Captqain’s Corner: Tyson Wallerstein

The Tampa Bay Times

Last week’s back-to-back cold fronts slowed spring fishing down to a crawl in upper Tampa Bay.  As water temperatures plummeted over ten degrees in the course of three days, we are now in the middle of a warming trend which should have the fish feeding well this week.

Look for the afternoon bite to still be the right time to hit the water this week.  Redfish and snook can be targeted under the mangrove canopy at the higher tidal stages. Creek mouths are great places to start your search as they can have both snook and reds prowling around.

Pilchards are the bait of choice right now. Cast netting enough bait for the day has been most consistent around bridge pilings and channel markers in the middle of the bay. As water temperatures continue to rise the schools of pilchards will start to push onto the shallow flats.

Recent red tide reports are looking very good for our area and good fishing is being reported through ought the Intercostal waterway. Fingers crossed, those last two big cold fronts have the bloom on the ropes and it will be out of here soon.

Thank You,

Capt. Tyson Wallerstein 

727-692-5868

Capt.tyson@hotmail com