03-18-2002, 12:31 AM
Tampa Bay Area <br>Fishing Report<br>Captain Charles Walker<br>3/17/02<br>Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day, but the rest of the week was just too windy for my comfort. We can probably expect one more good, hard cold front just before Easter, happens every year, but until then the water should warm up considerably. It was 66 degrees on the surface on Saturday but my frozen chum block wouldn’t even thaw completely after 45 minutes on the bottom. It must still be pretty cold down there. There are plenty of reports of grouper coming in from 45 to 50 feet of water all along the coast and there are some really good reports you can read below about fish in the ship’s channel.<br>On to the bait house reports:<br>Ruskin Bait and Tackle - 813-641-2325 – Some keeper grouper, grunts. Sheepshead and mangrove snapper all came from the ship’s channel this week. The snook are moving out of the rivers finally. Trout are still biting well on the grass flats. All we need now is lots of bait to show up. There are a lot of glass minnows in the ship’s channel so maybe the Spanish mackerel will show up soon.<br>Buddy’s Bait and Tackle on the Courteney Campbell Causeway in Tampa - 813-287-1026 – Lots of trout and reds are biting at the big bridge. At the floodgates, there are some small snook, but the trout are bigger right now. There are still plenty of sheepshead around the bridges and some greenbacks are starting to show up in this end of the Bay.<br>Bonnie’s Bait and Tackle in Clearwater - 727-446-2772- A lot of trout and whiting are coming from the flats in Clearwater. Some grouper and snapper and grouper are coming in from 45 to 50 feet of water offshore of Clearwater.<br>Trappman’s Bait and Tackle on Gandy Blvd in St. Petersburg - 727-579-1414- Speckled trout are biting well on shrimp in the swash at the foot of the bridge. Plenty of sheepshead have been caught off the bridge. Pompano showed up again this week and are biting well on Doc’s Goofy Jigs and lots of cobia have been seen and a few big ones have been caught this week.<br>Dogfish Tackle on Redington Beach - 727-392-6644- Spanish mackerel finally showed up on the pier this week. At night silver trout and specks were caught under the lights. Several varieties of bait showed up on the pier this week as well so things may really start hopping now.<br>Don’s Dock on Madeira Beach - 727-391-3223- The charter boats have been bringing in grouper and snapper from offshore and the Spanish mackerel showed up on Friday along the beach. There are still sheepshead being caught on the pilings and rocks in the area and speckled trout are coming in from the grass flats on the inside of the pass.<br>Pass-a-Grille Bait and Tackle on St. Pete Beach - 727-360-6606- Some whiting and Spanish mackerel are being caught at the end of the Island. Snook are starting to move into the area and as the water gets clear, the sheepshead are starting to get harder to catch, but there are still plenty of them around.<br>The Skyway Fishing Pier - 727-865-0668 and the south Skyway - 941-729-0117- Lots of keeper grouper, Spanish mackerel, trout, sea bass and some big reds have all been caught this week. It looks like spring I coming for sure now and it will just get better and better as it warms up a little more.<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