Outdoors

Captain's Corner

By ROB GORTA, Times Correspondent
Published September 3, 2007

What's hot: Slot-sized redfish have moved onto the flats around the Sunshine Skyway bridge and Tierra Verde. While push-poling a flats skiff and looking for bull reds, I noticed smaller fish fleeing. I pushed away from the school and waited for the fish to settle down. After a few minutes, the bite was on. The reds moved back to an oyster bed. And legal-sized redfish were in just about every place I fished.

Bait: Redfish have been crashing smaller "finger mullet." These smaller mullet are along any mangrove shoreline. These baits are fast and hard to get close to but are worth the effort. Mullet will swim on the surface, staying out of the grass, making them irresistible to any game fish. Small pinfish work as well. Anchor on any grass flat and throw chum in the water. Pinfish will soon show up.

Conditions: Bright blue skies and afternoon sun make it easy to find all inshore species. Cloud cover causes a glare on the water, making it difficult to see. Wind makes it difficult to control the boat, and high water temperatures allow for algae growth, causing the water to become the color of coffee.

Capt. Rob Gorta can be reached at (727) 647-7606 or visit www.captainrobgorta.com.

[Last modified September 2, 2007, 21:19:41]