Fishing in Tampa Bay 1st week in October.?

I will be fishing from a kayak. Cockroach Bay Wildlife area or the power plant side? Bait-lures suggestions? Any idea of what might be running? Trout, snook, reds?

This is my kayak. Mine is actually an older model I have had for several years. It’s great for the mangroves. I have only fished the bay in mid summer and am not sure what is going on down there right now.

Thanks.

http://www.wildernesssystems.com/product/index/products/recreational/recreational_pungo/pungo_120_recreational/

5 thoughts on “Fishing in Tampa Bay 1st week in October.?

  1. indy Post author

    live shrimp……trout and redfish should be plentiful….snook not as much but they are around……never had much luck with lures but others have

  2. Fisher_King Post author

    The “typical” flats lures should work well-

    Topwater’s from Dawn til about 9:30-10:00 AM for Spec Trout & Snook. Fish “current” & creek-mouths with nearby deeper holes and you’ll have an opportunity for Spec Trout. The Trout can get “finicky” for Topwater’s after 10 AM so switch to a Chartreuse-headed Jig with an “Electric Chicken” or plain “Chartreuse” 4″ Curly-tailed saltwater Grub. In my opinion, Berkley makes the best soft plastic’s, but, any curly-tailed Grub should work.

    I find my success rate increases when I dowse my lures with a good saltwater attractant- makes the fish strike stronger and hold on longer- http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_72020____SearchResults

    Jigs are the “cheapest” , most versatile lure you could throw. They catch a variety of fish, (including Reds, Trout, Snook, Etc). Popping corks esp drive the Reds & Trout wild. And you don’t feel so bad if you happen to lose them! (lol)

    Spoons can be productive around eel grass beds and oyster bars- esp for Reds. But my favorite “weed-bed lure” is a Berkley Jerk-shad rigged weedless using a 5/0-6/0 Offset hook. You can throw this into any oyster-bed or weed-bed and expect it to NOT get hung up.

    Anywho- here are my choices-

    1. Heddon saltwater Spook, (make sure to “walk the dog”- http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_27430____SearchResults

    2. Berkley saltwater Jerk Shad- http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_75761____SearchResults

    3. Berkley saltwater Grub- http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_58013____SearchResults

    Colors? As the water clarity improves use whites, clears, pink, Etc. If the water is stained use Chartreuse, Pink/White, Rootbeer, Electric Chicken, Etc. Make sure to use a leader of 17-20LB Flurocarbon-it will increase your catch ratio……

    You probably know all this stuff already. But I hope this helped ya somewhat? Good luck.

  3. HTacianas Post author

    The answers above are good. But if you’re up for a paddle, about three miles south of Cockroach Bay is a place called Piney Point. There is an old pier that collapsed there a long time ago. All that’s left is debris and a couple of pilings. It’s loaded with mangrove snapper, redfish, and keeper size grouper. If you put in at Cockroach Bay and go out into the bay, you can fish three miles of flats on your way down there. The flats there are crawling with speckled trout.

  4. ediemoo Post author

    My brother who lives in Fort Walton Beach and goes fishing in the flats and mangroves tells me you should be good for October for redfish, trout and snooks. He just went in August and caught some rather large trout, redfish and snook. Although the snooks are protected Florida fish and there are regulations, you can still catch a good amount of them. All these fish are pretty large and good eating. My favorite is the redfish-I did spearfishing. Anyway, he says that they are feeding on the green minnows, so there is plenty to catch. Also try fishing the bridges too.

  5. edmund Post author

    pretty much everything is biting then
    one of your best bet for catching a bigger variety of fishing would be using rapala x rap slashbaits
    everything bites them
    if your off you kayak then a really good thing to do would be to troll these xraps you will catch a s*** load of fish

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