The fishing is starting to pick up. I manage to catch some nice fish the other day. We found a school of black drums with about 50-60. Most were weighing upto 40lbs. We decided to just catch one each and move on to find some redfish. As the tide started to come in we found some redfish on the flats but were not feeding to well. We manage to catch a couple. We then decided to catch some trout to just fulfill our drum day. With the weather warming up the fishing is only going to get better.

Tampa Bay to Sarasota Bay fishing report – Warm weather is on its way! I’m predicting couple more weeks of warm weather the action will really pick up. The redfish have started to school and are feeding well on an outgoing tide. The best approach with bird blue skies is poling. These redfish are very spooky, so you need to be stealth. The trout are abundant, but not the gator trout. I have been catching a lot of trout, but they have been in the 15” – 17” range. I have not been targeting snook since they took a hard impact from the cold. I look forward to the next few days of warm weather to bring the water temperatures up.

Tampa Bay to Sarasota Bay Fishing Report: With water temps in the low 50’s the fish will make adjustments for warmer water. Usually with negative tides you will find fish holding in deep potholes, but with the water temps being extremely cold the fish are desperately needing heat from the sun. I have been finding redfish and trout in less than 2’ of water. I have been using 1/8oz Slayer jigs rigged with gulp on the bottom. Sheepshead has been biting really well around structure on cut shrimp. I’m offering Artificial 101 tips and techniques. You will go one on one with Capt. Shawn Raulerson for a full day and learn how to catch fish on artificial lures. Please contact me for more information.
If you plan on fishing please check the new regulations on Snook, Tarpon and Bonefish. Due to the freezing cold weather we had a major fish kill through out the state of Florida and FWC had to make a temporary closed season on the following species mentioned above. Snook season is closed up to August 31, 2010. Tarpon and Bonefish are closed up to March 31, 2010.

Captain Shawn Raulerson
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com

Tampa Bay To Sarasota Bay - Cold, cold and cold. It has been tough trying to find good weather to get out on the water. The best action has been fishing in the rivers or residential canals. We have been fishing around the docks and picking up different species. Sheepshead and Snapper have been biting good. I have been using cut shrimp with a split shot or jig head fishing the bottom. Redfish and trout are on the flats in shallow water on top of sand getting heat from the sun. Best luck getting to catch a redfish you need to present your bait right on front of there face real slow. Snook are not on my list to target. They are in great danger from these hard freezes.

Captain Shawn Raulerson
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com

The water temps are down in the 60's. The gator trout are thick and are on fire. I have been finding the trout on the edges of potholes from 2' to 5' of water. This time of year trout are a top species to target. Redfish have been thick in potholes on lower tides. I like to look for mullet activity in potholes when I target redfish. Snook are pushed back into the rivers. Look for good water movement. The upcoming weeks the sheepshead will get better along with mangrove snapper. Tampa Bay offers a great variety of species.

Captain Shawn
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com

Tampa Bay--Considering all the terrible weather lately the fishing has been good. We have been catching a good amount of snook, redfish and trout. I got out yesterday and we caught snook, gar, tarpon and ladyfish. The tarpon was caught on fly and the rest on spinning gear. We caught most of the fish on the incoming tide. With these temps dropping the fish should really be abundant in the rivers and backcountry.


Capt. Shawn Raulerson
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com

This past week the wind was brutal. The residential and rivers are holding a lot of fish. I fished some docks last week that have some deeper grass flats and caught redfish and snook. We caught 19 redfish and most of them were caught in almost 4' of water. Their were 2 overslot reds caught in about 2' of water. The snook are in shallower water over muddy bottoms getting some heat from the sun. Also we found some snook in the river holding in depressions on the edges of the water flowing out of the river. The gator trout are really picking up. They are in about 2' of water so if you can push pole or drift the flats work the potholes. We managed to catch a couple after spooking them out of some potholes sight casting to them. Trout are easy to spook, but will hit a bait if you put it in front of there face. I have been having most of my luck on jigs working the bottom really slow. With the water temps in the low 60's these fish are not going to chase the bait they want it in there face, so the slower the better.

Capt. Shawn Raulerson
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com

Winter time is in the air. The snook are moving into there transition areas and right now you can find plenty of snook in the passes of rivers and residential areas. They are feeding really good to prepare for the winter time. The bite has been most productive on the outgoing tide. The bait of choice has been a 1/8 Slayers jig rigged with a DOA cal golden brim color. The redfish are feeding excellent. They have been schooling great for that past couple of months. I have been using top water spook jr. and 3” gulp shrimp rigged with a 1/8 Slayers jig. Trout have been plentiful. The gator trout have not showed up in quantity yet. As the cold days continue the gator trout’s will improve.

Capt. Shawn Raulerson
Fishnfinatic Charters
www.fishnfinatic.com