Rain, rain go away — please stay out of Tampa Bay
If you like fishing in the rain, this past week was your week.
Like clockwork, thunderstorms developing in the Gulf of Mexico were making landfall every morning, usually before 10 a.m.
Does this affect the fishing you ask? Not too much, the fish are already wet.
What it does affect are the fishers who venture out on the water unprepared. During weeks when we are on a wet weather pattern, such as we’ve had, it’s smart to carry your rain gear. Yeah, I know, you’re from somewhere up north and its 80-plus degrees here. Well, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get wet and cold when a thunderstorm dumps a couple of inches of rain. Think ahead and bring that rain gear.
As far as fishing goes, all of us locals know August can be a challenging month, especially in the backcountry. For those of us who fish year-round, day in and day out, we take it in stride. Work with what you’ve got and enjoy being out on the water.
We’re experiencing some of the hottest days of the year with water temps to match. And this is the time to target spotted seatrout on the flats. There are two things to remember. One is to find deeper grass flats — 5-8 feet. The next is to fish early morning when it is a little cooler out than say at 2 p.m. I’m finding success by drifting the flats with a simple rig of a popping cork, split shot and a No. 4-size hook. Bait this up with a live shiner and you’re in business.
Another option is to target mangrove snapper. These fish seem to tolerate the warmer waters with ease. Plus, you can find these fish in a lot of different terrain. Reefs and wrecks are excellent places to search, but you can find snapper around piers, docks, jetties, bridges or anywhere there is structure. Again, live shiners for bait are like candy to a tasty snapper. As far as rigging is concerned, see what is applicable to where you are fishing. One rule of thumb is to use the lightest leader and smallest hook. The stealthier your rig, the higher success rate you should have.
Finally, remember fall is around the corner and the fish will be coming out of the woodwork again. Until then, be patient, use your fishing knowledge and get out and see what you can muster up. Stay dry, too.
Capt. Warren Girle is finding good action for his clients on the flats of Sarasota Bay. By targeting spotted seatrout with live shiners rigged under a popping cork, his anglers are catching respectable numbers of fish. Most trout are 13-15 inches, although fish up to 18 inches are mixed in. Average numbers being caught in a morning are 20-30 trout with about a third of those being keeper-size. While targeting trout, Girle is also catching jack crevalle, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel.
After trout fishing, Girle is moving to shallow flats adjacent to mangrove shorelines to fish for snook. Although the numbers of snook are low, Girle is managing to hook up a respectable amount of these catch-and-release fish. Average size of the snook being hooked is 20-30 inches. Live shiners fished under a popping cork are proving successful.
Capt. Aaron Lowman at Island Discount Tackle in Holmes Beach is targeting mangrove snapper around residential docks and channel edges. To catch these tasty fish, Lowman is rigging with a split-shot and a No. 4-size hook. Baiting this rig with a live shiner and casting it under docks is providing good action on snapper, with some fish even reaching 14 inches in length.
While targeting snapper, Lowman is hooking up clients with flounder up to 18 inches on the same rigs as the snapper. You can expect to hook into jack crevalle and the occasional catch-and-release snook in the same areas.
On the flats, Lowman is putting clients on spotted seatrout. Slot-size fish are being caught on live shiners rigged under a popping cork. To find these trout, Lowman is fishing deeper grass flats with water depths of 6-8 feet. Channel edges are proving most prosperous to find numbers of fish.
Finally, Lowman is hooking up with redfish around residential docks. By casting a live shiner on a weighted rig under a dock, Lowman is catching over-slot reds. Stout gear is a must to wrangle these powerful fish from the pilings without having the fish cut your line on the barnacles. Experienced anglers are finding success, while rookie anglers are doing a lot of re-rigging.
Jim Malfese at the Rod & Reel Pier is seeing respectable numbers of mangrove snapper being hooked and landed. Pier fishers using R&R select shrimp are catching limits of these sought-after fish on their morning excursion to the pier. Average sizes of the snapper are 10-12 inches, although 15 inchers are being hooked. Successful pier fishers are rigging with a leader of 15-pound test fluorocarbon — no more than 20-pound test. A small No. 4-size hook with a split shot places six inches up the leader is a complicated as the rig gets. Drift these rigs with a shrimp or shiners under the dock and hang onto your rod. Although these snapper are not large fish, once on the hook they fight like they are.
Catch-and-release snook are making their presence known at the R&R. All sizes of linesiders are being caught. This includes under-slot, slot-size and over-slot fish. Plan accordingly when selecting a rod to target these fish, as you never know if you’re going to hook into the big one. A 20-incher can put up a decent fight, but a 40-incher can make even the most salty of snook fishers sweat a little, especially around all of those barnacle covered pilings that can cut the thickest fluorocarbon leader like butter.
Finally, jack crevalle, ladyfish and blue runners are still available to be caught with jigs and spoons. Working colors for jigs are chartreuse, hot pink or plain old white. As for the spoons, a silver Clark spoon rigged under a popping cork will get you some attention.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.