I was wondering if anyone had any tips on getting bait on the flats at Desoto. I usually fish with artificials and never bother wasting my time catching live bait. But lately I have been taking people fishing who have little to no experience and it is much easier to hook a pilchard up instead of a lure. I have a few baits spots farther up the bay that I have been doing real good with, but I have not been to Desoto in some time. Any of you guys have any areas you don't mind sharing that I can fill up my live well pretty quickly. I am taking my wife this Saturday and would rather not spend an hour trying to catch bait. Don't want her to get bored. HAHA

North side of the skyway flats is usually where I go when I'm down that way. A little chum and you will be good to go inside of 10 minutes.

Its at the bridge and the piers. Word is it has been hard to get on the flats.

So just by the bridge pilings then?

They were at the pilings 2 weeks ago...and thick. Haven't been out there since, but I'm sure they're still there. Bring chum and a fast sinking net

Tampaflatsman if you go to either the south or north pier of the skyway usually the last Stalls(the ones closest to the channel) hold a lot of bait. Anchor up current drift back and set your anchor just within in netting range of the bait. I highly recommend anchoring for the baits and not rodeo ( pull up and throw) do to the fast current and plus your will always get scaled sardines if you anchor up and chum. If its to rough out there to get bait anchor off the north skyway fishing pier rest area flat in 3 to 4 feet of water and start chumming there. I have always gotten bait there when the weather is to rough to go out to the piers. make sure to put two anchors out on the flat ( one from the bow and one from the stern ) just to keep your boat from swaying and blowing you off your chum line. I usually chum for 15 to 30 minutes ( depending on how much bait I see in my chum) before I throw my net. Right now I have been throwing a 10' 1/2 mesh just for the faster sink rate on the bait at the piers. I hope this was helpful and leads to you getting more bait.

Never netted bait at the bridge or piers. Do you let the net sink to the bottom or pull it before it's down? Is there debris down there to worry about?
Just got an 8' - 3/8" mesh Bait Buster so i can try the deeper water. I'm going to have to go to Captian David's seminar Thursday!

tknaebel i usually let the net sink all the way to the bottom unless i can visibly see that i have a lot of bait in my net. Also I tend to use a larger net around the bridges and piers due to the fact of the deeper water. Your 8' net may work if the bait is thick enough but I tend to use a 10' net for the faster sink rate. But if your are coming to the seminar Thursday night we will be going over all of this.

I noticed it wasn't at some of the flats spots I used to get it at

It was on the flat by the north Skyway Pier today. Couldn't get it chummed close enough to the boat to net it. I suck at throwing this bigger net by the way! Really need to go to the seminar Thursday.