Fishing Tampa area in February

[Nickys Toy]

I will be heading to Largo to fish with my father-in-law in February and need some tips on inshore fishing. He just bought a new 18' CC and knows nothing about the area or fishing in general. I am a Great Lakes and Hudson River fisherman (Salmon,Blues and Stripers) and would like to target fish of the same caliber down there. Again, I'll be there in February and some tackle and bait tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Prop Blast]

Fishing here in Feb is fine -- though weather dependent. What type of fishing are you looking to do? Inshore or Offshore? Will you have the boat on a trailer or kept in the water?

Inshore fishing: In the winter months, trout and redfish are the primary targets. Water temps will be in the low to mid 60s, so snook and tarpon fishing will be slow, and live bait will be pretty much limited to shrimp. Your tackle should be geared to the 8-10lbs rigs: Think Shimano 2500 sized spinning reels, on a 7' med-lt or lt rod. Water will be clear, so long casts are usually required.

Offshore: By then, kingfish have moved south to the Keys, as have the sharks, cobia, spanish macks, ... What you will find are grouper and snapper, though the bite will be slow to kick off. It will also require running to deeper water -- your 18' CC might not be the best boat for that.

The best thing you can do when you get here is visit a local tackle shop and buy a chart with the area you want to fish: either a "Top Spot" chart of Tampa Bay or a "Waterproof Chart" of Tampa Bay (Chart #22F). They show marinas, bait & tackle shops, boat ramps, fishing spots and what you can expect to find there. For $15 it's the best investment you can make.

The second best investment is to hire a guide for the day to take you out in YOUR boat. He'll show you how best to use what you have on your own. It'll also cost less than going with him on his boat. There are a number of guides here, but one I can recommend is Tommy Ziesman aka "Tommy Z". Tommy earned his guiding chops through hard work and is well respected in the area. There are others certainly, but Tommy frequents this board and will likely chime in. The $ you pay to have him take you around will be a great investment.

Hope you have a great time!

PB

[CaptainRob]

The water will be pretty cool by then....so look for some warmer areas, like the outflows of power plants, and the local rivers. I like fishing the rivers pretty much all winter and there are plenty of fish. Get some live shrimp and fish the mangrove along the shorelines of our local rivers. Snook, Redfish, Trout, Snapper, Sheepshead, etc. All can be found in these areas. Also, look for areas that have dark bottom....these areas will hold the heat better than the sand or grass. Hope this helps....

[Nickys Toy]

Thanks for the replies, Do you guys use slide rigs as we do up here for shrimp? If not, how about giving me some tips on hook size and rigs. Thanks again.

[CaptainRob]

1/0 circle hook and a float......about 24 inches of leader. This works most places....if there is current, I like to use shrimp on a jighead and just bounce it along with the current real slow. I use 20lb flouro leader for just about everything and dont have too many problems, but some people like to go heavier. Just try to match your tackle to your bait....if you are using large baits(big pinfish, whitebaits, etc) then go with a bigger hook. For shrimp and such, I like about a 1/0.

[Nickys Toy]

Thanks Rob.

[triumphrick]

From Tampa you can go west to the Tarpon Springs area. Just north of the downtown area off of Alt 19 there is a public ramp at the power plant, and the warm water outfall will give some good results. I too like using 20# fluoro for leader and use Berkely gulps, DOA shrimp (measles color) and the trusty Mirrolure 52 m 11. Good luck