Fishing Reports

OFFSHORE

Water depths ranging from 40 to 65 feet have been productive for bottom fishing lately, with anglers hitting 80 feet for grouper in the greatest ratio of keeper size to shorts. The shallower stuff is holding good numbers, and if it’s a tug on the line you’re after, don’t run past the shallows to go deep. You’ll still find legal fish, but you’ll just have to return more shorts.

Capt. William Toney out of MacRae’s in Homosassa reported good action on shallow-water grouper in as skinny as 8 feet, but legal gags are beginning to head west with the cooler weather. More consistent catches of legal fish are coming from between 15 and 20 miles west of Chassahowitzka Point.

Cobia are in the catch for a number of anglers working the inshore and mid-range artificial reefs off Sarasota. Kingfish action is also available there, as well as north up the coast to Clearwater. Hard bottom off Sand Key is producing grunts, Spanish and king mackerel, and a few grouper.

INSHORE

Cool weather moved fish around this week, but with the warming trend ahead for the weekend, you can expect a good bite in the making. Look for trout action in the North Region to be quite good. Anglers working areas off Anclote Key to Hernando Beach are finding schools of trout weighing 2 pounds and more. Jigs and Shrimp fished under the clacking-cork rigs like the Cajun Thunder and DOA Clacker work well.

Specks in the South Region are biting well too, but the closed season puts a damper on targeting these tender fish. Silver trout are coming on strong as are whiting in south Tampa Bay. Deeper holes around Joe Bay and in the Manatee River are producing both species. Areas off Weedon Island and the power plant are holding silver trout in 14 to 22 feet of water. Jigs dropped to the bottom are producing some decent-size sand trout up to 17 inches along with the silvers.

Redfish have been cooperative in Terra Ceia as a number of over-slot fish have been caught. Several in the upper 30-inch range were caught near the mouth of the Manatee River along the Bulkhead on CAL Jigs with shad tails.

Good catch and release action on snook can be had while fishing live shrimp and DOA Shrimp. Linesiders have been moving back into residential canals and up the rivers this week on the approaching cold front. A warm-up could move fish back on to the flats for the weekend, but they won’t stray far from their winter headings.

Skipping pompano seem to have thinned out or disappeared in south Tampa Bay. Cooler nights could have moved the fish, but the Pinellas Point area held good numbers of fish prior to the front.