Sheepshead are hanging around docks, rock piles and bridges of lower Tampa Bay. Tube worms, oysters, clams and shrimp are good baits for sheepshead, but the most overlooked offering is the barnacle, usually used mainly as chum. Place three or four on a No. 1 hook and drop it in the same area. Sheepshead can steal a soft bait without you knowing. This is not the case when using barnacles.

Start as the tide begins to slack. The moving water will help spread your scraped barnacles around. When the tide slacks, the barnacles will sink next to the boat. This is when sheepshead start inhaling the pieces. Let your hook and barnacle rig drift down with your chum.

Trout and reds are moving into the grass during the warmest part of the day. They seem to hang in patchy areas 50 yards or so from the edge of the flat. The trout are nailing motor-oil colored jerkbaits just above the grass. The reds will take live shrimp, jigs, jerkbait or plugs. Don't spook the school with your engine or trolling motor. Drifting or wading will keep the noise down. Look for water deep enough to cover the oyster bars. Cork a live shrimp and cast it next to the bar. When the cork goes down, reel until the line gets tight before setting the hook.

-- Doug Hemmer charters out of St. Petersburg. Call (727) 347-1389.

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