03-05-2001, 04:46 PM
Capt. Kevin Chamberlain<br><br>All the wishing we did for warm weather during January's cold snap paid off. The water temperature on the flats inched into the upper 70's on several days, produced some decent action and had some thinking about an early spring. There are even reports of a few tarpon in the area. But, don't hold your breath. Yesterdays cold front will probably put things into a more realistic perspective for this time of year.<br> <br>The best action was redfish and snook in Sarasota Bay. Reds up to 28 inches and snook to 31 inches took weedless gold spoons and MirroLure's Top Pup near Long Bar and Bishops Point. Trout are hitting in the same areas and around the deeper grass just north of the Siesta Drive bridge. Slimy Slugs and D.O.A. Shrimp were the best baits. Most trout were small but we did manage several keepers in the 17 and 18 inch range. <br> <br>A few windy days put us up into canals around Bird Key where the protection paid off. Sheepshead to 3 pounds, redfish to 3 pounds, flounder, trout, jacks, small grouper and ladyfish all ate jigs tipped with a small piece of shrimp. The best spots were larger docks and large outside pilings. <br> <br>The best action in Charlotte Harbor was near Gasparilla Sound. Trout to 2 pounds, jacks to 3 and a lot of large ladyfish took Slimy Slugs by Devilfish and Three Sisters. <br> <br>Fishing near Ft. Desoto Park and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in lower Tampa Bay produced trout and ladyfish to 2 pounds on shrimp tipped jigs. Jigs also took small jacks, trout to 16 inches and snook to 20 near Miguel and Terra Ceia Bays. <br> <br>Thanks,<br>Capt. Kevin<br> <br>To see photos from recent trips, click on http://www.flatsangler.com.<br><br><br>