Floundering About
With the full force of winter many anglers are looking to wet their lines by targeting winter time species.
Flounder have made their way into Tampa Bay in great force, they are well known for their dominant presence during the winter months. They can be found at any of the Saint Petersburg grass flats, docks, seawalls and jetties.
I always head to my favorite trout spots this time of year to find them, flounder desire the same structure and environment as trout. These hungry shallow water predators can be found stacked up anywhere that has a drop in depth adjacent to a sandbar, or sandy patches and potholes on grass flats. Take advantage of the cooler water temperatures as the fish are more active in the shallows. You can sight cast, or drift fish for flounder as well.
Choice baits to use are live shrimp and scaled sardines. These baits should be presented on a size 1/0 hook free-lined, or with a split shot, or even with your favorite eighth to quarter ounce jighead. MirrOlure Mirrodines or Trout Master gold colored, spade tail grubs are my top choice of artificials to use if you want to cover a large area in a small amount of time.
You can find live shrimp at just about any bait and tackle store in the area. Some bait shops sell scaled sardines, but most of the time you have to use a cast net to catch them. I recommend catching enough to use for bait as well as a few extra for chuming. You will be able to find these baitfish at the channel markers and shallow to deep transition areas nearest boat channels. I use a 10 foot Barracuda Pro cast net to gather my bait. I can usually catch enough bait for a trip in one or two casts because of the ease of opening in the net design.
Remember when flounder fishing where there’s one there’s more than one, keeping count is important when catching these guys because you can fill a cooler when the bite is right.
If you’re fishing the bay side of St. Petersburg I recommend stopping at “Mitch’s Bait and Tackle” off of 62nd Ave and 4th St. Mitch always has everything you need for a good day of fishing.