Outdoors

Inshore fishing report: Time to prepare for tourneys

By JIM HUDDLESTON
Published March 24, 2006

The longer the days and the warmer the weather, the more an angler's fancy turns to fishing.

There are inshore tournaments every weekend in April. Most covet the inshore slam of trout, redfish and snook and can be found in the same area because of the migration of baitfish. Proper tackle and techniques will help anglers do well in these spring tournaments.

A day on the water can be most productive if planned properly. A good chum mixture of cheap cat food, jack mackerel, cornmeal and a bit of menhaden oil will produce a slick that greenbacks can't resist. A quarter-inch mesh cast net is best, keeping small baits from getting gilled.

Tides are important when determining what to fish for and where. Around the new and full moons, there is an increase in tidal movement and height. The lunar phases create lower tides as well as higher ones with greater variance. Schools of fish will feed more heavily on this stronger tidal flow.

Speckled trout are biting best on incoming tides throughout St. Joseph Sound. Any dropoff or current edge is holding schools of trout that will lay with their noseinto the current and wind. Free-lined shrimp or whitebait are getting attacked by these larger, breeder-sized fish. A lot of oversized trout are caught, so handle the bigger ones with care so we can catch them next year. If keeping trout, eat them right away because fillets do not freeze well.

Redfish are progressively filling the flats. Larger fish are making their way onto the shallows to forage on tiny pinfish. Though hard to cast, a small, silver-dollar-sized pinfish is candy to these bronze gamefish when presented under a cork. The edges and dropoffs of flats are great areas to find schooling reds that are ready to push up with the tide. A copper spoon with a brown bucktail trailer has been the best search lure. Work the spoon slowly enough that it covers all parts of the water column with a varying retrieve. Once a group of reds is found, pick fish off the edges and more will be caught.

The snook is the most sought-after gamefish of the inshore slam. Most describe it as a freshwater bass on steroids. They will jump and scream off drag, all the while finding the nearest structure that will free them. Large snook are in the same areas that trout are being caught. Thirty-pound fluorocarbon leader is a must. A large sardine free-lined in the rip of a current moving across the face of any island or shoal will likely find these transitional fish. The snook are moving out of the backcountry and staging up in areas to feed heavily after the long winter. A free-lined bait will have less restriction and look natural to these weary fish in the clear waters off north Pinellas County.

When tangling with any of these gamefish, the hookup is important. Most freshwater anglers have the bassmaster set-the-hook-hard mentality. A moderate hook set with a steady, quick reeling action will put more saltwater fish in the boat. It allows a lighter leader presentation that can withstand constant pressure. When fighting larger fish that jump, such as snook, a hard sideways pressure will lessen the jumps and prevent breakoffs or thrown hooks. All three species can be had with proper planning. Watching tides and knowing the tendencies of fish are keys to success in any tournament.

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 March 24, 2006, 02:15:43]