Tampa/St. Petersburg this weekend

General Travel
1

I am heading down to Bradenton to visit my wife’s family on Friday. I would love to be able to sneak away for some shore/surf/pier fishing. :smiley: Does anyone have any inside scoop on some good areas/species to target. I would love to try for some Snook, but I don’t know much about them. I am bringing a light action, medium action, and heavy action pole as well as my cast net and the tackle I use locally. Any help would be appreciated.

We’re streaking!

2

I don’t know about this time of year but I have fished the “surf” of Anna Maria Island in the summer w/ light tackle and caught snook. I say “surf” because the wave action there is so minimal I don’t really see it as surf. That being said, and this is crucially important, when the little waves stand up just prior to breaking you have to look into the wave for the snook. I’m talkin 8 to 10 feet off of the beach. Reddrum and I fished it years ago and there were people waist deep fishing deeper and we had snook tailwalking behind them and never got our feet wet. Let us know how you do.

3

Were you throwing artificials or live/cut bait?

We’re streaking!

4

Try this forum and there are some places in Tampa where you can catch some nice fish like the Gandy Bridge. Check out the Ft DeSoto piers and Pinellas County Parks.

Good Luck

http://skywaypiers.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=general

I’d rather fish than eat.

In God We Trust

5

Thanks alot, Taz!

I hope to have a report/pics for next week.

We’re streaking!

6

Artificial. Grubs, just like trout fishing here (1/4 oz lead head) but colors were all different. Check a local tackle shop. We were staying with a friend that was an inshore guide there so he had all of the goodies. He had some “honey-do’s” to do around the house so we took a couple of his bikes and rods and rode over to the beach. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

7

Here are a couple of pics I took of reddrum on that trip

8
quote:
Originally posted by tarponchaser

Here are a couple of pics I took of reddrum on that trip

Dang, Those are some wall hangers right there.

Reel-Man or Boy
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

9

Sweet!
As it gets colder and wetter here I am happy for a change of scenery for a few days!
Nice fish, Tarpon.
Hope to have some to share as well.

We’re streaking!

10

It’s like I say, I can’t change the weather where I am but I can change where I am. Here’s a link to a local guide in the Tampa area.

http://www.tarponfishingreport.com:80/

I’d rather fish than eat.

In God We Trust

11

Fished the Skyway Pier on Saturday morning with my cousin. Caught lots of those hardhead catfish, but nothing else. Saw some guys pull in some nice grouper.

Returned on Monday morning with the cousins and their kids. Ended up baiting hooks and pulling off small pompano all morning. Fun stuff, but no big ones. The Skyway pier is pretty cool, though.

Thanks for all of the advice, I was not able to break free from the family long enough to get down to the beach to chase the snook. All in all, good trip. Next time I hope to have more time to fish.

We’re streaking!