Tampa Bay August 21 Fishing Report
The heat is on, that's for sure, but so is the fishing. It can be tough this time of year to last a whole day of fishing. Sometimes when the sea breeze comes to a standstill it can feel as if you're melting. The good news is it's not often that we don't have at least a light sea breeze by mid day and the even better news is the heat doesn't seem to bother the fish. Actually since fish are cold blooded they have to feed more as the water temps rise, as the water temps raise so does their metabolism. One statement I hear people make a lot is "it's too hot to fish, the fish won't bite". Simply not true around here. This may be the case in a cold mountain stream when the water temp rises to the point it's actually stressing to the fishes survival, but in these parts where the fish are actually tropical or in our case sub tropical, the heat doesn't bother them. Like any time of year, you have to adapt to their feeding pattern. Sometimes the middle of the day during the hottest point can be the best fishing, which is what I encountered many times over the last month and a half.
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The Snook fishing has been very good, especially the lower tides on my charters. When the tide really starts ripping out and all the small spawn bait has trouble keeping up with the current the Snook have been going nuts. Many times it has been as fast as we can drop a hook in the water with double and triple hookups. Most of the Snook have been smaller at 20 to 28 inches. As we get closer to fall we will start to see a lot more large fish move onto the flats as well.
The Red fishing has also been very good. I have been catching them throughout all of the tides. They have actually been more consistent action for me than Snook, which is not the norm for most of the year, but can be the case this time of year like it is now. Almost all the Reds have been nice slot fish in the 20 to 27 inch range. About 10 percent of them have been too big to keep, in the 28 to 31 inch range.
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Trout fishing has been on fire. Literally anytime of the day I have a few spots it's as fast as you can drop your bait in the water. We have had to weed through a lot of smaller Trout and Lady Fish to get keepers, but the action is incredibly fast and we have still been getting plenty to eat. There has also been some nice size Spanish mackerel mixed in with the Trout which makes for a nice added bonus.
I have not been getting offshore much lately. The reports I am getting is the Grouper and Snapper fishing is really good one day and slow the next. That's generally the norm this time of year offshore. The fish feed really feverishly when they are biting and then rest when they are not. That's the reason I fish mostly inshore this time of year, for more consistent action. I will start heading offshore more in another month.
Well I hope you have enjoyed my report. If you are heading fishing make sure to put your sunscreen on before you get in the sun and bring plenty of water. Until next time enjoy the water.
Capt. Matt Ercoli
www.CaptainMatt.com
https://twitter.com/CaptMattErcoli
