May 2011 Fishing Report for Clearwater Fl, Saltwater Fishing Report

Our weather in May was fantastic on the flats in Clearwater with summer like conditions. The water temperature was well into the 80’s. My charters were catching lots of trout, redfish, mackerel and blue fish at different locations using live shrimp. Also we were able to entice some snook action outside of Clearwater Pass with live white bait netted up in the mornings.
The following is a few fish catching reports from the Clearwater area.
Don and his family joined me for some serious fishing action. We started up next to the mangroves and caught four redfish around the 16 to 18 inch size. We moved on to the grass flats inside Clearwater bay and located a few dozen nice trout with the biggest at 21 inches. They added mackerel, ladyfish and one angry black tip shark.

Adam came aboard looking for redfish action. We threw artificials in the morning and landed several 18 inch trout. Then we visited a shallow water grass flat and found 5 nice redfish at two different areas. All of these fish were 18 to 20 inches. We relocated to another flat and found Adams biggest redfish, a 29 inch bronze bulldog. See Adams redfish YouTube video here: http://youtu.be/nhZNolxyG7U If the link does not work, copy and paste into browser.

Diane brought her two sons out fishing for their first trip to the Clearwater area. Will and JP started out catching 8 redfish at our first stop up next to the mangroves. We relocated several more times and added trout, ladyfish and Diane’s biggest redfish ever, a 28 ½ inch beauty.

Bruce and son Jeff joined me and wanted to catch a snook. We had some beautiful weather in Clearwater and set out looking for our targeted species.

We started out working some north Pinellas passes at Three Rooker and north Honeymoon Island with no results. Next was Clearwater Pass and Sand Key. There we found 4 hungry snook on the beach. Bruce is showing his 32 incher and Jeff has his 27 inch fish. Both caught another 26 inch fish and the bite shut down.

Next we took off to find redfish and redfish we found. Bruce and Jeff caught 17 redfish from 24 inches to 30 inches. Bruce's big red was 30 inches and Jeff's was 29 ½, all caught on live shrimp under a float.

And last we relocated over a grass flat, looking for trout to finalize their 3 fish grand slam. Both anglers landed trout measuring 16 and 14 inches.
Bruce's slam was 78 total inches and Jeff's was 70 total inches. Great job guys.
They also added some mackerel, ladyfish and a couple of bluefish.

Bud, Marianne and Jessica came out and we headed to our first stop in Clearwater Bay. There they caught trout, mackerel, shark and ladyfish. We moved up into the flats as the tide peaked and found a half dozen redfish. Their biggest was 26 inches.

Tim, Jeff and Andrew came aboard and we staked out on Sand Key beach where the snook action was good. I threw out a few chummers and cast the live white baits into the surf. We saw a few snook and several small tarpon but no takers. We headed inside to the Clearwater Flats. There they caught a load of trout, ladyfish and one mean Bonnet head shark. We threw live shrimp in an area where redfish have previously been caught, but no one was home.

All indications point to June being a continuation of May. Our inshore species are biting and on the prowl. As the water temperature in the bay increases, watching the tides will become more important. An incoming tide will bring moving water over the grass flats and can kick off a bite. Be on the water and be ready.

Capt. Gary Burch
www.allcatchcharters.com
727 458-6335

About the Author:

Captain's Bio: I am a full time inshore and flats fishing guide. I have been fishing the Tampa Bay fishing region, including Clearwater and Dunedin for over forty years. I grew up fishing the local inshore waters for tarpon, snook, redfish and trout. AllCatch Fishing Charters is based on the belief that our customers' needs are of the utmost importance. Having fun is mandatory on my charters.