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Daily fishing report

The flats fishing in North Pinellas remains excellent. Cobia, snook, redfish and trout are being cooperative. The real difficulty is deciding which species to target. Redfishing has been especially good. Though these fish are in smaller schools than in years past -- about 20-25 fish -- there seem to be more schools overall.

On extremely high tides, schools seem to be retreating to the cover of mangroves. When they do this, they may be difficult to coax out. Cut bait seems to work well. If you toss a live greenback or pinfish near the mangroves, it will instinctively swim away from the bushes. A cut bait will not. Instead, the scent will trickle back into the overhang, and more times than not the redfish will come out to investigate.

On middle phases of the tide, the redfish seem to be mixed with the mullet schools roaming the flats. Positioning your boat or wading the areas where you see mullet jumping are your best bet. Send baits in all directions and wait patiently.

Most fish will be in loose packs at this tidal phase. When you get a bite, cast another bait in the direction of the strike. Usually this will get a second bite. Chumming with live greenback or cut bait is an effective way to hold the school's attention. If there are terns or gulls around, you probably want to pass on this tactic. Diving birds usually are counterproductive.

-- Capt. Pete Katsarelis charters out of Tarpon Springs and can be reached at (727) 439-3474 or by e-mail at inshoreadventure@aol.com.

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