The Tampa Bay Times
Fish feeding activity will improve as shallow water cools with changing weather. Consulting tide charts is always the first step to focus on moving water. It will bring food to lazy fish but also helps determine their location. As water leaves a shallow flat the fish will follow, frequently hanging around in the closest deeper water. Low tide is now early morning. This gives you two great times to fish. When the tide begins to come in, they will ease up on the flat to feed on shrimp, crabs and baitfish. Reds, trout and snook will all follow a similar pattern. Good polarized glasses are necessary to see where the darker grass flat transitions into a lighter grayish color showing the increase in water depth. Grass flats with the most irregular edges are always the better producers. Offsets and changes are high percentage places for fish to wait in ambush for their prey. Casting accuracy is imperative as some of these areas will have a small target where fish will be waiting. It is also necessary to have your fly or small jig land with minimal disturbance as you are still casting to relatively shallow water. Since we use flies, they should have little or no weight. Patterns with the hook point up are preferred to avoid weeds and snags. Keep your rod tip low and close to the water after each cast to allow better line control and an easy quick recast if needed. If your cast is less than perfect, continue fishing it rather than try a quick recast disturbing the water and scaring fish in the process.
Fly fisherman Pat Damico charters lower Tampa Bay and can be reached at captpatdamico.com (727) 504-8649.
- Capiains Corner. Damico - December 26, 2023
- Pat Damico - December 21, 2023
- CaptainsCorner: Pat Damico - November 27, 2023
