Saltwater: 'Gator-size' speckled trout being caught in Tampa Bay

Fish of the Week

Spotted Seatrout: The bite for speckled trout has been very good around the Tampa Bay area this week. Good numbers and some “gator size” fish have been reported in a number of locations.

Strike Zone, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Elsewhere

1: At Big Pier 60 in Clearwater, there’s not much to report this week. Conditions have been rough with the wind. The pier is still open, but red tide in the area has kept most anglers and even sightseer’s away, reports Big Pier 60 Bait & Tackle (727-462-6466).

2: At Madeira Beach, the red tide has been affecting nearshore water, but out past 2 to 3 miles, it clears up and is very patchy. There’s many areas to fish. The hogfish bite is still excellent from the 30 to 50-foot mark. The nearshore bite is also good for lane snapper, big mangoves, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and a few red grouper. Deeper offshore, big mangroves, vermillion snapper, porgies, almaco jacks and big red snapper. Some blackfin tuna, kingfisih and wahoo as shallow as 60 feet are also being caught, reports Capt. Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina (727-393-1947).

3: At John's Pass, the red tide is not as bad here as it is further to the north. Sheepshead and black drum are still biting around the bridge and the docks. Snook and jack crevalle are also biting inside the pass. Redfish are also biting on the bottom along the docks and inside the back bay. Speckled trout are also biting on the back bay flats and around the dock lights at night. Spanish mackerel are inside the pass and biting at the bridge and from the jetty. Pompano and whiting are biting from the end of the jetty, reports Hubbard.

4: At Fort De Soto Park, there’s some spotty red tide in the Tierra Verde area, but not nearly as bad as some other areas. Some tarpon showed up around the bridge and black drum are being caught under the bridge. Still got a lot of snook around the marina and the seawall. There’s also sheepshead and flounder biting around the marina area. Some flounder have also shown up on the flats around the park. The speckled trout bite is very good on the deeper flats and wade fish anglers are also catching them around the park. Redfish and snook are biting around Jackass and Tarpon keys. The boat ramp area inside the park is producing sheepshead and mangrove snapper. Bunces Pass is producing whiting, jack crevalle and some flounder. At the pier, sporadic Spanish mackerel are being caught and sheepshead are on the pilings, but red tide is threating the area, reports Capt. Claude Hinson the Bait Bucket (727-864-2108).

5: Around the Sunshine Skyway and lower Tampa Bay, red tide has been lingering to the south in Sarasota Bay for some a while and with the high winds out of the south this past weekend, it pushed some of it into lower Tampa Bay. As far as the fish kill, they were not been many game fish, mostly baitfish, catfish and mullet. The water has since cleared up the last few days and the fishing is still good. Plenty of big speckled trout are biting in many areas, inluding inside Terra Ceia Bay and off Rattlesnake Key. Snook are all over the flats adjacent to the mangrove islands around Emerson Point. Offshore there has been some red tide extending out to about 3 miles, but beyond that the water is clean, reports Capt. John Gunter of Palmetto (863-838-5096).

6: At Anna Maria, good numbers of snook, redfish and speckled trout are biting in the upper sound, but the red tide is pretty to the south down to Sarasota Bay. There’s still sheepshead around the bridges and better numbers and bigger mangrove snapper are starting to bite as well. Nearshore there’s good action for hogfish, red grouper and mangrove snapper once you get past the red tide, reports Capt. Shawn Crawford of Florida Sport Fishing Outfitters. (941-705-3160).

7: At St. Petersburg, this week’s full moon has resulted in a hot bite during the afternoon high tide periods. Anglers fishing 4 to 8 feet of water near the St. Pete Pier have been catching both speckled trout and Spanish mackerel on both MirrOlure plastic baits and lures, alosng with D.O.A. CAL paddle tail jigs in natural colors. The redfish bite has been good in the Shore Acres on live sardines or shrimp suspended under a popping cork near the mangroves. The snook bite is good too, as they move out of the winter back waters and towards the open flats and passes. in preparation for their spawning phase. They’re being caught at Venetian Isles on both live and dead scaled sadines. A few adult bonefish were caught and released on live shrimp, near warm water outflows this week. Bonefish are a rare catch in this area, but not unheard of, reports Capt. Neill Holland of GoFishTampaBay.com (727-200-7781).

8: In the north end of Tampa Bay, with warmer water, the snook bite is good early in the mornings and in the evenings around the bridge approaches and around Davis Islands. Speckled trout and redfish are biting on the deeper flats around Picnic and Weedon islands. The redfish bite is also good in the upper bay. More and more tarpon are showing up around the Bayside Bridge. A few pompano are biting around the bridge pilings. There’s still a few sheepshead around and more mangrove snapper are starting to push in. Black drum are steal being caught on both the Gandy and Frankland bridge pilings. Warmer water also has the Spanish mackerel up in the bay and around the bridges, reports Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551).

Elsewhere

∙ At Homosassa, triple tail have shown up around Homosassa and Crystal River. The spoil banks in Crystal River have been especially good. The mouths of the rivers and the markers in Homosassa and Chassahowitzka are also producing. Structure such as markers, crab buoys and floating debris such as card board boxes, tree or mangrove debris will often hold these fish. Live shrimp under a float will produce the best action, reports Capt. William Toney of Homosassa Inshore Fishing Charters (352-621-9284).

∙ At Fort Pierce, offshore fishing has been good, but it’s expected to be very windy over the weekend. Mahi up to 20-pounds have been caught on the weed lines from the 200 to 400-foot mark. Mangrove and mutton snapper, along with cobia and triggerfish are biting on the bottom at the 80-foot bar. At the inlet, whiting, croakers and a few pompano are biting in the surf. Good numbers of snook, both slot size and under are biting in the inlet from the south jetty. Big jack crevalle are biting just offshore outside the inlet and also just inside. Sheepshead, black drum, sand perch and mangrove snapper are biting around the bridges. Snapper are also biting along the deeper channels in the river. The Melody Lane Pier is also good for a few snapper, along with sand perch, reports Clint Walker at the Fishing Center of St. Lucie (772-465-7637).

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Saltwater: 'Gator-size' speckled trout being caught in Tampa Bay