Captains Corner, Tyson Wallerstein

The Tampa Bay Times

Cooler weather should bunch those big trout up like we typically see this time of year. Look for those flats that slowly transition from sand bottom to sparse grass to hold schools of trout. In the a.m. the trout will usually be holding deep out in the sand and can be caught on soft plastics rigged on a jig head, as the sun warms the grass bottom in the afternoon, the trout will move right up to the edge of the grass or the sandy potholes just inside of it, these fish respond well to a lightly weighted weed-less jerk bait.  

 The beaches from John’s pass north to Indian shores have been holding plenty of silver trout, drifting with the wind and tide while bouncing brightly colored soft-plastic jigs off the bottom is a great way to locate them. When it’s too rough to drift fish, use your bottom machine to help locate the trout, typically the schools will holding be near the bottom in 8 to 15 feet of water. 

Sometimes these post front days don’t offer many options for open water fishing, having a good stretch of docks where you can get out of the wind and get a rod bent is a very important thing this time of year.  Sheepshead, black drum and redfish can all be found under the docks right now. Many times the south facing docks are most productive, as they see the most sunlight through ought the day. Live shrimp and some small split-shot are all you need here. 

Capt. Tyson Wallerstein

Flats Monster Inshore Fishing
(727) 692-5868
capt.tyson@hotmail.com
www.Flatsmonster.com