By FRED EVERSON

Water clarity remains poor, but that should begin to change this week as the temperature continues to drop. Captain Chet Jennings said the last cold front made the bait do a disappearing act, but he reported a decent day fishing with live shrimp at the Little Manatee River. He said he caught 10 snook, a couple of redfish and a handful of ladyfish.

I fished the flats south of Apollo Beach last Friday and caught a 26-inch snook on a 7MR MirrOlure while drifting and casting blind. I also found a dead manatee in 2 feet of water — a little one without a mark on it. I towed it back to the boat ramp at Simmons Park, where the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission picked it up to take it for a necropsy.

A few feet away from the dead manatee was a 40-pound cobia. I cast a soft plastic bait at it, and the fish followed it for a few feet before breaking away. Obviously, this fish had been hooked before and was wise to the leader. Some people say cobia are dumb, but their willingness to strike a lure has more to do with inexperience. They grow fast — a 25-pound cobia might be 2 years old. The bigger fish that have been hooked get wise in a hurry and will even refuse a perfectly placed live bait.

The best news of the week was that the bait was back on the flats. Mike Strickland told me he found nice bait at one of the markers off Sand Key, south of the mouth of the Little Manatee River, and he filled his live well with a couple of throws. The baits were perfect snook size — 3 to 4 inches. Strickland said he caught several snook in the river, but all were too small.

The best bet of the coming week will be the extreme low tides that occur early in the morning starting on Monday.

Visit captain Fred Everson’s Web site at http://www.tampabayfishingguide.com for charter info or call (813) 830-8890.