Saturday was hot, hot, hot. The bite was so so…. With special guests Hugo Boss, his girlfriend Yaris along with Sean and his daughter Autumn on board we headed out of O'Neil's Marina. First we ran across Tampa Bay hoping to get on the snook bite. With a high tide of 2.4' and an outgoing tide I thought first thing would be ideal to score snook even as water temperatures soared near 90. We caught snapper and flounder but the snook which I could see from my tower would not chew. Finally little Autumn hooked a small snook 23" only to lose it near the boat. At one point I had a snook that was well over 10 pounds just looking up at me in the stern. She eased over to the motor than slowly moved away. I quickly tossed white bait as she was now 20' away and she just swam by.
With hardly any breeze we made a 10 mile run which always cools down my anglers to fish for Mackerel in the Egmont ship channel. The tactic is very simple, just watch the birds they will help you locate the schools working the channel. Silver Clark spoons tossed into the feeding frenzy resulted in Mackerel instantly attacking; at times we had 3-4 Mackerel all fighting for the same lure.
To cool off we stopped for swim on the beach at Egmont Key. Crystal clear water and soft sand makes the area ideal for taking a dip. The island has great nature walking trails. Next I hoped to find some snook on the St. Petersburg beaches, the beaches were packed it looked like all of Pinellas County residents were out. Ft. Desoto beaches have been ranked some of the best beaches anywhere and you can see the everyone knows it! These same beaches are best fished during the week or at sunlight.
Looking for sharks I put us on one of my Pinellas Point shark hot spots. Small Black tip sharks are a blast to catch. We got several to the boat along with several cutoffs. Several trout rounded out the action. 8 year old Autumn, who has been out with Captain Steven twice makes my day. Seeing kids fishing with Dad's and Mom's are some of my most memorable trips. As Captain Billy Nobles of Reel Animals always says Take a Kid Fishing.
Fish are like us and get sluggish went its very hot. Adjust accordingly, look for deeper cooler water. I tell all my clients we need to fish early or late. Most trips are done by noon.
Capt. Steven
