Anna Maria March Fishing Report

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide
Captain Aaron Lowman – March 8, 2017
Redfish, Snook, Trout, Sheepshead

—With all the wind around the Tampa Bay area this week, I’ve been forced to stay inshore. My clients have been catching snook along Anna Maria mangrove shorelines, oyster bars, and channel edges.  We are catching them on free-lined shiners, or under a popping cork. We’ve landed a few nice keeper sized fish, but the majority are sub-slot juveniles. A slot sized snook has every advantage in the fight vs. the angler! About half of big snook hooked, will win the battle and break free somehow.

—We found some nice redfish around residential docks on Longboat Key, as well as areas surrounding oyster beds. A free-lined live pinfish worked best this week. Redfish have big shoulders, and put up one of the most determined battles of all the inshore species. They provide a tough fight around structure like a dock or oyster bed!
—The sea trout bite is definitely starting to warm up. I’ve caught more this week than the past few months. We are finding the majority of these fish on relatively deep grass with clean water and good flow near the Intracoastal Waterway near Anna Maria Island. Live shiners under a popping cork and soft plastic baits on jigs produced best the best trout this week.
—Sheepshead are still making a good show in Tampa Bay and surrounding Gulf of Mexico shallow water structure. They should conclude their spawning event around the moon at the end of the month, and push out, and north again. Until then, I will continue to target them with small live shrimp or crabs on a light rig for anyone looking for some tasty fillets for dinner.