Tampa Fishing Report 2018

New Year Bring Some Cold weather…

With colder weather the first big change is what type of bait we are using. Before the cold fronts in the first week we were using Greenbacks and catching a bunch of Snook. With the cold weather that has hit us we are now shifting gears and using Shrimp and throwing artificials for bait. Targeted species have been Sheepshead, Trout, redfish,Cobia, and Bonnethead Sharks. On those super cold days I like to use Shrimp exclusively. This is about as slow of an bait as you can use and when water is cold this is key and fish just don’t want to chase baits.

Sheepshead would have to be the highlight this month. Areas to find the crazy looking fish would be wrecks, Docks, and any other type of structure. If you are looking to do some flats fishing Reds have been productive on the warmer days and venturing out to the deeper flats will produce a bunch of Trout. On those really cold days the Apollo Beach provides warm water that will produce plenty of Bonnethead sharks and Cobia mixed with a few others that call the Power Plant Home this time of year. Tightlines