Trout will officially be off limits to harvest for the next two months on Nov. 1. Considering the weather, trout may be the best bet this weekend and the last chance to catch a fresh fish dinner.
There are still some picky snook and redfish around. We should continue to have good fishing for Spanish mackerel and kingfish even if trout are off the catch list and other gamefish are becoming scarce. That loss may already be on the way. Reports from St. Petersburg note that mackerel and kings have abandoned the gulf and the Egmont Key Ship Channel. There are still plenty of these pelagics within Tampa Bay, but another cold front could mean the end of that fishery as well.
The trouble with the trout closure is that its occurrence coincides with a time of year when northern tourists thirst for fish that can be caught from small boats in protected waters. Snook leave the open bays as the winter progresses. The kings and mackerel will leave as the cold sets in. Redfish are not dependable. It’s still early for sheepshead. So that leaves inshore anglers with virtually nothing for dinner.
This weekend would be a good one to make up for that inequity. A small cold front should produce a barometer change that will turn the trout on. Even moderate winds won’t kill a trout expedition in the backwaters.
Under cloudy skies, with changing barometers and a promised light wind, this could be great for trout. You will find them on most of the deeper marine grass edges. Good spots to try are the deep grass (six to eight feet of water) off the outer bars on both shores of Terra Ceia Bay.
The deep grass on the south side of the Manatee River from Shaw’s Point to the Anna Maria City Pier should produce a limit. Both of these water bodies give you an option to fish a lee shore no matter which direction the wind might be blowing.
This will probably be a hunting expedition, and I wouldn’t worry much about bait. If you can catch some whitebait that’s fine. But stop and go fishing works well with artificials that cover the water. Include some white and yellow bucktail jigs in that retinue and you might find yourself busy with Spanish mackerel, bluefish and pompano between trout bites. This is probable if you fish that expanse of grass flats called the “Bulkhead” that separates Anna Maria Sound from Tampa Bay. The same can be said of the grass lumps off Key Royale up to the Anna Maria Pier.
Sarasota Bay is so stiff with deep grass flats that it’s hard to recommend one place to go. My recommendation is to drift until you catch a fish. Then mark the spot and short drift past it until the bite wanes.
That’s the best bet for now. Most of the deep trout grass is close to open waters where mackerel prowl. So a combination trout and mackerel expedition should excel this weekend.
G.B. Knowles, outdoors writer, can be reached at 730-3234 or gb_knowles@yahoo.com.
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