The month of January is prime for silver trout and whiting in Tampa Bay. Both are fun to catch and they are easy to catch. Both species hug the bottom in deeper water, with boat channels and pockets between 10 and 20 feet of water holding them. Both readily take frozen shrimp. A jig head tipped with a piece of shrimp and twitched along the bottom is a good tactic. The silver trout also take jigs with soft-plastic tails. Neither species grows very large, with most silver trout caught averaging around 10 or 12 inches, and likewise for the whiting.
Whiting are in the drum family and are cousins of the redfish. The official name of the species given by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is Gulf Kingfish, confusing to some who know kingfish only as the large mackerel, a pelagic species that generally is found in the Gulf in local waters in fall and spring.
Silver trout and whiting are good on the table, with fried silver trout and whiting a favorite. Because they are small, frying them whole (entrails, head and fins removed) and picking the meat off the bones is not unusual for those not opposed to the slower, more methodical approach. There are no traditional recreational limits on either species, though 100 pounds per day per angler is the default limit for any of Florida’s unregulated species.
Guide bites
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George reports that he’s been working waters from along downtown St. Pete to the Gandy Bridge, as well as around the Hillsborough side of the bridge and doing well fishing docks for reds and snook. Despite the recent cold, he’s still finding schools of live sardines to net in 10 to 15 feet of water in canals and around bridges. Sardines and cut bait have been working for the snook and reds, although some days the reds have been responding better to live shrimp.
Sheepshead fishing has been just OK, with fish on dock and bridge pilings, as well as rock piles in 12 to 15 feet of water. The rocks also produce a few mangrove snapper, though he’s weeding out a lot of short fish. The rocks also produce some nice grunts. Shrimp is working on all three. Schools of jacks are showing up here and there, with fish between 3 and 8 pounds providing some big fun on light tackle. Speckled trout moved deeper after the cold front last week, with most of the action being in 6 feet of water and deeper. Live sardines, shrimp or jigs with Sea Shad soft-plastic tails in white have been working on them.
The colder Bay water means the silver trout are fired up. They like deeper waters, so working channels and pockets at least 10 feet deep with live shrimp or jigs with soft-plastic tails is the ticket. Anglers may find some whiting in some of the same spots. The channel coming out of the Gandy boat ramp has been a spot that’s producing. The silvers, which are a small species compared to sea trout, have been running between 8 and 15 inches. A 15-inch fish is considered quite large.
Tackle shop roundup
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Bill says despite the recent cold weather, the redfish have remained a reliable bet for many anglers. He notes that the species is more tolerant of water temperature drops than many others and that they are working oyster bars and flooded mangrove lines from around the Gandy Bridge area north to above the Courtney Campbell Causeway, where creek mouths are a prime place to find them. Live shrimp or cut bait are working well. Trout retreat to deeper water after cold fronts, and fish treated to the recent cold front moved into the depths, falling into the drop-offs from the oyster bars and grass flats where they had been schooling. If the weather predictions hold, daytime highs going into the weekend will near 80 degrees, which should move the trout back onto the shallow grass flats and over the bars, where live shrimp under a popping cork, jigs with soft-plastic tails or plugs will take them on sunny afternoons. For snook, the best bet now is to work the rivers.
The Hillsborough River is holding fish around docks all the way up to Sulphur Springs. Night fishing around lighted docks with live shrimp can be very productive. The season is closed until March, so anglers must practice catch-and-release. Sheepshead fishing around dock and bridge pilings, as well as rocks, has not been as good as many were hoping for, but a few have made nice catches on live fiddler crabs.
Offshore, anglers have reported decent action on hogfish and mangrove snapper. Live shrimp fished on rocky bottom starting in about 40 feet of water is a good plan, and if fish are few or running small, moving deeper. Some have reported there are a lot of sharks offshore and when they move in while bottom fishing, there is nothing to do but move, as any fish being reeled up are gobbled up by them. Bill reminds those who have been fishing for red snapper on the open weekends that the season closed as of Jan. 1, with the opening yet to be announced.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Jacob reports that redfish bite has been consistent over the past week, but expect lots of undersized fish. Bars, rock points and mangroves on high water are where to find them. It’s a good idea to track the schools of mullet to find reds, which trail the schools to feed on minnows, crabs and shrimp disturbed by the turbulence created by a passing school. Trout fishing has been good, with anglers using smaller, lighter baits reporting some of the best action, Ned Rig soft plastics with 1/16th-ounce jig heads have been working.
At this time of year, connecting with very large and oversized trout is typical. The flats around Weedon Island have been producing them in recent days. Sheepshead fishing in canals is just OK, but anglers fishing rocks and jetties near the Gulf beaches have been scoring the most and largest fish. Pieces of shrimp or crab on a #1 J hook are getting it done.
Word is that squid have shown up at the Skyway Bridge, and while he doesn’t have confirmation, it’s the right time of year for them to appear. Bonito schools have been in the Bay shipping channel in the Gulf, along with some blacken tuna. Those fishing rocky bottom and breaks in 50 feet of water have been scoring lots of hogfish on live shrimp. Bring plenty of bait, as the numbers of undersized fish have been high. Jacob also advises reeling hogfish up as quickly as possible, as scores of sharks have been snatching them off the hook as they are being landed.