The Tampa Bay region is experiencing spring weather at its best. Sunny warm days and mild evenings in the 60's. Friday was another Chamber of Commerce day. The sun looked like a giant fire ball as I started to gather bait for today's charter. White baits Captain Steven favorite are plentiful on the flats near the Skyway Bridge.
With the tide starting to come in we started the day at Pinellas Point. One of the first casts Sandy hooked a large trout that promptly threw the hook while shaking its head on the surface. Ladyfish were present until a Cormorant came over to the boat and would not leave. This pesky seabird was a royal pain you know where! He would chase and bait near the boat and he had no problem swallowing one bait after the other.
We then ran across the bay to the Kitchen on Tampa Bay's eastside. Snook were plentiful after a little searching but were very skittish and not eager to chew. We managed several snapper and a handful of snook hits with nothing to show for it. My anglers today were Howie from NY and Sandy from Tampa were great guys and I wanted to get them on quality fish.
We ran to Ft Desoto only to find a boat already on one of my spots, as to not hurt their fishing we stopped 100 yards away. The other boat had redfish stacked near a dock. They were into large over the slot (28") redfish double headers were common. The other boat waved us to move over and join in the fun. Guys who ever you are Big thanks, true sportsman. Howie who has never caught a redfish was not into a solid fish. A few minutes later Howie was posing with an awesome 32" 11 pound redfish. Shortly thereafter Howie was back in the action again this time a 30" 9.5 pound redfish. Howie and Sandy gave me the thumbs up it was time to call it a day so we left the Reds chewing. Safe to say tomorrow's charter will start at this spot!
Sandy brought up a good topic regarding saltwater corrosion; ensure you thoroughly rinse all equipment with fresh water at the end of each trip.
Capt. Steven
