Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Outdoors
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 15, 2003
Things are tough right now for inshore fisherman. Water temperatures are as low as they get, and most fish have left shallow water or are huddled in deep holes in a state of near hibernation. The dark water flowing out of rivers and creeks from excessive rainfall only makes things worse. Back-to-back cold fronts have kept the wind blowing, causing heavy surf and dirty Gulf water. Many of the grass flats around the North Suncoast are devoid of life except for an occasional ladyfish. Conditions don't get much worse. For the most part, this is a good time to stay home, get your gear fixed up and look forward to spring. I have stopped running inshore trips until things improve.
If you have to wet a line, fish in deep water far from shore, around jetties and channel edges for sheepshead or along the beaches from Redington to Indian Rocks for silver trout. There has been some action at power plant outfalls. Cobia have gathered at the Apollo Beach plant, but the fish are difficult to catch because of boat traffic. Speckled trout action picks up briefly on the warmest days but quickly shuts down when the temperature drops again. Diehard anglers working the upper bay around Rocky Creek and Double Branch also have had success with tailing redfish on the lowest tides.
-- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com .