1. At Big Pier 60 in Clearwater, Spanish mackerel and whiting have been caught everyday again this past week during the day. A few bluefish and jack crevalle are also biting during the day. Regular anglers are targeting sheepshead on the pilings. Silver trout have been steady catches at night, reports Big Pier 60 Bait & Tackle (727-462-6466).
2. At Madeira Beach, the nearshore hogfish bite is very good in water 40 to 70 feet deep. Gag grouper action is steady, both nearshore and deeper offshore. That bite will remain good until close of season at the end of the month. The mangrove and lane snapper bite really picks up around a depth of 60 foot. Plenty of grunts and porgies are also in the mix, reports Capt. Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina (727-393-1947).
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Cooler water temps have picked up the speckled trout bite on the flats around the Tampa Bay area and elsewhere.
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3. At John’s Pass, speckled trout are biting at night around the dock and bridge lights. Trout are also biting inside on the edges of the grass flats and potholes in the back bays. A few snook are still in the pass. Redfish are biting around the docks and the sandy areas around the bridge. Sheepshead are plentiful in the pass and biting on most structure, reports Hubbard.
4. At Fort De Soto Park, plenty of sheepshead are around the marina, the docks, the bridge and any structure in the area. Mangrove islands around Tierra Verde are producing redfish on shrimp on the bottom. Speckled trout in the 14 to 20-inch range are biting in the deeper potholes on the flats. Both piers are producing sheepshead and whiting. Bunces Pass is producing pompano, jacks and whiting, reports Capt. Claude Hinson at Tierra Verde Bait and Tackle (727-864-2108).
5. Around the Sunshine Skyway and lower Tampa Bay, “fishing for trout has been very productive once you find them. I have been catching them in water anywhere from a foot and a half deep to up to 8 foot along the edges of the flats,” reports Capt. Shawn Crawford of Florida Sport Fishing Outfitters (941-705-3160). Sheepshead are biting around the bridges, the reefs in the bay and just about any structure. Gag grouper fishing is still good along the channel and on the bay reefs. Both trolling and bottom fishing is productive, reports Crawford.
6. At Anna Maria, sheepshead are biting around structure and all the area bridges. Palma Sola Bay has been producing decent numbers redfish, speckled trout and a few snook. Look for tripletail on the crab buoys both off the beach and in the sound, reports Crawford.
7. At St. Petersburg, the speckled trout bite is very good on the flats off Pinellas Point and out to Fort De Soto. Trout are also biting in the deeper potholes around Weedon Island. Gag grouper are still biting along the shipping channel, at the Skyway, the bay reefs, and most structure. Sheepshead are also biting around any structure. Redfish are up in the residential canals and biting around the docks. Snook have also moved up in the creeks and residential canals with darker bottom, reports Mastry’s Tackle (727-896-8889).
8. In the north end of Tampa Bay, speckled trout, whiting and black drum are biting around the bridges. Sheepshead are pretty much on any structure. Some snook are biting on the high tides along the bridge approaches at night, but the cooler weather will push them back into the canals and creeks. Tripletail are on the markers and buoys in the bay. A few schools of redfish are in the upper bay. Trout action is good on the edges of the flats around Picnic Island and some redfish are biting there as well. Trout and redfish are also biting on the point at Weedon Island, reports Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551).
• At Homosassa, the speckled trout bite is picking up on glow color D.O.A. CAL jerk baits during the incoming tides. The fish are holding in the deeper potholes with kelp grass just off the islands. The redfish bite is also good around the islands during the middle of the incoming tides. The fish are mixed in with the mullet schools. Freelined live shrimp, cast up close to the mangroves, are getting the bite, reports Capt. Marrio Castello of Tall Tales Charters (352-454-7719).
• At Fort Pierce, the offshore bottom bite for mangrove and lane snapper is good at the 80-foot mark. On the troll there’s kingfish at a depth of 50 to 80 foot, along with mahi up to 35 pounds. The occasional sailfish and wahoo are also biting. At the inlet, whiting and a few pompano are biting in the surf. Spanish mackerel and flounder are biting from the jetty. Sheepshead, black drum a few mangrove snapper are biting inside the inlet and around the bridges, reports Clint Walker at the Fishing Center of St. Lucie (772-465-7637).

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