Weekend Fishing

Well if your on the water this weekend it looks like some Cobia may be near the Courtney Campbell Causeway. I plan to be on the water by 6:00am and the reports I've heard are near the Causeway for Cobia, and near the Howard Franklin-Gandy Artificial Fish reef for Spanish Mack. The Red tide to the south is still a factor...unless you find clean water you may have luck.

WHERE TO FISH THIS WEEKEND

Reports are that anywhere north of the Howard franklin for Snook, Trout and Reds should be good Bait is plentiful and Red Tide hasn't gotten up this far. Tomorrow I'll be out and try it out drifting the Flats from Channel A towards Rocky Creek. Also Any of the mouths are reporting Redfish in the upper bay areas. The Bridges are even reporting Black Drum to 15lbs.......

RED TIDE EVERYWHERE

On the water by 630am Launched from Ft. Desoto. The Red Tide is still everywhere!!! The water is murky and floating dead fish everywhere. Surprisingly the Bait was still plentiful at the Skyway and as long as you don't run through red tide on your way to your fishing spot you should be fine. Half our bait died and the other half we were able to save. But finding Clear Water is the key. And we weren't able to find any. We left out of desoto ramp and headed east fished everywhere along the channels and drifted the flats and couldnt find clear water anywhere headed back to the Skyway NOTHING. Headed towards the Ft. Desoto Bay Pier and Drifted along the beaches back to the east and the RED TIDE is everywhere.

Fishing Report for the weekend

Looks like the summer weekend fishing is on. I've heard of a lot of Mangrove Snapper being caught near the Gandy Bridge on the North East Side. The Guys at Gandy Bait and Tackle can help you pinpoint these fish. But also Pompano are reported at the Howard Franklin. The hot summer days and smooth waters make for a good day under the bridge. Start by Scrapping some of the Green Mussles off the pilings then drop down a Pompano Jig or small fiddler and you should be set. Even a few Cobia may show up to see what the attraction is. Be ready for them with a heavier rod and a shrimp or throw the fiddler toward them if their hungry they'll eat. Tight Lines

Red Tide Fish Kills

Decided to Head towards Shell Key and Camp over night and do some fishing but found an unusual amount of dead fish all along the shore line in just the little area we fished there were hundreds.....of every type including about a 300lb Goliath Grouper (Sad Sight). The fishing was very slow but campers near us hooked a few snook that they released. Other reports from around the Bay are that Black drum are being caught on the bridges and Mangrove Snapper are being caught in the ships channels Live bait (shrimp or small greenbacks) are your best bet. Seems that the Bay waters have been spared and the best fishing seems to be inside the bay.
Tight Lines

South Skyway Fishing

Hit the South Side of the Skyway looking for redfish. We put in at the turn into the south fishing pier near the rocks and headed into the flats near there. We were only using artificials and could see a lot of bait moving in the shallows but saw no redfish. My Buddy Hooked two nice fish that pulled nice for a few seconds and then were off. About the time the sun was setting we moved closer to the small shorlines and could see fish hitting bait. We both hooked up and landed two small Snook and released them. Other then that nothing really hit. Slow night in VERY warm water 85-86 deg.

Tight Lines