Redfish: The redfish bite has picked up this week for Tampa Bay area anglers and locations elsewhere.
Strike Zone, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Elsewhere
1: At Big Pier 60 in Clearwater, good numbers of both speckled and silver trout were caught every day this past week. Sheepshead are consistently biting around the pilings on shrimp and crabs. White grunts are also biting on shrimp and steady numbers of whiting have also been caught. The usual sharks and catfish have also been numerous this week, reports Big Pier 60 Bait & Tackle (727-462-6466).
2: At Madeira Beach, good-size lane snapper are biting in shallow nearshore water all the way out to deep water far offshore. The hogfish bite is good from a depth of 30 feet out to 70 feet. The best numbers of keeper-size red grouper and mangrove snapper are biting at a depth of 60 to 70 feet. Deeper offshore, there are scamp grouper, big mangrove and vermilion snapper. Pelagic anglers are catching decent numbers of blackfin tuna and a few wahoo, reports Capt. Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina (727-393-1947).
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3: At John’s Pass, surprisingly a good-size snook was caught this week around one of the docks here in the pass. A few redfish are also biting. Speckled trout are biting at night around the bridge and dock lights. During the day, the bite is good inside the back bay flats. Plenty of sheepshead are biting around the bridge, docks in the pass, along the jetty and from the pier. Black drum and jack crevalle are biting early in the mornings and a few jacks will bite through the day and into the later afternoon. Silver trout, whiting and bonnethead sharks are biting from the jetty and in the surf, reports Hubbard.
4: At Fort De Soto Park, a few snook are biting around the marina and the bridge, but it’s mostly sheepshead and there are a lot of them. Good numbers of redfish and speckled trout are being caught off East Beach. Redfish are also following big schools of mullet running off Tarpon Key. At the pier, a good number of sheepshead and a few mangrove snapper are biting around the pilings. Most of the snapper are small, though. Keepers are hard to come by. A few flounder are biting around Shell Key, reports Capt. Claude Hinson of Tierra Verde Bait and Tackle (727-864-2108).
5: Around the Sunshine Skyway and lower Tampa Bay, sheepshead are all over just about any structure in the area. The bridges and the reefs in the bay are all producing good numbers, but the area docks are especially holding the sheepshead. Good numbers of redfish are starting to bite around mullet schools roaming the area. A few snook and trout are mixed in with the redfish, reports Capt. Shawn Crawford of Florida Sport Fishing Outfitters (941-705-3160.
6: At Anna Maria, good numbers of speckled trout are in the sound from the north of Anna Maria all the way south to Longboat Pass. Sheepshead are biting on any areas with structure. The bridges, seawalls, residential docks and rocks around the pass are producing good numbers. Decent numbers of redfish are biting around the residential docks and along the mangrove lines in the sound. A few snook can be found in their usual winter spots away from the cooler water that gets good sunlight, reports Crawford.
7: At St. Petersburg, many anglers are focusing on sheepshead right now and there’s a good bite on fiddler crabs and shrimp around the bridges and deeper water docks. The backcountry fishing is also firing up, too. Redfish, snook, black drum and some giant-size jack crevalle are all biting around the mangroves and in the residential canal systems. Pinfish for bait are easy to come by and shrimp are also getting the bite, reports Capt. Neill Holland of GoFishTampaBay.com (727-200-7781).
8: In the north end of Tampa Bay, sheepshead are biting all around the bridges and just about any structure. Decent numbers of redfish are biting on the area flats again. Big speckled trout are also biting on the flats in 4 to 5 feet of water. The bigger trout are biting on dead and cut bait. Artificial and live baits are also producing good bites, but the fish are smaller. Schools of black drum are roaming around both the Howard Frankland Bridge and the Courtney Campbell Causeway and there’s a good bite on shrimp and cut crabs. A few snook are biting in the white sandy bottom, shallow water areas around the Picnic Island boat ramp. Davis Island is producing redfish, black drum and a few snook. The pier at Weedon Island is producing a few pompano, reports Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551).
– At Homosassa, January is one of the best months to target sheepshead around Homosassa and Crystal River. Two of the best areas to target are in the rivers and out on the nearshore rocks. In the rivers, holes with a lot of rock and structure are best. A 1/8 oz. jig head with a live shrimp is an excellent bait. Docks with adjacent oyster shell bars are also excellent spots for sheepshead. In nearshore water, higher-profile rocks will more often hold more fish. Most times, the sheepshead will strike a bait with a “peck, peck,” followed by a slow deliberate pull. That’s when you set the hook. Decent numbers of redfish and speckled trout are biting around the keys and island points, reports Capt. William Toney of Homosassa Inshore Fishing Charters (352-621-9284).
– At Fort Pierce, offshore there are a few mahi biting at the 120- to 200-foot mark. Kingfish are biting at the surface at a depth of 50 to 80 feet. Mostly lane snapper, but a few mangrove, muttons and scattered cobia are biting on the bottom on the 80-foot bar. At the inlet, good numbers of Spanish mackerel are biting in the surf out to a depth of 30 feet, south of the inlet. The mackerel are all over the place, just look for the concentration of boats. Pompano, whiting and croakers are also biting in the surf around the inlet. Flounder are still biting in the cove from the south jetty. Sheepshead, mangrove snapper and a few catch-and-release snook are biting inside the inlet from the jetty. Good numbers of black drum and sheepshead are biting around the bridges. The Melody Lane Pier is producing good numbers of sand perch, reports the Fishing Center of St. Lucie (772-465-7637).