Report: Spring is here. The water is warm. The fish are feeding everywhere. End of report. This is how spring time can be described in the Tampa Bay area. If you can brave the winds that have kept blowing all of March, pretty much every outing will result in good catches of redfish, snook, trout, Spanish mackerel, and other typical creatures.

As usual, redfish have been at the top of my list of favorite fish to target. Early morning negative low tides at the beginning of the month presented outstanding conditions for tailing reds. Plastic jerk baits of all kinds and colors rigged on 2.0 Mustad Power Lock hooks were the best choice for a stealthy presentation that wouldn’t spook the fish. Similar conditions are expected at the end of March during the new moon but the low tides will be in the early evening. During high tides, I tried a new lure, the Sebile Stick Shadd BRA 90. It’s a floating hard lure that swims just under the water surface when retrieved and twitched. If you can get over the price of this lure (around $14), I strongly recommend you give it a shot.

Snook have come out of their winter homes and have been caught in the open flats, passes, and creek mouths. The Bone and Trout color Spook Jr. are getting some vicious strikes on the surface. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to target snook using top water lures. The same applies to speckled sea trout which have been caught in large quantities and most of them in the mid to upper 20s. St Patrick’s Day marked the “unofficial “start of kingfish season. Some “smokers” have already been caught along the beaches of St Petersburg and Clearwater and as soon as the winds calm down, the plastic navy will head to the beaches in search of these toothy torpedoes. Until next time…enjoy your day, kayak fishing!!!