By FRED EVERSON

The abundance of scaled sardines on the Tampa Bay flats is the big story this week. Everywhere I have been, on both sides of the bay, I have been seeing large schools of good-sized white bait. With so much live bait available, it’s hard to believe the fish would eat anything else, but so it is.

On Saturday, I took clients to Pinellas Point to fish for trout. I had heard a report about a hot trout bite on the west side of the bay, and I was eager to check it out. Despite a pretty good breeze out of the northeast, we ventured across the bay in a good chop early in the morning. The tide was outgoing, with a low a little after noon, which usually means hot fishing on the point.

Everything played out by the rules. Once we crossed the bar and began to drift, captain Cade Burgdorf of Homosassa hooked a nice trout on a fresh-out-of-the-box MirrOlure 7MR. The trout repaid the favor by burying one of the hooks in captain Burgdorf’s hand. Mercifully, the hook passed through the web between the fingers and we snipped the point off with a pair of wire cutters with little harm done. Then again, I wasn’t doing the bleeding.

Vic Anthony of New Jersey hooked the biggest trout of the day and also boated a bluefish and a mackerel. The bite was consistent all morning on the MirrOlures.

At 11:15, we headed back across the bay in a 2-foot chop, and it took us nearly 45 minutes to make the eight-mile run back to my dock on the Little Manatee River. However, the wind was head-on, so we stayed fairly dry.

Join captain Fred Everson for an evening of fishing instruction at Skipper’s Smokehouse on Oct. 14 from 7-10 p.m. Registration fee is $25 and couples get in two-for-one. A copy of the captain’s latest book is included with admission. Call (813) 830-8890 for more information.