By: Captain Woody Gore

Snook: (Still Closed) There are greenbacks at the Skyway if you want to travel that far to net bait. If you’re looking for bait, check the south skyway fishing pier. You usually don’t have to chum. Throw into the shadow line of the bridge, to get your bait. Then there’s a good chance you can find a snook willing to eat them. If you look hard enough, you might also fish some bait hanging around a few Tampa Bay markers. Snook are starting to migrate up into the bay and the creeks and backcountry canals. They are showing up around docks in deeper water with muddy bottoms. Reports indicate good days are tossing diving or suspending lures around inshore canals, creeks, and rivers.

If you’re after these tasty striped fishes, the first places to look are bridges, pilings, docks, oyster bars, and artificial reef rock piles located throughout Tampa Bay. Rig up with a #1 hook, small weight, and a piece of shrimp, oyster, mussel, or some little crabs and you’re in the game. There is some nice sheepshead coming from around the most Tampa Bay bridges.

Redfish: (Still Closed) Good redfish days reported on the north and south end of the bay. Fish the grass flats and mangrove shorelines. Live or dead bait under a cork is a good bet for nice sized redfish. Artificial lures are still in play, provided you get going before the boat traffic starts chasing up and down the flats.

Spotted Sea Trout: (Still Closed) The trout bites been on fire all winter and should continue through February. Some enormous fish are hanging around shallow water potholes. And on negative winter tide, wading is the best bet with a floating bait bucket full of good size shrimp. An excellent incoming or outgoing tide is usually the trick as they seem to eat better on moving water. Don’t be surprised when trout fishing with jigs if you catch several pompanos, flounder, or redfish in the same potholes.

Cobia & Sharks – Reports last week of a few cobia cruising the warm water discharges near power plants and a couple on the flats around the manatees. One was swimming under the big mammal, and you could hardly see it. It seems there are always plenty of sharks, jacks, and ladyfish hanging around for some great rod bending wintertime action. Remember, power plants offer some first-class wintertime action.

Sheepshead, Snapper, Flounder: Capt. Mark Gore found a mess of flounder with client James Brown while fishing docks recently, on the south end of Tampa Bay. You never what’s under a  boat dock when you toss in a piece of shrimp.