Sheepshead: Although water temps are beginning to warm, the sheepshead bite is still excellent for Tampa Bay area anglers and spots elsewhere.
Strike Zone, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
1: At Big Pier 60 in Clearwater, sheepshead and both spotted and silver trout have been the most consistent catches this past week. A few butterfish and bonnethead sharks have also been caught, reports Big Pier 60 Bait & Tackle (727-462-6466).
2: At Madeira Beach, nearshore it’s “hogfish, hogfish and more hogfish.” The bite is best a depth of 40 to 70 feet. There’s also plenty of porgies and grunts mixed in. Good numbers of lane and some mangrove snapper are biting from 60 to 70 feet deep. The red grouper bite picks up good around a depth of 60 feet, reports Capt. Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina (727-393-1947).
3: At John’s Pass, sheepshead are thick in the pass. The area around the bridge, the docks, seawalls, the jetties and the docks inside the back bays are all producing good catches. Warmer weather has picked up the snook and redfish bite. More flounder are also being caught. A few trout have been caught, mostly inside. There’s also a lot of jacks and bonnethead sharks in the pass. The jetty is also producing good numbers of whiting, reports Hubbard.
4: At Fort De Soto Park, plenty of sheepshead, big snook and black sea bass up to 13 inches have been caught around the marina. The area flats have good numbers of redfish mixed in with the mullet schools. Better numbers of spotted trout, up to 20 inches, are biting on the flats around the park. The campground flats are also producing a good redfish and trout bite, along with snook along the mangrove line to the west. The piers are producing a lot sheepshead and whiting. Spanish mackerel up to 17 inches starting biting at the Gulf Pier on Thursday morning, reports Capt. Claude Hinson at Tierra Verde Bait and Tackle (727-864-2108).
5: Around the Sunshine Skyway and lower Tampa Bay, sheepshead fishing is still good, but the numbers have starting to thin after last week’s full moon. Anglers are starting to concentrate more on snook, redfish, trout and mangrove snapper again. Water temps are hovering around 68 degrees and rising every day. This has really picked up the snook bite, especially from mid-day to late afternoon. Schools of scaled sardines have shown back up at the Skyway piers in abundance, reports Capt. John Gunter of Palmetto (863-838-5096). Sheepshead fishing remains good around the reefs in the bay and most structure. Higher water temps have really picked up the snook, redfish and trout bite on the area flats. Both Miguel and Terra Ceia bays and the areas to the south are producing good numbers of all three fish. Some of the trout are pushing 26 inches, reports Capt. Shawn Crawford of Florida Sport Fishing Outfitters (941-705-3160).
6: At Anna Maria, Terra Ceia Bay, the sound is holding good numbers of spotted trout. Keep moving to find the fish. When you hood one, anchor up and work the area good. The redfish and snook bite is better on the shallower flats, especially on the higher tides along the mangroves. Some of the docks are also producing. Sheesphead are still biting around most structure and the bridges, but their numbers are thinning out, reports Capt. Shawn Crawford of Florida Sport Fishing Outfitters (941-705-3160).
7: At St. Petersburg, sheepshead are still all over the place. Any structure is pretty much holding them. Big black drum have been caught off the clam bar around the Misner Bridge. Good numbers of snook are in the residential canals all along the shoreline from Pinellas Point to Weedon Island. The mangrove snapper bite is still good along the shipping channel and around Port Manatee. Spanish mackerel showed up at the Pass a Grille jetty and some of the nearshore reefs this week. There’s also a lot of snook on the beach around Bunces Pass, reports Larry Mastry at Mastry’s Tackle (727-896-8889).
8: In the north end of Tampa Bay, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, black drum and pompano have been caught around the bridge this week. Silver trout and whiting are biting in the deeper channels. Cobia are leaving the power plant outflows and showing up on the area flats. The canals and surrounding flats are producing snook and redfish. Spotted trout are decent on the deeper flats and channel edges. Both the Weedon and Picnic island areas have been good for redfish and trout. Some Spanish mackerel showed up this week at the St. Pete Pier, reports Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551).
• At Crystal River, rock piles and rocky points that are exposed during low tide are producing good numbers of spotted trout on the higher tides. D.O.A. CAL 5.5-inch jerkbaits in glow color are getting the bite with a slow, stealthy approach, reports Capt. William Toney of Homosassa Inshore Fishing Charters (352-621-9284).
• At Fort Pierce, offshore there’s been some mahi at the 80 to 200-foot mark. Anglers are getting two to five fish a trip. Kingfish are biting to the south at the 50 to 80-foot mark. Seas have been too rough for bottom fishing. At the inlet, the surf is rough, but whiting, large croakers and some pompano are biting. The jetty is producing black drum, sheepshead and black margate. Mangrove snapper and small muttons are also biting around the jetty and the mouth of the inlet. Some Spanish mackerel have been cruising the in and out of inlet this week. The snook bite is good during the day on live bait inside the inlet at the turning basin. The bridges are producing sheephead, snapper and a few black drum, reports Clint Walker at the Fishing Center of St. Lucie (772-465-7637).
Compiled By Michael Wilson/Ledger Correspondent

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