Mercury goes up; so does activity

Spring fishing season is here.

The inshore water temperature is in the 70s, huge schools of bait have moved in, and the fish have been feeding actively.

Just about everywhere you look there are baitfish. Some are scaled sardines, some are large threadfin herring and others are tiny glass minnows.

If in search for the sardines, regarded by most anglers as the premier flats bait, you can find them at the bird racks north of Bayport and many of the marked rock piles, such as Gomez Rock near Hernando Beach.

The larger baits have been hanging around most of the tripod markers at the west end of the channels and on the hump just north of the Hudson channel.

To the south, there have been sheets of bait near the stilt houses off New Port Richey, the grassflats west of Gulf Harbors and near the Anclote power plant.

As usually is the case, where you find big schools of bait you also find fish. Packs of ladyfish, Spanish mackerel and jacks have been assaulting them nearly all day. Joining the party are speckled trout and even a few bluefish.

Simply drifting a freelined live bait just outside the school will produce great mixed-bag action.

Eight-year-old D.J. Dervis outfished his father and granddad Thursday by catching a 3-pound mackerel and a 3-pound trout while drifting close to a giant school of glass minnows near New Port Richey. Action was constant and double hookups were common.

While this week's tides were slow and weak, some snook anglers managed to put a few in the boat. The stronger tidal movement in the coming days should produce better action for those looking to tangle with one of our most spectacular inshore species.

Remember that snook prefer big live baits. Make sure you spend the time to secure some jumbo sardines or threadfins when loading your baitwell.

Many of the popular snook spots receive heavy fishing pressure, but by using big baits you greatly improve your chances at drawing a strike.

The redfish activity has been excellent when the tides come high enough to cover the oyster bars and rocky points. When the tide is lower, the fish have been more difficult to locate, at least in quantity. As with pretty much everything else right now, live sardines are the ticket to success.

Many of the flats near the mouth of canal systems have had rampaging schools of 10- to 14-pound jack cravelles. These bruisers create a wake as they push across the shallows eating everything in their path.

Perhaps the most exciting way to hook them is with a top-water plug.

By casting and rapidly retrieving a floating lure, an angler often gets amazing crashes and surface strikes as the jacks fight for the lure. Occasionally, two jacks can be hooked at the same time on the same lure. When they are this big, though, one usually straightens a hook.

A few small cobia have appeared on the flats, but the larger ones probably won't be here for a few more weeks.

Still, it's worth looking near the outer markers and behind the bigger stingray.

-- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com .

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