The Tampa Bay Times
Spearing in Tampa Bay has had some fair visibility and with more than it’s fair share of sheepshead and mangrove snappers. Depending on the cloud cover most of the days this past week has had five to six feet of visibility inside the bay. Considering the lousy visibility offshore in the shallow depths, the bay has offshore beat. The bottom temperatures this past weekend was recorded, as low as 58 degrees inside the bay. That’s very cold for many divers. Most of those who venture out to spear in the bay this time of year make it a short day. Too many hours in water that cold can suck out a lot of a diver’s core body temperature. The good news for the bay this time of year is the lack of sharks. The shark population is low this time of year, but as the water temperatures get back into the low 70s the guys in the grey suits will be back. Sheepshead up to six and seven pounds were speared this past week and even bigger ones are offshore. The ledges and bottom structure offshore in depths less than 30’ have some big sheepshead showing up. When the underwater visibility is good enough to see fish on the bottom, divers can get some sheepshead up to eight to nine pounds. Fair sized mangrove snappers are intermingled with the sheepshead and the occasional flounder can make for a good day diving offshore.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
