The honeymoon isn’t over

Jun 8, 2001 The honeymoon isn’t over

FRANK SARGEANT

of The Tampa Tribune

Shoaling has not ended great snook fishing at this Pasco pass.

When waves and currents filled in the pass at the northern tip of Honeymoon Island a few years back, many anglers who had enjoyed the summer snook spawn there figured that it was all over – without a substantial tide flow, snook would go elsewhere.

But for those who have learned to change tactics a bit, the area still produces, and the last part of June through mid-July usually offers the best action of the summer due to reduced pressure during the closed period for snook harvest.

“There are two keys,” says Bob Goodwin, a guide out of Palm Harbor. “Fish it when the tides are high enough to give a good flow over the shoal, and fish it when there aren’t a lot of boats on top of the snook.”

Goodwin, who has fished the area since he was a child, said that the shoaling, resulting largely from a beach renourishment project, filled in the 100-yard-wide cut at the island’s north tip to depths as shallow as 2 feet on the western-most point.

But inside that shoal, the pass has retained much of its original depth and still attracts plenty of snook.

“There’s 6 to 8 feet of water if you come back to the east and south along the tip,” Goodwin says. “That’s where the fish hang out now.”

He said that action always is better on weekdays than on a weekend, and that night action is the best of all.

“Get out there on a moonlit night, and you can really have great action without anybody else around,” Goodwin says.

Best baits, he says, are large sardines, pinfish and grunts. The grunts appear to be the favorite for larger fish.

“I think there’s a grunt migration around the islands in mid-summer, because I’ve seen huge schools of them out here sometimes,” Goodwin says. “That’s probably one reason the snook single them out.”

Effective artificial lures include the DOA Baitbuster, a soft plastic mullet that imitates another frequently seen baitfish here. The bait is worked slowly just off the mud bottom that begins a few yards beyond the sandy beach.

Another traditional favorite here is a 12-Fathom jig with a “tiger stripe” tail. The pattern, on a clear silver flake body, doesn’t imitate any known baitfish, but the snook seem to prefer it to most solid colors.

If the snook at the north end fail to cooperate, there’s a 7-foot deep cut at the south tip of the two-mile-long island that may do the job. And snook frequently are seen in the swash channel along the beach in between.

For anglers with boats, nearby Three Rooker Island, a sand spit that has been designated as a bird refuge, is just to the north. Both snook and redfish frequently hang around the flats on the back side of the island, while snook prowl the beach side throughout the spawning period.

And a few miles beyond Three Rooker lies Anclote Key, with some three miles of beach that holds snook most of the summer. The south tip has a deep cut that sometimes attracts fish, more often after dark since it lies along the main navigation channel. And on the north end, the spits of North Anclote Key lie at the edge of a major cut, up to 18 feet deep, where giant linesiders as well as tarpon likely are to prowl in mid-summer.

At all these spots, the live bait tactic is pretty much the same – fishing 14-pound-test filament line, Goodwin hooks a bait just behind the dorsal, casts it up-current, and lets it sweep down near the bottom. When tides are strong, he sometimes adds weight to keep the bait near bottom, because that’s where the snook seem to hang.

Goodwin said that snook, reds and big trout also frequently hang around the numerous spoil islands created by dredging the ICW channel between the barrier islands and the mainland. These low, rocky dots of land, most less than 200 feet long, are surrounded by clear, grassy water that holds lots of bait, and the man-made shoals create natural feeding areas for the predators to trap the smaller fish against the shore.

There are at least 15 spoil islands, some with mature trees growing on them, others that are little more than sandbars awash at high tide. But when action along the beaches is tough, these islands can produce – particularly for those who don’t mind wade-fishing at dawn and dusk and tossing a topwater plug.

Most popular launching site to reach all these areas is Anclote River Park, off the west end of Anclote River Road via Alternate 19 at Tarpon Springs.

Now’s also a good time to keep an eye peeled for big schools

of redfish. They’ll patrol the flats in big numbers, feeding

up in preparation for their annual spawn. There’s no

mistaking them, either. They’ll pack together, pushing

enough water to startle you. Before your knees turn to

jelly, it’s a good time to have a plan of attack.

They’re usually very spooky and a little stealth is in

order. Try not to jump around the boat and fire up the big

motor to run up on them. Sometimes, even an electric

trolling motor will put them off. Polling, or wading is

definitely the way to go

When in range, try to lead the school with your cast,

working the bait back in front of them. If you’ve regained

composure, try to lure one away by casting to the side of

the school. If you can pull the fish away, most likely, the

others will not get alarmed. If they do, just sit tight,

wait for them to settle down, and have at it again. It’s a

blast!