Please dowload enable javascript or download the latest flash player.

Weather Search: Type zip or city

Outdoors Forum:

• Talk Outdoors

Weather Links:

---

• Live Video Weather
• Solunar Tables
• WFLA Doppler Radar
• Marine Forecast
• Personal Forecast
• Watches/Warnings

Tide Charts:

---

• Daily
• Hillsborough
• Clearwater
• St. Petersburg
• Point Pinellas
• Conversion chart
• Tide predictions

Most Recent Entries

• Robinson product Gibson advances to NCAA track finals
• Panini previews Gold Standard autographs
• UD unveils Military Machines inserts for 2012 Goodwin Champions set
• Rays @ BoSox: Guyer out for the season, Jennings close to returning and lineups
• USF softball: It’s game day
• Weekly Tampa Bay fishing report
• Rays at BoSox: Rivalry renewed
• Karen Cooley returns as Zephyrhills girls swimming coach
• USF beats Pitt, stays alive
• The Nerds head north
• Jeffrey Shank out as Gulf boys basketball coach
• Berkeley Prep captures Academic Team Champion Award - again
• This week’s signings and offers
• Berkeley Prep wins FHSAA Academic Award standings
• Shank out as Gulf boys hoops coach

More

• Bucs Report -Tribune staff
• Rays Report - Roger Mooney
• Bolts Report - Erik Erlendsson
• Bulls Report
• Prep Report - Hillsborough
• Prep Report - Pasco
• Prep Report - Region
• Prep Report - Recruiting Updates
• Prep Report - Football
• Go Fishing: On The Waterfront
• The Sports Bookie - Bob D'Angelo
• Gators Report - Tribune staff
• Youth Sports Report
• NFL Draft Report
• Go Ask: Frank's Tacklebox
• Bucified Bert Blog
• BUK Power - Bucs Fan Blog
• Pigskin Preacher - NFL Fan Blog
• Breakfast Bonus - Tom McEwen
• Highlands Sports

Monthly Archives

• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011

Jigs on the double take

Posted Dec 20, 2011 by Tribune Sports

Updated Dec 20, 2011 at 08:48 PM

BY RAY MARKHAM

With less than a couple of weeks remaining before trout season reopens, anglers are beginning to tune up their tackle.

Anglers in the South Region of the state, the area south of Fred Howard Park, have had to release trout since Nov. 1. Next year, however, will mark a change in the regulations, eliminating the closure and allowing anglers to possess speckled trout all year long. The bag limit in the South remains the same, at four per person per day, but in the North Region, Feb. 1, anglers may possess six trout per person per day.

These fish are probably the most cooperative of all inshore fish when it comes to getting fish to bite. One of the most effective lures is actually a combination of two jigs tied together with a length of mono leader. This Tandem Rig, as it is called, is not anything new. Back in the 1970s, Bill Love, originator of Love’s Lures Tandem Rigged Jigs, made this style of lure popular. The St. Petersburg Company sold hundreds of thousands of the rigs. One of the newest entries into the Tandem Rig market is the DOA Deadly Tandem, from the makers of the popular DOA Shrimp and CAL series of jigs. The rig is new for 2012 and will be available soon.

The advantage of this type of rig is there are two lures rigged together. When worked slowly, it has the potential of catching two fish at a time. Trout are schooling fish. Not known to be strong fighters, trout are a highly prized species, known for their delicious, mild, white fillets. Spotted sea trout are arguably Florida’s most popular inshore fish. In smaller legal sizes, trout are fairly easy to catch, but once they reach “Gator” status, over 20-inches, they become much more difficult to land, due to the delicate tissue in their mouths. A light action rod is a must, allowing these fish some “give” to avoid tearing the lures from their mouths.

Ray Markham runs the Flat Back II out of Terra Ceia and can be reached for charter at (941) 723-2655.