Captain's Corner: Finding success with trout

What's hot and not: Despite the weather becoming dicey over the past week, there were productive fishing days. I searched for redfish Friday with a sponsor and a couple of his friends. We found them, but they would not cooperate. What did cooperate was a 27½-inch fat sea trout. Trout is becoming more of a presence in the bay as water temperatures hover around 70 degrees. I have heard several reports of awesome trout catches so be prepared.

Bait: Bait is not on the flats yet so bring the artificials. Medium-sized shrimp would not hurt either. Snook are showing up on the deeper mangrove shorelines with good water flow. They are eating medium-sized white baits and responding to the chummers. Over the next few days, look for them on the higher tides. Redfish are showing up mixed in with the mullet schools. Gold spoons (or white) and dark body jigs through the mullet schools will score. These fish are feeding fairly aggressively and are not afraid to chase down bait for a meal.

Tim Whitfield can be reached at (813) 714-0889 or tim@swiftfishcharters.com.