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Outdoors

Some fish harder to find than others

Cool water temperatures put grouper, sheepshead and trout on the list of fish you will want to target this time of year.

Snook and redfish can be difficult to find. Snook can be lethargic and slow to feed. The reds will move into deeper water during most of the daylight hours. This makes them hard to locate. When found on the flats during the afternoon, they will feed on any pinfish, shrimp or jig thrown their way.

Grouper trips in Tampa Bay have been producing a steady supply of keeper gags. Slow-trolling big gigs on downriggers, pulling gold-and-black, broken-back crank baits on No. 3 planners and large-lipped diving plugs on 80-pound braided line are the techniques used to find a school of grouper.

Some days, they are around the rubble that lines the edges of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. This area can be hot, but it will take a toll on your gear when it gets snagged on the uneven bottom structure.

The edge of the shipping channel has less outcropping to snag if you troll in the 26- to 32-foot range. Work thisarea from Egmont Key to the channels north of Port Manatee. Make sure your lures run just off the bottom. If the plug doesn't hit the bottom every now and then, you're not trolling deep enough.

Mark the spots where you catch grouper using the recorder or a throw jug. You can troll that area a few more times or rig up a live pinfish and bottom fish. The secret spots are rock croppings in 12 to 15 feet of water. If you get lucky and find one of these spots on the recorder, troll it with a crank bait thatdives 10 to 12 feet. It might seen too shallow for grouper, but you'll probably catch the biggest ones in the shallowest spots.

Trout are numerous and large in lower Tampa Bay. Trips the past few weeks have been catch and release using debarbed strawberry jigs. We worked the grass spots off the edge of the flats during the early part of the day. When the sun got hot, the big trout were found hiding in the grass on the flats. Fishing during a moving tide produced 100 to 200 releases in a four-hour period. Work the jig slowly across the bottom or you won't get as many strikes.

Sheepshead are hanging around residential docks, bridges and rock piles. Chum the area with fresh-cut pieces of shrimp to get the bite going. Fish during the slacking of the tide, the slack tide and the start of the next tide. This will keep your chum from washing away from the area. Twenty-pound line and a 30-pound leader is a good rig. Put a small chunk of shrimp on a No. 1 hook and free-line it next to the structure. When the line starts moving, set the hook with a quick snap of the rod tip.

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

(All phone numbers begin with 727 unless noted)

Seminars

SATURDAY: Fly casting, Bill Jackson's, 576-4169.

SATURDAY: Safe boating, Clearwater, 462-6368.

SATURDAY: Fly casting, Saltwater Fly Fishers, Clearwater, (727) 443-5000.

TUESDAY: Fly tying, Saltwater Fly Fishers, Clearwater, (727) 443-5000.

Boating

THURSDAY: Safe boating, Madeira Beach, 587-7873.

THURSDAY: Safe boating, St. Pete Beach, 867-3088.

Etc.

DAILY: Tram tour, Boyd Hill Nature Park, 893-7326.

SATURDAY: Guided hike, Brooker Creek Preserve, (727) 943-4003.

SATURDAY: Guided walk, Weedon Island Preserve, 217-7208.

THURSDAY: 7.5-mile hike through Balm Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve, Florida Trail Association, (813) 985-7938.

-- Send information to Outdoors, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. All items must be typed and arrive 10 days before the event. Include event name, address and phone number.

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