This weekend proved to be one of the best redfishing weekends in Tampa Bay, Florida in quite a while. Central Florida has had a tremendous amount of rain this summer, which has kept many anglers off the water. But things picked up this weekend–even with the rain–as the full moon of the past few nights helped push some big schools of big reds (Sciaenops ocellatus) into the bay.

We’ve been getting reports from Saltwater Nation anglers about many fish in the 30+-inch range.  With some much larger. Keep in mind that these bigger fish fall outside of Florida’s 18″ to 27″ slot limit and must be released.

Bigger reds have been hitting cut bait, particularly cut pinfish. Remember that given the structure of a redfish’s mouth and the behavioral gulping of larger reds when feeding, it’s always a good idea to use a circle hook to increase the chances of a hook up in the mouth, rather than letting the fish swallow the bait deep and risk injuring a catch-and-release only fish.

FISH ON!

 

fish, Fishing, Florida, Redfish, Tampa Bay

By Sid

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