The most recent cold front is history and a rapid warm up is at hand. Cold fronts in March are more about winds on Tampa Bay. I was not hugely optimistic as the water temperature dropped 6 degrees and was still stirred up from recent winds. Add in a slow one tide day and you can see where I am coming from.
At sun up we took a peek for Giant Drum but a pesky wind made sight fishing difficult at best. Twenty minutes later we gave up and made a short run to chase trout. The first cast scored a chunky 15" trout on a DOA CAL jerk bait. Then another and another and another. The action was fast and we left them biting.
Captain Steven has been on a red hot redfish bite the last month and today was even better. First the small reds were replaced by larger in the slot 18-22" fish. Live shrimp on a jig head resulted in explosive hits! The bite was very aggressive more like a feeding frenzy. Many shrimp were inhaled within 30 seconds often quicker! Simple tactic live shrimp on a ¼ oz jig head cast deep into the dock or cover.
We left the redfish chewing in search of larger trout for dinner. Targeting 2-3' on a vast grass flat was the right move. In 30 minutes 5 trout 19-21" were landed. Next up a deep grass flat for Spanish Mackerel which like the action earlier in the day was quick. Silver Clark spoons retrieved quickly got the mackerel fired up. In no time we caught 10 toothy speedsters to 18".
The day ended catching redfish, actually we ran out of bait due to the amazing action.
Captain Steven Markovich
