Despite numerous windy days and rising afternoon temperatures, fishing around Anna Maria Island is yielding some good action.
With recent cold fronts and water temperatures that took a dip into the mid 60s, the cold-water sheepshead bite remains. Any structure in Tampa Bay can produce hookups of these popular wintertime fish, but the clock is ticking.
I am noticing a plethora of the sheepies have spawned out and soon the large targetable schools of fish will disperse. Then the fish will become slightly harder to catch. Offerings of live shrimp are working as bait, although tantalizing the sheepies with fiddler crabs or tube worms can improve your odds when these fish become finicky.
Fishers targeting catch-and-release spotted seatrout are faring well, also thanks to the cooler water temps. Drifting over deep grass and casting soft plastics on a jig head can yield many trout hookups for sport anglers, with catches of 10-22 inches. While targeting the trout with jigs, I’m also seeing ladyfish and a few pompano willing to take a taste.
During warmer days, between the fronts, catch-and-release snook fishing is shaping up. As water temps approach the 70-degree range, snook will be prompted to pursue live shiners free-lined over shallow grass flats, and higher tides are best to catch this action.
Some catch-and-release redfish and over-slot catch-and-release trout are in the mix, depending on the flats you fish.
Mangrove snapper seem to be at home in cooler water temps and I anticipate the bite improving as April nears. Wrecks and other areas with structure in Tampa Bay are holding decent amounts of 10-15 inch snappers for the coolers. Live shrimp or shiners as bait are working well on this bite.
The same areas also hold flounder. And don’t forget that as of March 1, the size limit for flounder increased to 14 inches total length. The bag limit also changed to five fish per person per day and the rule changes include a closed season this fall, Oct. 15-Nov. 30.
Due to prevailing winds in the March startup, Capt. David White has been working over inshore structure in Tampa Bay where he’s putting clients on sheepshead and black drum. Casting live shrimp around residential docks or rock piles in Tampa Bay is consistent for both species, as long as the cooler weather lingers.
On the flats, White is instructing clients to cast live shiners to target the usual catch-and-release species — snook and redfish. Both are being caught in good numbers on warmer days. On deeper grass areas, casting live shiners can result in large jack crevalle and some catch-and-release spotted seatrout.
Capt. Jason Stock is running hard, braving the high seas to reach offshore destinations and he’s being rewarded for his efforts. Fishing around offshore wrecks and reefs is producing action on numerous amberjack, with bonita mixed in with the bite.
Bottom fishing around ledges and hard bottom is producing action for Stock’s anglers, especially on mangrove snapper. And, when calm waters open, Stock is targeting permit over the wrecks by casting live crabs, which can yield respectable numbers of hookups.
Capt. Aaron Lowman is enjoying some sport fishing, targeting catch-and-release snook with his charters on warmer afternoons between the fronts. He reports live shiners as bait yields the best results.
While targeting the snook, Lowman’s clients also are hooking into catch-and-release redfish. Casting baits against a mangrove-lined shore works well, as long as the tide is high and the temperature is warm.
Deeper grass flats away from the mangroves are producing some catch-and-release spotted seatrout, as well as ladyfish and a few mackerel.
For the anglers wanting to take fish home for a meal, Lowman is leading them to sheepshead and snapper around structure in Tampa Bay.
Jim Malfese at the Rod & Reel Piers says fishing is good for the pier fishers who bait up with live shrimp. They’re catching near limits of sheepshead but, he reminds the avid anglers, the limit is eight fish per day, and that is the recipe for quite a nice fish fry.
While targeting sheepies, pier anglers also are hooking up black drum and some catch-and-release redfish and snook. Malfese says casting small jigs from the pier is producing ladyfish and jack crevalle. And, tipping the jig with shrimp is enticing a few pompano to the hook.
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