 February 2011
The trout fishing action here in February sure has gone off in the Clearwater and Dunedin area, thanks to the above average weather we’ve been having. Morning temperatures are around 60 degrees and highs are in the mid to upper 70s. Water temps are in the mid-60s in the Tampa Bay waters and on the increase. This has turned out to be one of the best February’s for fishing that I have seen in a long time.
Tom, Walt and Art joined me on one of these gorgeous winter days. We started out fishing a few of the spoil islands in St. Joseph Sound, Dunedin. The incoming tide supplied just enough current for us to set up and drop our live shrimp back close to the island. The guys caught about a dozen trout on each of the two islands we tried. All of the trout were 18 to 20 inches and caught on live shrimp under a floating cork. Walt got the prize for the smallest fish, a 3 inch pin fish. He commented that it takes a lot of skill to catch fish that small.
We moved on to another spot inside Clearwater Bay. Here we staked out in 4 to 5 feet of water, just off a grassy area. After a few minutes, the trout turned on. My clients caught 10 or so trout and the biggest was 22 inches. They also brought in several small rat reds to top off the action.
Next, Charlie and Cindy came aboard on another beautiful February winter day. The incoming tide supplied plenty of trout action in the Dunedin fishing area. Cindy caught the most and biggest fish of course. But Charlie did catch a nice 19 inch trout to add to the total.
Later in the Clearwater fishing area, they caught their biggest fish of the day. First it was Charlie setting the hook on a 22 inch gator trout. Then Cindy caught a beautiful 23 inch speckled trout. These two fish were the biggest of a dozen or so fish caught at this location.
Mike and Phil joined me and we set out to St. Joseph Sound in Dunedin where good numbers of trout have been caught. Our water temperature has reached 70 degrees and we were hoping for some continued trout action.
Previous trips to the spoil islands have produced numerous trout all around 20 inches. But today, the action was not there. The tide was very low and not moving at all. Trout like good moving water coming in or going out. So we moved on to Clearwater Harbor where the grass flats spot the bay hoping the incoming tide will turn these trout on.
Mike found a couple of small redfish, trout and sheepshead at our first stop and Phil caught one “blow fish”. Phil promised that he would catch the biggest fish.
Next several spots produced several more trout and a number of mackerel which surprisingly showed up for the first time this season. The macs were feeding on our shrimp just like the trout. Phil finally got into the action with a few nice trout and mackerel.
On our last stop, Phil did catch the day’s biggest trout. It measured in at just over 17 inches. Not a monster, but Phil’s prediction came true.
The weather has been just what we ordered for February with above normal temperatures and outstanding fishing. Fishing from day to day shows how important it is to use the tides and pick your areas that have moving water.
Capt. Gary Burch
http://www.allcatchcharters.com
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