Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By JIM HUDDLESTONS
Published June 28, 2005

Patterning nearshore gamefish is key in fishing. Look at tides, lunar phases and weather conditions to help determine where fish can be found throughout the day.

Live bait can drive a dormant bite into a feeding frenzy when presented correctly. Certain species are more apt to bite at different times. Speckled trout are biting during the incoming tide in early morning. Fresh gulf water stimulates these schooling fish into biting once a few are feeding.

On mid to hightide, redfish eat around oyster bars found close to open water. Use corks to keep sardines and pinfish in the strike zone longer.

Big snook can be caught on the outgoing tide. Martin Clements of Georgia landed three 40-plus inch snook on a recent charter. Linesiders off our beaches are eating big baits. Use pinfish or large greenbacks and make sure the bait floats out with the tide.

Tide flow is strongest near a full or new moon. During summer, our coastline experiences some very high tides. If the wind is strong out of the west, there should be an abundance of gamefish as more water is pushed into the estuaries around mangroves.

--Jim Huddleston charters out of Tampa, Palm Harbor and Clearwater and can be reached at 727 439-9017 or at jim@captainhud.com

[Last modified June 28, 2005, 01:47:08]