With a last minute cancellation Captain Steven decided to do a little fishing himself. My wife Jackie requested some spotted sea trout fillets so that was an order I had to fill!
Just as the eastern sky got light I started chumming on a grass flat in lower Tampa Bay. Winds blowing 22 mph made it to choppy at the Skyway Bridge for bait. Catching bait was challenging as I had to fight off never ending pinfish in my chum slick. Tossing a cast net from a bobbing deck covered with wet turtle grass made things even more fun.
My favorite grass flat was murky from the winds and it slowed the trout bite big time. Finally after several small trout I nailed a chunky 19" on a fly lined white bait. The next 30 minutes was more of the same sluggish with mostly smaller trout unlike the red hot big trout action of late.
With winds predominantly out of the East I headed for a flat I knew should be cleaner. Immediately you could see the different water color and just a quick the bigger trout 19-21" became active. These big trout chase bait to the surface with a explosion!
A canal in the same area yielded redfish to 22". Cut white bait on the bottom worked great out fishing live white baits.
Captain Steven Markovich