, and Sharks are still doing well at the power plant on the cooler days after a front. The best baits I have been using for the Cobia are a ½ oz jig head with a 8 to 10 inch plastic worm. With the Pompano and sharks I have been throwing a 1/4 to a 3/8 oz jig head tipped with a shrimp.

Sheepshead fishing during the winter months can be fantastic if you look in the right place. I like looking for them around most of the Docks, Rock piles, Rocky shorelines, and artificial reefs in the Tampabay area. With all that suture all around the bay are holding lots of good sized Sheepshead.

The leaders I use are 15-pound test fluorocarbon and were only 9 to 15 inches long, tied to a 1/0 hook and just enough weight to get it down. I like using short leaders and small hooks for Sheepshead with a longer leader it doesn’t allow you to feel a bite as good, and larger hooks make it harder to hook a fish. The best baits to use are shrimp, sand fleas or small crabs like mud crabs or fiddler crabs. They need to be 12 inches and you are allowed to have 15 per person with no closed season.

The Sheepshead and Silver trout still are going strong around the bay area artificial reefs and deep water channels on a shrimp and 3/8 oz jig heads tipped with shrimp.

The flats around the bay area like the Kitchen, EG Simons, Picnic Island, Coffee Pot, and 4^th street flats all are holding big numbers of Trout in the 2 to 4 feet of water over the grass. Those same flats are also holding some good numbers of redfish on the higher tides. They have been up on the flats against the mangroves and the baits I have been throwing at them are a jerk bait on a 1/16 oz to 1/8 oz jig head with a 15-pound leader because of the clear water.

Capt Jim Lemke charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and can be reached at (813) 917-4989 and at [email protected]

Tampa Winter Fishing Going Strong

We finally got into our Tampa Winter Fishing patterns. It can be really tough fishing when the fish get stuck somewhere in between their cooler winter patterns and their spring warmer patterns. Like when the water temp one day is in the upper 60’s and a cold front moves through and the air temp drops so does the water temp. That’s why you want to find that water that is a few degrees warmer.

When you plan your fishing trip you want to fish the end of the outgoing and the incoming tide because the warmer water coming out of the rivers, creeks, and the flats on the outgoing then all that warmer water moves back in and makes the fish bite.

Trout

Now what’s biting around the Tampa Bay area is lots of Tampa winter fishing for Trout in the 2 – 6 feet of water along the grass beds. I like throwing a ¼ oz with a 3 inch shad tail or I will rig it with a live shrimp I will cut the tail off and hook it from the tail.

Redfish

The Redfish I have been fishing the last hour of the outgoing and the first 3 hours of the incoming. I have been fishing in less than 2 feet of water sight casting to them with a 1/16 oz jig heat with a 4 inch jerk bait or if you are fishing over grass and potholes I will rig it weedless. If you are throwing flies I like a crab pattern or a bait fish patterns.

Sheepshead

Sheepshead fishing during the winter months can be fantastic if you look in the right place. I like looking for them around most of the Docks, Rock piles, Rocky shorelines, and artificial reefs in the Tampa bay area. With all that suture all around the bay are holding lots of good sized Sheepshead.

The leaders I use are 15 pound test fluorocarbon and were only 9 to 15 inches long, tied to a 1/0 hook and just enough weight to get it down. I like using short leaders and small hooks for Sheepshead with a longer leader it doesn’t allow you to feel a bite as good, and larger hooks make it harder to hook a fish. The best baits to use are shrimp, sand fleas or small crabs like mud crabs or fiddler crabs. They need to be 12 inches and you are allowed to have 15 per person with no closed season.

The Apollo Beach power plant is still holding Jacks, Sharks, and Snapper. I look for the colder days to fish it so it’s putting out more warm water.

Capt Jim Lemke charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and can be reached at (813) 917-4989 and at [email protected]

Tampa Bay Fishing is on Fire

The end of November is here and the so called winter time fishing in the Tampa Bay area is in full swing and on fire. You can go out and catch plenty of redfish, trout, jacks, ladyfish, and a lot snook still and it’s the end November how crazy is that. The winter time makes for some great action for both kids and adults. This is one of my favorite times to fish in Tampa Bay because you have so many options on the way you want to fish.

The trout are all over every grass flat in 2 – 6 feet of water in Tampa Bay area. It’s better to fish them on the high tides on the grass flat and inside the creeks and channels on the low tides. The best baits to use are whitebait, live shrimp free-lined or under a cork or use artificials like paddle or curly tails in a natural color on a jig head from a 1/32 oz to a 1/4 oz. depending on the depth. A slow retrieval with an occasional twitch will produce the most hits.

Redfish schools are still all around the flats in 1 – 2 feet of water. When the water drops out these reds will move in to the deeper pot holes. I like to target redfish along the grass edges, pot holes or oyster bars using shrimp, artificials or fly.

With the warm weather this year the snook are in their winter haunts like the creeks and rivers in the bay area. But the Snook bite is still going strong in our area. It doesn’t matter if you are fishing the Little Manatee River or fishing Weedon Island the bite is on. The bite has been later in the day after the water has warmed up some.

Capt Jim Lemke charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and can be reached at (813) 917-4989 and at [email protected]