Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By JAY MASTRY
Published July 13, 2005

It may be too soon to determine if Hurricane Dennis did much to flush Red Tide from our area. Some reports point to the contrary. Though those fishing the east side of Tampa Bay report clearing, there were fresh accounts of dying fish around Tierra Verde on Monday morning.

Though I remain confident we can salvage what is left of an otherwise dismal tarpon season, it will largely depend on whether the strong southeasterly winds pushed the contaminated waters offshore. We hooked a couple tarpon at the end of last week north of the Howard Frankland Bridge. Large schools of greenbacks and glass minnows on the surface all the way to the Courtney Campbell Parkway was evidence that the deadly bloom hadn't crept that far north.

Before Dennis blew through, Justin Mastry and crew caught and released two dozen snook at Blind Pass on a recent trip. Large whitebait flylined on 30-pound tackle and a No. 3 livebait hook did the deed. A strong outgoing new moon tide had them frenzied.

On four consecutive days, John Young wore out the pompano while working the major bridges in the north end of Tampa Bay. Pink and yellow jigs worked best, quarter- or 3/8-ounce depending on the tide, with faster being better. An add-on teaser helped induce the bite. Mackerel and a couple cobia lit up the drag washers between pompano bites.

Jay Mastry charters Jaybird out of St. Petersburg. Call (727) 321-2142.

[Last modified July 13, 2005, 00:10:12]