Capt. Ray Markham guided me and the “Hooked on Fishing” film crew to a great catch of speckled trout in Terra Ceia Bay this past week. Markham was using a black back and silver side Mirrolure Top Pup and I was using my favorite red head, chartreuse back and silver side She Dog.

These are different shaped, different colored and different rattling top water lures and it did not matter to the trout that day. Markham and I both had equally hot action and the strikes were very aggressive and the fish fought extremely hard.

Our best action was from first light to about 9 am over the grassy areas in 3-4 feet. The wind put a slight ripple on the water and the tide was incoming.

The Skyway fishing piers report a few Spanish mackerel taking spoons and cut green backs and scattered pompano hitting yellow jigs with pink teaser flys.

Jake Sherrick, Bill Samson and Bill Caldwell fishing south of the Egmont ship channel limited out on keeper gag grouper and released many more. Sherrick also landed a 19 pound kingfish using a live cigar minnow for bait.

A few tarpon have showed up at the Skyway and Egmont Key. Capt. Mac Gregory and Capt. Billy Miller report good action on tarpon using live green backs and small crabs. Both Gregory and Miller say it is hard to land a tarpon without it being eaten by ravaging packs of big bull sharks. Bull sharks are also having their way with tarpon in Boca Grande Pass and Charlotte Harbor.