Well redfish were not to be found Saturday morning. This Captain perched up in my tower saw only a couple singles no schools. The winds 10-15 mph out of the North East made sighting a big challenge.
Spotted sea trout were abundant along sandy potholes but again no redfish. I ran to a protected area knowing the water would be clean and not so bumpy. Sure enough Mackerel were thick as thieves and inhaled any live bait tossed their way. I changed to silver spoons and things got even hotter. Mackerel are great fighters and love to pull drag.
Leaving the mackerel biting I went to another protected area. Keying in on 6-8’ depth tight to a grass flat loaded with white baits had large trout schooled up. On 3 consecutive casts I took over 25“ monster trout.
By far the largest Tampa Bay trout for Captain Steven.
I located another live bait area which impressed again. The flats near the Skyway Bridge have a mixed bag of to large or to small baits but this honey hole is holding truly gorgeous baits.
Captain Jim Fesperman was nearby so I waved him in and watched his anglers jump right into the trout action. He had a young man onboard who was slaying trout left and right.
I chatted with Captain Mike Anderson of the Reel Animals and we both agree the trout are showing in big numbers and nice size. Looks like the winter trout bite will be awesome.
