By Seth Leto, Times Correspondent
Saturday, March 19, 2011
What's hot: The first day of spring means the worst of Old Man Winter is behind us. Water temperatures have climbed back into the lower 70s after last week's cold front, and the fish are feeding aggressively again. Bait has returned to inshore flats after being scattered from the front. Sometimes persistence and patience are needed when trying to locate scaled sardines. That might be the difference between a good and a phenomenal day of fishing. Look for flips on the surface of the water or flashes deeper in the water column. Once the bait is located, anchor and start chumming to concentrate them close to the boat.
Tactics: Once the livewell's full, you can stay inshore or run just outside to areas of hard bottom. Inshore, big schools of redfish have showed up on their typical springtime flats. Big breeder trout are schooled up in areas with patchy sand and grass bottom as well as areas with limestone bottom. Nearshore, Spanish mackerel have been terrorizing schools of bait on most hard-bottom areas. Anchor up in the area and chum with a combination of live and cut bait.
Seth Leto charters out of Tarpon Springs and can be reached at capt.seth@yahoo.com or (727) 385-0382.