While the bite is still slow, things are picking up rapidly. Bait schools have moved into Blind Pass, a few stray greenbacks are starting to show up at Merry Pier and at the Jetty in Pass-A-Grille, and fish are starting to get frisky. I’ve had reports of flounder and Mackeral in Pass-A-Grille, redfish and trout at Ft. Desoto, and pompano at Blind Pass and the Jetty. Sheepshead are starting to show nicely, with a few big ones biting tube worms and fiddler crabs.

I even managed to pull a small grouper out of the pilings:

Miss Pass-A-Grille went out on a 1/2 day trip Sunday, and returned with a great haul of key west grunts, a few keeper grouper, and even a hogfish.

Spring fishing is ALMOST ready to bust loose. I spent a few hours this weekend fishing St. Pete Beach. Glass minnows are starting to show up in Boca Ciega Bay, and in Blind Pass. In Pass-A-Grille, the Spanish mackerel and sheepshead are beginning to bite. There are ladyfish, mullet and even a few small gag grouper around. Offshore, the Key West grunts are on fire:

Very soon, there will be some spectacular fishing here. Meanwhile, another front is projected to blow in Friday, dropping the nighttime temps back into the 50’s. Hope that’s the last of it!

OK, so it’s Spring. The bait should be showing up in the passes and by the piers; the sheepshead should be haunting all of the pilings; the macs should be slashing through the bait schools; the redfish should be hanging out in the shallows. But… not happening. Not yet, anyway. I did fish Saturday with Joe in Pass-A-Grille, and we did manage a couple short sheeps, and one big one lost to the pilings. And I fished the river near Ruskin for hours on Sunday without a bite. But it was all good- we had a party at JoeMama’s, and a good time was had by all.

Another weekend, another cold front. Like clockwork, Saturday featured blustery winds, rain and 50 degree temps. I knew fishing Sunday would be an exercise in futility, but I went through the motions anyway. I joined Juan at the Merry Pier, throwing mud crabs and live shrimp at the non-existent fish. No sheepshead. No grouper. No flounder. No black drum. No sea bass. Nothing but a lonely little whiting. I can’t wait for summertime!

OK, so normally I’d be writing about fishing. This is www.tampafishing.net, after all.  But, with yet another cold front pushing through, I didn’t even wet a line this weekend. So, instead I thought I’d give a shout out for the Murray State University basketball team. 22-3 so far, and looking very strong in most of their wins. Keep it up – March madness is just around the corner!

It’s been a tough winter for fishing. Seems every weekend heralds a new cold front. Blustery winds, cloudy water, rain, cold… and the fish stop biting. Even sheepshead fishing has been slow. Can’t wait for August….

So, Saturday was looking like the perfect day for an offshore grouper/ amberjack/ snapper trip. The forecast was sunny skies, mid- 70’s, and winds 4-8 mph. The crew assembled at Dick’s house at 6:30 a.m., and we started loading the rods onto the boat. But there was one small problem. The winds were howling out of the Southeast at a solid 20-25 knots, with higher gusts. We checked the TV reports, and the weatherman was calling for light winds- the graphic on the screen said 2 mph. Yet a glance out the window showed whitecaps forming in Boca Ciega Bay.

We made the only reasonable call, and after a few hours gave up on our plan to head 40 miles offshore. Good thing, too. The wind never really laid down all day.

Tim and I opted to buy a few dozen fiddler crabs, and we bagged a few sheepshead (including one that was a brute).  Not the same as fighting 50 pound amberjack, though…

On Sunday, we spent a couple hours on Merry Pier… without a bite. Lots of dead floaters from the recent freeze, though, including some huge snook. What a shame. Later, we had a football party highlighted by grouper, sheepshead, NY strips, Portuguese sausage, bar-b-q shrimp, marinated shrimp, sweet & sour meatballs, fresh salad, and a few cocktails…

Seems like a new cold front has blown in every weekend for the last few weeks, making for very difficult fishing conditions. The forecast for next weekend doesn’t look any better, either. Blustery North winds, temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s and stirred up water make for dismal fishing.

I’ve still managed to get out a few times, but it’s been VERY slow. A grouper here, a sheepshead there. That’s about it. With the recent drops in water temps, though, the sheepshead should be moving inshore now. There have been a few decent ones around, like this one caught on Merry Pier last Saturday:

Some people have been doing well this month- just not me. Seems that the only times I have available to fish, a new front has just blown through, dropping water temperatures, water visibility and resulting in less than idea conditions (i.e. 30 Kt North wind and temps in the low 50’s). But… Mike (from Michigan) was at the Merry Pier a couple weeks ago when the bonita came through, a real treat to catch off a pier:

Also, Tim (from Tampa) joined Matt and a few others yesterday to slay some grouper and hogfish:

I’ll be fishing this weekend- wish me luck. And Merry Christmas!

November was punctuated by a couple of weekend cold spells that led to slow fishing. Oh, there were fish- it was just a lot of work to catch them, and the November winds made conditions less than ideal.

The last few weeks yielded flounder, a few late season snapper, undersized snook, macks, short grouper and even a nice bluefish:

Just to change things up a bit, I headed out on Miss Pass-A-Grille over Thanksgiving weekend. Since it was only a half day trip, the catch was less than spectacular. Still, there are some pretty decent grouper making the move into the shallower coastal waters:

Flounder have been a target, as bait continues to school at Blind Pass and the piers in Pass-A-Grille. And, as usual, Mike (from Michigan) is the flounder king: