Tampa & Pass-A-Grille Fishing Guide

Snook Season 2008 opens on March 1. Earlier today, I happened to be hanging around Blind Pass and what should I spot but… a whole bunch of snook, schooled up within 10 feet of the shore. They were a little spooky in the clear water, but they were unmistakably snook. Most were smaller, but a few might have been slot sized. I counted 17 of them… ‘Course, I didn’t have time to heave a DOA shrimp at ‘em.

Will they still be there on the 1st? If so, will they bite? And where exactly are they hanging out? I’ll let you know in 9 days. Stay tuned!

Pictured above are the results of the Saturday full day trip on Miss Pass-A-Grill. Conspicuously absent are grouper, which are now out of season in Federal waters (i.e. 9 miles r more offshore). LOTS of grunts (aka grey snapper, aka key west grunts), and a few triggerfish. I understand that some decent grouper were released.

For those of us on the Pier, the weekend provided great variety, including Spanish Mackeral, gag grouper, redfish, flounder, sheepshead, filefish, puffers, squirrelfish, and more. I came armed with a bucket full of fiddler crabs, anticipating a big sheepshead haul, but I only landed a couple. Strange that they aren’t around- maybe in a few more weeks. There’s still plenty of greenbacks to be netted, though.

Another weekend, rounding up the usual suspects at Merry pier in St. Pete Beach. Fishing was… steady, if not good. Amazingly, greenbacks remain plentiful, and a couple tosses of the net are all that’s needed for an afternoon’s fishing. There are plenty of select shrimp available at the baithouse, too.

Yes, there are still Spanish Mackeal around. I musta’ caught a couple dozen, although they were all in the 10-15″ range. Plenty of grouper still around, too, although they also are running on the small side. This marks the first weekend in recent memory where magrove snapper were absent. Still no sheepshead around, either- strange for February, especially with the water temps in the upper 60’s. And… where are the whiting?

The top catch was flounder. I caught about a half dozen, the largest at 15″, and destined for the frying pan. Anybody have any good flounder recipes they’d care to share? Please post in the comments section… thanks!

Every year, my friends Scott and Gail venture down from Murray, Kentucky for some Florida fishing. This year they went to the Keys, and Gail landed this HUGE kingfish on bass fishing tackle. Congrats on an amazing fish!

With weekend temperatures approaching 80 degrees, it was a great time to get out on the water. Down in Pass-A-Grille, pretty much everything was biting. To my surprise, a single throw of the cast net brought up scores of big greenbacks. Who’d have thought bait would still be abundent in February?

So, using big hand picked shrimp and frisky greenbacks, I found the fish to be very cooperative. I caught lots of small grouper to about a foot; 8 to 10 inch magrove snapper (yup, they’re still around); spanish mackeral to 18″ (yeah, they’re still here too!); barely legal flounder; and some nice redfish. Pictured above is a 24″ red that joined us for our Superbowl Party.