The Tampa Bay Times
Looks like we will have mostly nice weather to start off February. You may want to fish the afternoon with temperatures being a little cooler in the morning. Luckily the bite can be just as good or even better in the afternoon this time of year. Fishing in the afternoon will allow the water and air temperature to warm up a bit.
The bite on the incoming tide has been the best. You will want to fish the flats outside of the passes and creek mouths until you have enough water to move in. Using shrimp has produced a good bite on trout, small redfish, and sheepshead. If you are lucky enough to find scaled sardines then I would use them. Fishing with the scaled sardines has produced some great catches of bigger fish.
Redfish are holding tight under the mangrove trees as the tide rises. Soft artificial plastics and live bait has produced nice catches. If throwing artificial, make sure to rig it weedless. This will stop you from getting hung up on the mangroves. Live shrimp rigged on a ¼ jig head or a 1/0 hook with a small split shot has really worked well. I like to pinch the tail off to get a little send in the water. Make sure to let the shrimp sit and the redfish will find it.
To top it all off, the trout bite has been the best. Just look for a little deeper water when you are targeting them. They seem to be most happy in depth’s of 3 to 4 feet.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
