Fishing Reports for Tampa Bay, August Fishing in Clearwater Bay

August 2010

The fishing has continued to be outstanding in August just as I had hoped. Weather and water temperatures are consistently very warm which makes the fish lethargic during the midday. Fishing early in the morning, using the incoming tide or fishing late afternoon/early evening, is your best bet.

I have been using the top of the incoming tide to catch a variety of fish on the flats. Finding an area that has grass with sand holes and moving water has been the ticket. These types of areas generally hold the bait fish, pinfish and white bait, which attracts the larger species such as redfish, trout, mackerel, ladyfish and sharks. Try different flats, some are better than others.

That was my plan when Vinny and Bobby came aboard for some inshore catch’en. As the tide was moving in, we searched several grass flats in Clearwater Bay. They were catching all sizes of trout and a few close to 20 inches. Also lots of ladyfish, a few small sharks and some small bay mackerel were brought in as well.

As the tide peaked around noon, we slipped up on a shallow water flat in search of redfish. I staked out the boat and threw out a few chopped up baits for chum. It wasn’t long till our first red took the bait. Bobby’s rod doubled over and his line screamed off the reel. He did a nice job bringing in the 28 inch redfish. Then Vinny got into the action and found another red. Vinny also added a trout at this spot for a total of four redfish and one trout.

This was their first experience at inshore shallow water fishing and most of the fish were their first ever.

I used a similar plan with Brian and son, Coleman. I moved around the bay and fished several active grass flats until we found the action. They caught trout, mackerel, lady fish and some very big Gafftop Sail catfish. We added some small black tip sharks to the mix as well. They are always fun to catch.

August has been a very active month for fishing the shallows of Clearwater Bay. The weather and water conditions have been very stable and that’s what the fish like. As long as it stays consistent, minus the rain showers, the fishing will continue with lots of catching going on.

Capt. Gary Burch
www.allcatchcharters.com
727 458-6335