Fishing Forum

Tampa Bay Area

Fishing Report Captain Charles Walker

10/27/02



Fabulous weather + great fishing = happy anglers. What a beautiful week it was. The weather and the fish cooperated so that if you went out and put a line in the water, you caught fish. (If you didn’t catch fish, call me and we’ll arrange a fishing class.) The big Spanish mackerel are just everywhere along with school sized kings to 15 plus pounds. I heard of several 30 pounders caught during the week, but I didn’t see them so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the reports. Much of the bait along the beaches and at the markers in the passes is on the small side but we found a nice mixture of Spanish sardines and greenbacks that were perfectly sized for big Spanish and we managed to Sabiki up some full grown sardines and cigar minnows for grouper and kings. Lots of nice sized mangrove snapper are on the hard bottom areas in 35 to 50 feet of water and the grouper have finally moved inshore as well. Not many of the grouper are 22 inches, but at least they are grouper.

On to the bait house reports:
Ruskin Bait and Tackle - 813-641-2325 – Snook, reds, and trout are all biting this week in our area. We had quite a few trout that were up to 20 inches on a trip early in the week. We saw some really nice cobia that were caught on the flats this week and a few nice keeper grouper came out of the ship’s channel.
Buddy’s Bait and Tackle on the Courteney Campbell Causeway in Tampa - 813-287-1026 – Trout, reds, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead have all been brought in this week. A lot of small snook are being caught in the area.
Trappman’s Bait and Tackle on Gandy Blvd in St. Petersburg - 727-579-1414- A lot of reds are being caught inside Weedon Island and all the way down to Ft. DeSoto. Around Coffee Pot Bayou is great spot for them. Pompano are still being caught around the bridge and trout are on the flats around Weedon Island.
Don’s Dock on Madeira Beach - 727-391-3223- Throw some live bait out from the Betty Rose and south and you are just about assured of catching big Spanish mackerel and kingfish. The grouper are still a little slow but the water is still warm. Get your live bait where you can and start trolling right where you get your bait. You can find good bottom while slow trolling live baits and kill two birds with one stone this way.

Pass-a-Grille Bait and Tackle on St. Pete Beach - 727-360-6606- Flounder are biting like crazy off our dock, some up to 24 inches. Early morning, late afternoon and evening are the best times. Our offshore boats are bringing in grouper, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and plenty of other bottom fish this week.
The Skyway Fishing Pier - 727-865-0668 and the south Skyway - 941-729-0117- Kings are in! Pompano are biting well and the Spanish mackerel have really picked up. One of our anglers caught a 26 pound king on a pompano jig and 10 pound line. We have a picture to prove it and it was a great fight. On the south side, big kings were taking our angler’s Spanish mackerel before they could land them. Lots of grouper are being caught this week as well, but the kings are the big story.


Folks, feel free to call any of the places in my report for more information, and be sure to tell them that you read about the fishing in their area in Capt. Charlie’s fishing report on the Internet.


If you want more information about fishing in the Tampa Bay area or wish to book a charter, simply e-mail me at captchas@flfish.com or if you wish to arrange a charter faster, call me at 727-546-7257. Be sure and visit my web site for lots more Tampa Bay Area fishing info at: [url "http://www.floridasaltwater.com/"][#0000ff]http://www.floridasaltwater.com[/#0000ff][/url] .



Good fishing and tight lines,

Capt. Charlie

http://www.flfish.com
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