Memorial Day Weekend Outlook Bright on Upper Manatee River

Mark Stukey from Rays Canoe Hideaway said anglers who are coming out for Memorial Day weekend should enjoy some great fishing action on a variety of species on the Upper Manatee River.

“I've got reservations coming in left and right,” Stukey said. "There's a youth hockey team of 10 coming down here too.”

Campers who start feeling the summer-like heat tend to simply jump in the river and swim the heat away.

And the fishing? Stukey said anglers have brought back some big bass, for starters. “One group came back here with seven last week,” he said, “and there wasn't one under 2 pounds.”

He said there have been a lot of tarpon sightings, including a report of one estimated at 5 pounds that was swimming over a 27-foot hole east of the hideaway. Mullet are thick there, which likely is one of the reasons for the numerous tarpon reports.

Redfish are scattered and biting, he said, anglers have been bringing back catfish at big as 15 pounds. Snook are an option as well.

“They're catching about everything up here,” he said. “But nobody's getting any jack crevalle.”

A time-honored method of fishing the river is putting chunks of uncooked saltwater shrimp at least a couple feet under a cork (depending on the water depth) and, using light lines (no more than 10-pound test) and small hooks (Nos. 8 to 12), fish the shade of overhanging structures on the shorelines. This technique gives the angler a chance at a variety of the freshwater and saltwater species that mill these waters.