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Mobbly Bay Yields Keeper Reds

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BY NICK STUBBS, MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: January 22, 2008

Tackle shop roundup

Denny B's, 813-885-9811: The fishing in Mobbly Bay, at Oldsmar, has been good, with anglers taking trout to 17 inches and a fair number of keeper-sized reds. Live shrimp and Berkley Gulp Strips on jig heads have been doing the job well. Reds have been running 18 to 24 inches and have been in the potholes and around oyster bars.

Dunedin Fishing Center, 727-738-5628: A lot of sheepshead are being taken at the bridges on the Dunedin Causeway. Fish have been taking shrimp and sand fleas, along with frozen fiddler crabs fished along the bridge pilings. Some fish have been running to 17 inches. A few reds to 26 inches were caught on the east side of Caladesi Island and along the spoil islands of the Intracoastal Waterway. Fish have been taking shrimp and Gulp Strips in natural color. Good numbers of trout have been taken along the north side of Dunedin Causeway, all the way out to Honeymoon Island. Fish have been running mostly keeper size, with a few as large as 23 inches. Live shrimp and jigs with soft plastic tails in root beet color have been performing well.

Pier 60, 727-462-6466: The silver trout are around Clearwater Beach in good numbers, and anglers are taking lots of fish. Most have been 10 to 12 inches and taking shrimp on the bottom, though Love tandem rigged jigs have been working well among artificial baits. Whiting have been caught along with them, with plenty of fish 12 to 13 inches coming over the rails.

Redington Pier, 727-391-9398: Prior to cold front that arrive over the weekend, anglers were taking some decent numbers of Spanish mackerel, with fish to 17 inches taking spoons and shrimp. The fish have been slow to bite, because of the cold water, meaning slow retrieves and keeping baits still have been working best. A few reds, most of which have been keeper size, have been caught on live shrimp and small live pinfish. Despite the cold water, a number of small bonnet head sharks have been landed in recent days, the larger fish measuring about 3 feet. Most have been taken at night on large shrimp or cut bait. Silver trout fishing has been very solid at times, and good numbers of whiting are being caught. A few of the silver trout were running very large, at 16 to 17 inches.

Salonika's Bait & Tackle, 727-849-6377: The U.S. 19 bridge at the Cotee River has been giving up some sheepshead to 16 inches, along with some snapper to 13 inches. Shrimp and cut squid fished around the bridge pilings has been doing the job. The outfall canal at the Anclote power plant, in the Holiday area, has been producing some nice numbers of trout. Most have been keeper size to about 20 inches, with a few larger gator fish mixed in. Live shrimp has been the best bait.

Nick Stubbs is founder and webmaster of Bitetracker.com, a fishing Web site specializing in daily fishing reports displayed on animated fish tracking charts.

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