The Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce could not have asked Mother Nature for a better day Friday. Winds under 5 knots, sunny and a high near 80. This winter is starting oh so different from last years record cold winter. The snow birds are loving life.
Scaled sardines are thick on lower Tampa Bays bridges and grass flats. We made a 7 mile run to Tampa Bays eastern shoreline in search of snook, redfish and trout. Catch all 3 species in the same day and you have accomplished the Grand Slam.
Pitching free lined white baits tight to the Mangroves resulted in solid snook action. Beautiful healthy juvenile snook to 23" inhaled our baits and make awesome jumps in an effort to part ways. Our baits did not want to stay tight to the mangroves but ran into redfish, trout and flounder as they worked into deeper water.
Running back outside the Skyway bridge to another shallow mangrove island was a real treat. With clear water it was easy spotting trout and redfish in 2' of water. I grabbed my chum bat and started tossing crippled white baits into the sandy potholes. The water quickly came alive and within minutes we were hooking chunky trout and smaller redfish 16-18".
Captain Steven Markovich
