Guide bites
Capt. Matt Cowden (727-534-6603): Capt. Matt reports the cold water over the past week had the sheepshead and black drum fired up in Pasco’s inshore waters. Both species are resilient and feed well even in winter conditions. Live shrimp around bars, docks and rocks takes both. Trout fishing has been good, with a lot of oversized fish showing up in his catches. Fish have been around oyster bars, but also in deeper holes. Anglers should note that trout must be 15 to 19 inches to keep in Pasco waters, with a five-fish limit per day. Of the five, anglers are permitted one oversize trout per day.
Capt. Josh Fritz (352-345-9304): Capt. Josh says a little bit of warming last week helped the inshore bite and more warm days ahead may fire things up more. While cool water over the last week kept trout and reds out of the open Gulf, they have inched out to the creek mouths. The reds from Hudson north have been schooling and live pinfish have been taking fish 16 to 25 inches on his trips. The trout have been in the same spots, with fish gathering in small schools or pods. Some spots have been turning up a lot of fish between 14 and 16 inches, while others have seen some better quality specimens between 18 and 22 inches. Capt. Josh has been favoring white, DOA soft-plastic flukes for the trout, rigging them through the nose on a circle hook. Twitching the baits imparts a lot of enticing action, though as a rule in cold water, don’t work them too quickly, as cold fish are slow fish. Offshore, the spawning sheepshead are stacked up on rocks, ledges and any structure, taking live shrimp very well. These are some of the biggest caught all year and he’s been scoring anywhere from about 8 feet of water out to 26 feet. A few mangrove snapper are being hooked along with them, though for hogfish, anglers need to work deeper. With 45 feet about the minimum for decent numbers of keeper-sized fish. Live shrimp is the bait of choice for all three species. Forecasts call for warmer days ahead and Capt. Josh believes that will spark the inshore and offshore bite. More reds and trout may move to the outside, hard-bottom points and the hogfish may inch back into shallower depths, he thinks.
Tackle shop roundup
The Rusty Bucket (727-645-6598): Capt. Bill reports that while cold water and winter conditions over the past week cut into a lot of the action, the exception is when it comes to sheepshead. Capt. Bill says the action on the cold-water-loving species has been nothing short of “insane” offshore, where the big spawning fish are gathering around rocks and other structure. He’s been doing very well in 20 feet of water, with fish over 20 inches common. Live shrimp on the bottom is all that’s needed. Inshore, the trout bite remains good at the Anclote power plant outfall, where the fish are congregating to take advantage of the warm water exiting the plant. Soft-plastic swim baits and live shrimp are doing the job. Redfish have remained surprisingly resilient through the cold and the bite has been pretty steady in Pasco waters. Schools are working the shallows and taking fresh cut bait and live shrimp well. For those who like throwing artificials, gold spoons rolled slowly also get it done…