Saturday's trip was simple; fish lower Tampa Bay for a grand slam snook, redfish and trout. My plan was simple as well, bait at 6 am, pick up my angler at 730 and start on the nearby beaches for snook. With Sammy from Washington DC onboard we made the 20 minute run to the gulf beaches. I like hitting beaches early especially on weekends when foot traffic and swimmers can hamper the action. It was also low tide so I wanted to get more water on the flats before we ran inside.
The very first white bait had not been in the water more than 10 seconds before being hammered. Moments later we had a handsome very silvery beach snook measuring 25". Time for a quick picture and safe release, well almost. The battery cover on my camera was open and the battery was nowhere to be found. Over the next hour we took 4 more snook and several nice trout.
Needing a redfish we ran to the monster redfish hole that has been great for over a month. Sammy and his first cast once again connected. Sammy got lucky and the big red ran out of trouble and into the open water. 5 minutes later Sammy has his slam Snook Redfish and trout. How simple this was, I wish all my anglers had these types of days. 6 Redfish all over 30" and the bite stopped.
With time remaining on the 6 hour trip we decided to look for a tarpon. The wind made spotting rolling fish a challenge so we went back inside to Pinellas Point where we have been taking Black Tip sharks. No sharks but many nice mid 20" Mackerel.
I received a good question on my website www.onthemarkcharters.com "do you have a plan before fishing or decide as you go? Yes, I always have a plan for each trip; often I have 2 if not 3 plans. I have to consider numerous factors. Day or night trip, how long and what does the angler want to target. I work with some great Captains that we all share information with and with having a detailed log book of data. All that said everyday is different so keep all options open.
Capt. Steven