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Captain's corner

By MIKE MANNING

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2001

The weather is keeping anglers ashore. High winds and rain have made it difficult for anglers to get on the water and catch fish consistently. On days with good weather, the water warms up fast and the fishing improves. Snook are in their usual spring holes looking for an easy meal. Look for these fish around the spoil islands at the mouths of rivers, around docks on outside points and creek mouths. Finding fish is easy, but catching bait is not. Snook prefer greenbacks, bait that migrates onto shallow flats in early spring. Most game fish prefer greenbacks because they are soft and spineless, unlike a pinfish with a prickly dorsal fin. The weather has kept the greenbacks moving, making it difficult to catch enough.

Large trout have been caught around oyster bars and spoil islands along the Intracoastal Waterway from Dunedin to Tarpon Springs. Most action has been with live greenbacks. You also can catch trout on live jumbo shrimp and pinfish. There have been small schools of redfish from Sand Bay to Green Key. These are moving to the sun-warmed shallow flats in the afternoon. Look for flats with oyster bars and flat rocks. Use live greenbacks, shrimp or pinfish under a float.

- Capt. Mike Manning charters out of Tarpon Springs and can be reached at (800) 644-5940 or by e-mail at mmmikefishing@cs.com.

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