My last trip out was a scouting mission. I have a Redfish tournament to fish a week from now so Redfish have been on my mind. I found some nice fish but not in the quantities I would like. Of course I did not make to far of a run from the tournament launch site so I did limit myself a bit. Not to worry my partner will also be out this coming week looking. We have a huge school we can fish tournament day we just like to have more than one option.

On our scouting mission I also found some good numbers of snook. This was an exciting thing to see as our snook suffered a big hit during this past winters freezing temps.

Snook

The big Black Drum I reported on a couple of weeks ago are also still in the area. I will be taking my wife this weekend for her chance to land one.

Big Black Drum

I have had several other captains give me some good reports of  Spanish Mackerel showing up. One of my sources told me his clients put six in the box and they were fishing in the very north end of Tampa Bay. This kind of news really gets me fired up!

Grouper season just opened up and on the first day a good friend of mine made it a point to get out and get a couple for dinner in the shallow waters of the bay.

Tarpon have been sighted already. I am really liking this! If you have never done battle with the Silver King you may want to think about booking a Tarpon Charter.

Spring is here according to my wife and the fish. So get out and get after them. I know I will.

Gag Grouper

Mackerel

Thanks for stopping by and keep checking back as I keep my reports up to date.

Capt. Steve Betz

Today my guest were Ted and Charlie from Michigan. These guys had me excited before we ever left the dock. They had been fishing the day before from some docks on Tampa Bay. They were telling me of their catch and what it included. One of the fish they caught was a Spanish Mackerel. That got me all fired up! These fish are a pelagic species and just hear of one caught told me the spring run is near. Trust me when they show up in force I will be one of the first to have a report up. I love these fish. Not just because they can make some good table fare,but they can also test out some light tackle with some drag ripping runs. Stay tuned for that report.

Ted and Charlie did not care to tangle with the Black Drum I had been catching but wanted a drum of a different kind. We went to an area that I knew was holding fish and after making a few adjustments Charlie got hooked up with a nice fish. Unfortunately the fish came unglued! We waited it out but a Kayaker and a couple of other boats created some unwanted pressure and the fish shut down. I made a run to try and put them on some trout and they did catch a few but not really the amount I would of like to see. A few more move produced nothing. I really thought the bite would of been a little better but hey,its fishing. I can find them but can not always make them eat.

Time was slipping away and I knew Ted had a schedule. I asked him he he could spend a little extra time out so I could try and get them the redfish they wanted. He agreed they could stay a little longer.

To make along story short I found the fish again. After setting up Charlie was first to hook up. He got a nice 25″ redfish,then Ted hooked up. He had a real bulldog on and once landed it measured just under 27″. We tried for a little while longer but the guy in the Kayak came back and with his extra pressure it drove the reds deep under the bushes.

Ted and Charlie display their Tampa Bay Redfish

If you have been reading my reports you know that just recently the Black Drum have showed up in our area. I have been very excited about this as it has seemed like an eternity that I have caught anything besides Trout,Lady fish and Sheepshead.

It was a game of patience when we got to our destination as the tide had not started moving in and the drum had not showed. I did not want to waste the guys time so I asked a friend who was in the area to give me a call when they showed as I was going to drift some flats for trout for a while. Well no sooner than we had caught one trout on a short drift my phone rang with good news. We made a bee line back to the area and it was not long before the fun began.

We had a couple of hook ups but the huge drum came unbuttoned. Thats OK it gave the guys a little feel for what they were going to have to deal with on 15 pound test line and light spinning tackle.

First with a solid hook up was Tom. I maneuvered the boat and we broke away from the pack so Tom could do battle with his beast. I think Tom has spent a little time fishing as he seemed to handle the fish well. After a 15 to 20 minute tug of war Tom landed a nice one.

Tom and a nice drum looking happy

Another shot to get the idea of size

After some high fives and congratulations it was time to catch up with the pack. As we eased in the guys presented there baits and it seemed almost like an instant double hook up! In the back of my mind I was thinking this could go bad real fast. With two fish over 30 pounds on and a pack of boats surrounding them anything can happen! Fortunatly John and Jommie handled the situation well as there fish started ripping off drag and running around and under another boat. After some jokeying for position and some slick manuvers we were able to clear the pack and get into open water to fight the fish.

I do not think Jommie had ever caught anything this large and he was having a blast.With just a little coaching he handled it like a pro.

Double hook up!

The battle between man and monster seemed to go on forever. I was getting tired just watching,but both fish came boat side and were landed for a few quick pictures and then released.

Jommie excited to land such a monster!

John with his catch of the day!

I asked the guys if they wanted to give it another go and they were all in agreement to take another shot. Again it was a quick hook up and Jommie was on! I simply told him to do the same thing as last time and that what he did,all though he put some heat on this fish and landed it in what seemed like record time. He already had his picture with one so we revived the fish and released it.

The guys had enough fun with the drum so we set out for a drum of another kind. Red drum. Even though we found them we did not get a hook up. The guys did not catch huge numbers but they caught quality fish.

Keep checking back as I keep updating my reports.

Capt. Steve

These sustained periods of freezing cold weather are having there effects on our fishery. The Tampa Bay water temps are now down in the 40’s and the fish are running out of warmer areas to seek refuge. Freezing cold days combined with some overcast skies will allow some of the darker mud bottom areas to lose there higher temperatures. Fortunately we have had mostly sunny days as this helps a little to allow those mud bottoms to warm and the fish get a chance to sun them selves.

The problem with these cold temps are two fold. The first problem is the fish (particularly snook) become stunned and begin to float on the surface. If left alone they have a chance to survive if the temperatures come back up and they get some warmth. Unfortunately I have been reading reports from around the Tampa Bay area of hundred’s of dead snook being found in some places. Personally I have not witnessed this first hand and I know how folks in the fishing community tend to exaggerate. I sure hope it was an exaggeration.

The second problem we have when the temps are down like this is poachers! The lethargic fish are easy prey for the poachers armed with nothing more than a cast net,fillet knife and cooler. I have also been reading reports of poachers being confronted and reported to the FWC. One report I read this week had a video of about 25 snook carcasses from 12 to 30 inches laying on the bottom near a boat launch. All the carcasses had been fillet. These were the obvious  bi product of poachers. I have to wonder why someone would want to fillet a 12″ snook? There would hardly be enough meat to snack on.

On a positive note our ten day forecast has us back in the 70s for a couple of days towards the end of the week. Our temps should stay on the warmer side from there on out making fishing much better. There are still plenty of fish to target with redfish,trout,sheepshead,flounder and others being in the mix. I would bet money the silver trout will be piled in the deeper holes and channels. These fish make for some great table fare as well as some fun action for the young and old alike.

In the meantime I am going to be resting up trying to kick this cold I picked up so I can be back in on the action.

Thanks for reading along.

Capt. Steve Betz

Common Snook

I picked them up at 9:30 am and we headed to our first destination. After the last two days of scouting I figured the fishing was going to be a little slow. The first couple of stops were proving me right as they only produced a couple of trout.

I told the guys we had to make another move so off we went. This next spot would prove me wrong. Derek had the first bait in the water and it was fish on. He came up with a small redfish. Richard hadn’t figured out the sweet spot yet so Derek proceeded to school him. It didn’t take long and Richard was in the game. They caught about 15 red’s when they quit biting.

I made another move and this is where we stayed while they caught about another 60 redfish! It was one after another with double hooks ups being the norm. Even though these fish were not huge they were beautiful with Derek catching one with 10 spots total. That fish could of been a contender in a redfish spot tournament.

We used shrimp today and that made all the difference. I had sardine’s but only a few fish were caught on those.

Don’t forget to check back as I will be posting updated reports of whats happening in Tampa Bay.

Until then Happy Holidays!

This is an email I received from Richard after his charter with me.

Captain Steve, I wanted to thank you for making today a memorable fishing trip.  Sometimes it’s not how many fish you put in the cooler but the experiences and memories you have of a great day on the water.  Derek and I had a great time!

I looked at your web site and it looks great.  Good job!  The fishing report for 12.23.09 is also great!

Thanks again for a memorable trip.

Have a great Christmas.

Richard

When we get these cold north winds it can make some drastic changes to the fishing over night. Finding bait to fish with and hungry fish to eat it can go from easy to impossible with a 5 degree drop in water temperature. Today that proved partly true. Finding bait and filling the well with some frisky sardines was like taking candy from a baby. Finding fish that would eat the bait IMPOSSIBLE!

I found plenty of fish today snook,red fish and trout included but not a one would eat any thing that was on a hook. Crazy as it seems the bay water temp went from 65 degrees to 60 degrees in just a couple of days. It was just enough to shut the bite down.

It will take a couple of days and the fishing should pick back up as the fish acclimate themselves to the change.

I am going to head back out tomorrow and try and find some warmer water. Tampa Bay has a couple of power plants that supply some warm water out flow that during times like these can be a haven for many species. The power plants will be my target tomorrow.

I will let you know whats happening there in my next report.

We made plans to get out this Sunday and do a little inshore reef fishing. As we approached our launch site I knew the plan was going to have to change.

Fog had set in and it was thick. I dont like running in the fog or sitting at anchor in the middle of the bay either. Its just not the safest thing to do as other boaters just can not see you.

So our plan switched to staying close to the mangrove’s in areas the boats would not be running.

After making our way thru the dense fog by GPS we soon had our baits in the water.

Karen was first up with a nice trout. Then it was red fish one after another. All on the small side. The I started catching some trout when I heard Karen say ” I dont know what it is but I have something big!”

I looked over and her rod was bent double. I told her to take it easy and let the rod and the reels drag do the work. That was all the coaching it took and her old fishing censes  kicked in and it was reel down and pull up.

The fish made some runs ripping off drag but Karen soon won the battle and landed this nice 30″ Red Drum.

The fog lifted and boat traffic picked up so we decided to call it a nice morningand head back home to watch football.

The plan was simple. We were going to fish some shallow water rock piles with in Tampa Bay for grouper.

We made it to our destination in about 18 feet of water. Our hopes were high as the bottom machine was lit up with a nice show of fish. After spending some time dropping baits,trying different presentations we could not buy a bite. After several moves to places I had marked on the GPS the fish just would not eat. It was very clear a change in plans was in order.

After making a short run to a near by shallow water flat we set up and it only took seconds for our baits to get destroyed by snook after snook! We landed around ten of them when we both agreed to leave them chewing and search out some places we had not been in a while. Our next stop produced a couple more snook and then nothing. Time for another move.

We went to a canal and switched gears baiting up with live shrimp and pitching them under docks trying to locate a few sheepshead to take home for dinner. We caught a few but all were on the small side so they were released.

We happend upon a nice school of Jack Crevalle and then the fun began. I threw some chummers out and as the water around us exploded we pitched our baits in and held on as our drag sang! These Jacks were in the 5 to 6 pound range and I am here to tell you they put up one heck of a fight on lite tackle!

We spent some time catching and releasing the Jack Crevalle and after about 8 of them we had our fill and headed back to the ramp for some lunch.

Some times you have to change the plan.