Outdoors

Captain's Corner

By ROB GORTA, Times Correspondent
Published October 11, 2007

What's hot: Slot-sized redfish are near oyster beds on the high tides around the new and full moons. The water is higher around these moon phases, which allows fish to forage for crabs crawling on the oyster shells. These smaller fish are aggressive and eat just about anything. The large bull redfish schools have disappeared. I have looked in all of my normal spots and cannot locate any reds over 30 inches. Trout fishing off Pinellas Point is starting to pick up.

Tactic: I like to find deep grass flats when I drift for trout. An electronic device that makes this easier is a combination sonar/GPS unit. I use the split-screen function that shows the sonar and GPS. This allows me to monitor the depth and look at the bottom for grass. Sand shows as a flat line and a grass line is thick and spiky. Once I notice the drift is over sand, I start the motor and use the drift track on the GPS map as a reference in my next drift.

Bait: I have noticed in an area around Fort De Soto that a huge number of smaller scaled sardines moved in over grass beds. I have never seen so much bait in one area. This is a good sign the water is cooling and clearing.

Rob Gorta charters out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at captainrobgorta.com or (727) 647-7606.

[Last modified October 10, 2007, 20:13:14]