Thursday & Friday the tides were slow to say the least. Captain Steven's favorite target snook prefer moving water. Incoming or outgoing tide work as long as its flowing. I targeted deeper edges and grass flats outside the Little Manatee River along with lower Tampa Bay close to the beaches.
Both days were steady with snook more aggressive than I would have thought and redfish that were popping up all over the place. So much for slow tides! The snook and redfish were sitting in the same potholes. It was like a game of which fish would get to the bait first. Scaled sardines were the bait of choice. I did have some pinfish in the live well but not many. I was saving them for a special hole but decided to see if we would catch bigger reds or snook with them. The pinfish worked but the fish were clones of the previous ones primarily juvenile fish. Snook to 25" and Redfish 22-24".
Both days we also caught sharks and Mackerel in the same holes along with several flounder mixed in. Trout were missing in action and we had to move to a grass flat in Ft. Desoto to complete the slams. Overall nice summer action.
Summer is here and the water feels like a sauna! A milk jug filled with water and frozen then placed in the live well helps keep baits frisky. Go easy when filling your live well, too many baits will place unwanted stress on your baits and have a negative outcome. Change baits frequently especially when fishing in areas with big pinfish populations as they will demolish a sardine in no time.
Area beaches are still holding nice snook with some fish over 40" taken recently. Handle with care; revive properly as the weather takes a toll on the snook as it does with us humans.
Capt. Steven
