Fishing was lights out before the cold front passed through. Temperatures are expected to warm up quickly so I expect fishing to continue to be excellent with no slow down.

Normally this time of year I would say to organize your fishing tackle and boat repairs and get them done before the fishing picks up. It looks like we are already there. If you have put off maintenance and tackle purchases better get moving or you will be missing out on some good fishing.

Snook have been tearing it up at Weedon Island, Double Branch and Rocky Creek. If you can find white bait use it. Head hooked shrimp on a jig head will also work well.

Mastry Tackle reports good speckled trout and redfish action at Pinellas Point. Weedless gold spoons are doing the job on the reds and soft plastics in darker colors, bounced along the bottom are scoring with trout.

Capt. Billy Miller is still tearing up the pompano. Passa Grille Pass was the spot this week. Miller likes a tandem pompano jig set up with teaser flys added. On a couple of trips in the pass, baby Spanish mackerel, 10-12 inches were so thick pompano had no time to find the jig before a mackerel had it.

Miller also reports silver trout are real thick off Redington Beach with catches in the 100-200 fish range common.

The Skyway fishing piers report the mackerel are back. Lots of Spanish came over the rail for anglers using silver spoons and Gotcha plugs. Blue fish and big silver trout are also being caught using fresh cut bait on the bottom. Lots of bait is at the piers.

The Port Tampa, Bahia Beach and Port Manatee reefs are solid with sheepshead. Live shrimp and fiddlers crabs are the best baits for the spawning fish.