http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/captains-corner-pick-cooler-times-spots-to-fish-as-summer-heats-up/2331192
With the summer heat dial still on full, you might want to look for cooler places and times to fish, such as early morning, late evenings or under area bridges. With the water temperature in the mid 80s, the morning topwater bite has been great on area flats as the sun is coming up, with some nice gator trout, redfish and even a few snook. As the sun gets higher, I start heading to the bay area bridges such as the Sunshine Skyway or the Gandy, anchor up in the shade, change gear and start fishing the bridge pilings or the rock piles under the bridges. I fish for mangrove snapper, sheepshead, pompano and a lot more. In the late evenings I like to fish the mangrove shoreline with jerk baits and suspending baits. The fish move under the mangroves to get in the shade and stay cool just as we get under the bridges to stay cool. No matter when you go, there is a way to stay cool and get some great summer fishing in. The best part of it is you can use your flats rods to do it all. You just need to change hooks or leader size depending on where you are fishing.
Jim Lemke charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and can be reached at (813) 917-4989 and at captjimlemke@gmail.com.
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