09-01-2001, 10:38 PM
Tampa Bay Area <br>Fishing Report<br>Captain Charles Walker<br>9/1/01<br>It’s hot enough to cook eggs on the deck of the boat by 8 a.m. but there are a few fish that can be caught if you really want to leave the comfort of the air conditioning and sweat your brains out for a few hours. Spanish mackerel are the fish of the week all along the beaches, as you will read below, and most of the grouper are coming in from 35 miles plus offshore. As usual, I’ve heard one or two reports of nice keeper grouper coming in from 30 to 60 feet by anglers that just happened to see a bait school on the bottom, stopped and fished it, and caught a few fish. It’s certainly not a sure thing, but if you are running along and see bait on your bottom machine, it’s probably a good idea to fish there, if only for a few minutes.<br>On to the bait house reports:<br>Ruskin Bait and Tackle - 813-641-2325 – Reds are still biting in this area of the Bay. Some keeper snook were brought in today(the first day of the season). The mangrove snapper are in the deeper water of the ship’s channel and biting like crazy. Drum are still all over the river and biting on just about anything that you put down from small shrimp to crabs.<br>Buddy’s Bait and Tackle on the Courteney Campbell Causeway in Tampa - 813-287-1026 – Lots of snook have come in today since the season opened. Some reds have showed up in the creeks and canal in the area. A few cobia have been caught and bigger ones have been seen in the shallow water. Some pompano and flounder have been coming from the flats. Lots of reds have been coming from the area behind the Red Lobster. Lots of mullet are in the area of the bait shop.<br>Bonnie’s Bait and Tackle in Clearwater - 727-446-2772- Some real nice grouper came from 120 feet of water this week, along with king mackerel, and lane snapper. It seems the fish have also started biting in the 100 foot depths. The Spanish mackerel are still all along the beaches from Clearwater to Redington Beach. Pompano, snook, and jacks are also being caught along the beaches in the early morning.<br>Trappman’s Bait and Tackle on Gandy Blvd in St. Petersburg - 727-579-1414- Lots of mangrove snapper, pompano, Spanish mackerel, and cobia have been caught around the bridges this week. A few snook have been brought by the shop since the season opened today. Weedon Island and the Fourth St. bridges seem to be good areas for them this week.<br>Dogfish Tackle on Redington Beach - 727-392-6644- Lots of Spanish mackerel are along the beach feeding on glass minnows. Tarpon are also feeding in the same areas. Reds are moving in at night and biting well on crabs, shrimp, pinfish. Lots of snook have been caught along the beaches in the early morning and at night.<br>Don’s Dock on Madeira Beach - 727-391-3223- Snook have been biting well around the bridge this week. Lots of tarpon have been chasing the bait in the pass in early morning this week. Most of the tarpon are in the 40 to 60 pound range. Spanish mackerel are just thick on the beach and biting on all the regular mackerel spoons. As for grouper, it seems they are real deep, out 40 to 75 miles. Trout are still being caught from the inside waters in the deeper holes as usual for summertime.<br>Pass-a-Grille Bait and Tackle on St. Pete Beach - 727-360-6606- Our offshore boats have been bringing in grouper, amberjack, and mangrove snapper from the deeper waters. The anglers on our dock are getting Spanish mackerel and mangrove snapper.<br>The Skyway Fishing Pier - 727-865-0668 and the south Skyway - 941-729-0117- Pompano, Spanish mackerel, snook, silver trout, and some over-sized reds have all been caught in the last couple of days on the north side. <br><br>Folks, feel free to call any of the places in my report for more information, and be sure to tell them that you read about the fishing in their area in Capt. Charlie’s fishing report on the Internet.<br><br>If you want more information about fishing in the Tampa Bay area or wish to book a charter, simply e-mail me at captchas@flfish.com or if you wish to arrange a charter faster, call me at 727-546-7257. Be sure and visit my web site for lots more Tampa Bay Area fishing info at: http://www.floridasaltwater.com .<br><br>Good fishing and tight lines,<br>Capt. Charlie<br>http://www.flfish.com/fl<br><br><br><br>Capt. Charlie Walker<br>http://www.flfish.com