The Tampa Bay Times

The water cooling, conditions are approaching ideal. Water temperatures should not get too cold until possibly January. All species are active and should remain very cooperative for the next six months or more. Trout remain an easy target. Go to grass bottom areas, preferably with depth of three feet of water or more. Throw your favorite lures. Five or six inch plastic tails are ideal. The bite on topwater lures is always worth trying. For topwater trout, do grass bottom and a little shallower. Trout like moving water but will cooperate even if the tide is not great. Early mornings have been great but as winter approaches there will be a great late afternoon bite as well. Lure color is not very important. I do use a lot of gold for visibility. Trout eat just about anything moving. The best approach is to move lures at a fairly slow pace. Having your lure right down by the bottom is ideal. It has not been unusual to catch over 100 trout a day. Trout remain closed to harvest so they are catch and release action for now. When they do reopen, new rules apply. 15 to 19 inches is the new slot with a three fish bag limit. One of the three fish can be over 19 inches. I have released the biggest trout for years. The slot size fish are better for harvest. Acceptable for the dinner table, it will be a good thing when they reopen to harvest. They did not need to be closed. 95% of the closed area had no red tide. The reopening of trout may not happen until the end of May. 
Neil Taylor

Neil Taylor
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