http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/Captain-s-Corner-Trout-moving-toward-the-beaches_167458345
After significant winds from a front last week, things are calming down and fish are turning on again. Bait has gotten predictable and easier to chum on the flats after moving to deeper water during the front. I’ve been targeting trout at first light. They’re moving toward the beaches, staging in the bays near the passes. Some of the bigger fish have remained in St. Joseph Sound around the islands, but most are migrating west. Live sardines have been getting the most bites. Snook are inching closer to the beaches but haven’t fully committed. Stable warm weather and less wind this week will convince them to migrate toward the points around the passes and explore the west side of the barrier islands. I often look for groups of fish in the calmer waters over sand. Once found, chumming can get them going, but this time of year they’re eager to eat in preparation for spawn season. I choose larger sardines for casting as well as pinfish or grunts. Bigger baits are harder for hungry snook to resist. Redfish are starting to diminish after passing the new moon. The pattern of schooling redfish always coincides with the strong moon phases. As tides grow stronger, redfish group together and forage the flats for food. Working the mangroves, potholes and docks methodically with cut baits will produce redfish bites, just not as often.
Brian Caudill fishes from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs. He can be reached at (727) 365-7560 and captbrian.com.
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