The fishing has been excellent between approaching tropical systems and Ike should be no different. Give it a few days after the storm passes for the winds to die down and the fish should be pretty willing to eat.
Snook anglers have been fairing pretty well fishing the dock lights; plenty of legal sized fish can be targeted on the lights from John’s Pass south all the way to Tierra Verde. The object is to hit a lot of lights, always searching for fish actively feeding. Cast diving plugs, bucktail jigs or live pilchards around the outside edge of the light and bring your offering through. As the winds lighten up after Ike, snook fishing along the beaches and nearby passes will improve. The pass bite should be good by the weekend due to the big tides brought on by the full moon. Drift live pilchards, grunts or pinfish along the edges of the drop-offs.
With all the snook buzz since the season opened up, redfish haven’t quite gotten the respect they deserve. As their numbers seemingly increase each week we are headed for a great fall redfish bite. Plenty of mullet can be found throughout the Intracoastal Waterway and that is the No. 1 factor when trying to locate reds. Target any mullet schools that you come across even if it’s somewhere you haven’t fished before; you may end up finding a new spot. Lots of big reds have been caught lately from Redington Long Pier. If it’s anything like last year, these big bulls should remain in our near-shore waters for the rest of the fall.
Spanish mackerel are abundant off of area beaches and near-shore artificial reefs. Anglers fishing the Skyway and De Soto fishing piers are catching plenty of keeper mackerel. Use Gotcha plugs and silver spoons. Early morning bite has been best. Also, the mangrove snapper action should be hot this weekend with the full moon. The Skyway piers and inshore artificial reefs inside Tampa Bay are excellent options.
Tyson Wallerstein can be reached at capt.tyson@hotmail.com. If you have a fish picture you would like to see published in the newspaper, send it with your name and where it was caught, to: “Fish Tales,” Tampa Bay Newspapers, 9911 Seminole Blvd., Seminole, FL 33772, or e-mail it to editorial@TBNweekly.com.
