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

• Barrett, Medich win titles at Golden South
• Collect call: 2011-12 Panini Contenders hockey
• Bobby V calls out Rays coaches
• Rays @ BoSox: On Bobby V, Maddon and the organist
• Rays-Red Sox, Round II: Can Rays afford a beanball war?
• 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

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

Temperature changes affect bass fishing

Posted Jan 13, 2012 by Tribune Sports

Updated Jan 13, 2012 at 01:56 PM

BY FRANK SARGEANT

Captain Mike Shellen reports the cold front shut down bass fishing for a few days at Okeechobee, with water temps plunging to the mid 50s. However, warmer weather since pushed water back to around 65 and that has the fish biting pretty well again. Shellen says a lot of the larger bass have moved into heavy weeds with the chill and the full moon, and are good targets for flippin’ with heavy punch baits and weedless jigs, as well as for live shiners along the edges. He said pretty much the whole north shore area is productive at this time of year, and that limit catches of specks are coming from the lower end of the Kissimmee River as well as adjacent Okeechobee shorelines on live minnows or tiny jigs worked vertically around the reeds; http://www.OkeechobeeBassfishing.com.

Captain Rick Reddick fished up the Manatee River around Fort Hammer during the big chill and found lots of small reds, a few slot trout plus plenty of smaller ones, some keeper sheepshead, some small snook and lots of ladyfish, all on live shrimp—typical winter fishing in the deeper river holes; http://www.captainrickreddick.com.

In Tampa Bay, drifting some of the deeper flats like those off Rattlesnake Key near the mouth of the Manatee River will produce an assortment of trout, flounder and the occasional big sand trout on any sort of quarter-ounce jig or on a DOA shrimp drifted along a foot off bottom. There’s also good mixed-bag fishing in the lower Little Manatee, and in the canals around Apollo Beach.