CAPT. BILL MILLER
“OUTDOORS PROFESSIONAL”
Marketing/Sales Specialist • Grand Master Angler • TV Host/Writer

 

BILL’S FISHING REPORTS
Current Advice for Catching More Fish

Bay area offering plenty of options

By BILL MILLER
The Best Sight-Fishing Is Right Here
January 17, 2007

Offshore fishing, before the wind started blowing, was red hot. Fishing 35 miles out in 100 feet of water and deeper, captain Larry McGuire was catching gag and red grouper to 20 pounds, amberjack to 50 pounds and plenty of kingfish and bonita on light tackle. Live pinfish and Spanish sardines were the preferred baits. Six-year-old Nathan Vineyard, on his first saltwater fishing trip, also caught a 7-pound hog snapper.
Captain Geoffrey Page reports good shallow-water fishing for trout and redfish in Terra Ceia and Sarasota Bay. Bass Assassin Slurp soft plastics in Copper Penny and Drunk Monkey colors, rigged with 1/8- or 1/16-ounce jig heads, have been effective. Snook have been spotty.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish have been chewing at the Sunshine Skyway piers and Gulf beach fishing piers on silver spoons and Gotcha plugs. Good sheepshead action is being reported inside the bay at The Pier in St. Petersburg, the Ballast Point pier and the Gandy and Frankland bridges. Silver trout have been thick at these locations at night under the lights. Use tandem Love’s Lures for fast action.
Speckled perch action has been good at the Menard Reservoir and Tenoroc. Missouri Minnows, Hal Flys and Beetle Spins have been producing limit catches for those drifting or trolling the shad schools.
Captain Bill Miller hosts “Hooked on Fishing” on Thursdays and Sundays from 7-8 p.m., and Fridays and Mondays from 11 a.m.-noon on Bright House Networks Catch 47.

Reprinted with permission of The Tampa Tribune

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