TampaBayFish

Great Florida Lobstering 2019

2019-09-03T09:49:00.001-05:00

Our annual Florida Lobster Trip to Cudjoe Key was a great time as always.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f669IP7ICRM
Florida Lobster are pretty fun to catch and I mounted My GoPro to my Net which I wasn't too sure would work out well but after I got the videos back I could see it worked perfect.

American Red Snapper Season starts today!

2017-06-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

3 days, June 1-3rd.

Looks like we will be out on Saturday.

https://www.theonlinefisherman.com/red-snapper/10-red-snapper-tips

Hope to have some pics to show.

Fishing is Heating up

2016-04-14T08:48:00.002-05:00

I've had some web hosting troubles but things have been corrected and it looks promising out on the water. Things have been reported to be heating up. My buddy was out the other morning and literally 5 minutes after putting his kayak in the water he was hooked up with a nice redfish. It seems they are sitting in the shallows and haunting some of the creek edges. I have also moved and live up near Pasco so my information may target some new areas. Look for new reports soon.

Scalloping off BAYPORT

2014-07-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

We headed out of Hernando Beach Boat Ramp, the plan was to take two Jetskis from there and one boat from Anclote Marina. We headed out and met up south of the Hernando Channel. Once we met up we started looking for grass flats to find the scallops. We ended up driving north until we were about 2 miles NW of the Bayport Channel tripod. Once there we found all the boats and nice grass flats. The early morning storms were a little threatening BUT it all worked out quite well. The water was about 8-9ft deep and the scallops were pretty plentiful. We were finding 3-4 each time we went down. by the end of the day we had 2 pints per ski and were ready to head back. No Jelly fish anywhere to be seen and enouhg grass flats that we could have stayed for a lot longer than we did. Looks like a good spot and not too far away.

Key West Lobster - Lobster Fest 2013

2013-08-12T19:49:00.003-05:00

We headed down to Lobster Fest in Key West for the opening weekend of Lobster Season. The first thing we did was search for where to "Snorkel for Lobster in Key West" we had very few hits and searched for any information on where to go. Someplace close to shore, someplace that may have lobster. We weren't expecting much since we were new to lobstering and weren't really sure if we would catch ANY at all. We rented a boat from Spencer's Boat yard and for a very reasonable price we have a boat that could hold 12 people even though we only had 7 it made it quite comfortable. The cool thing is we did find a few places to go right in the local area and not far away so we wouldn't burn much gas and would still have a chance to Snorkel and find Lobster. It was kinda rainy and cloudy but we had some sun which helped with the water clarity.

As you can see from the map that we only tried one area but we are sure there are many more locations and if you look at a GOOGLE MAPS satellite image and look at these locations you can see how the ledges look on the map and can possibly find many more.

I know this is a very simple post BUT If I would have had this info it may have helped US tremendously. The ledge is literally a square that was dredged and is now a ledge that looks very prominent. We saw many lobster holes as well as other fish, octopus and Barracuda, including Goliath Grouper and Lobsters. I believe this spot holds a lot of lobster but during the sportsman's mini season it is probably hit pretty hard.

Make sure you have your license, your dive flag, measuring device and a tickle stick. Good luck and I hope this helps. I posted this same post on my other blog.

Fishing Clearwater

2013-07-24T05:30:00.000-05:00

We had heard that there is good fishing on low tide near the Clearwater
Bridge. We decided to head out and test the waters. We got to the site
after maneuvering through the traffic to get there and parked at the
little parking area just on the west side of the bridge on the south
side of the road. It worked out to be a good spot to park and launch the
kayaks. It was a little muddy and we had to drag them a little farther
than normal but all in all a good place to launch. The first thing to
note is all the boat traffic that hits this channel. We headed straight
across and to the island area right across from where we launched. The
tide was low and we could see the drop off and the grass near the island
was exposed. But we were able to troll back and forth along the drop off
and cast some top waters and jigs going from deep to shallow. Initially
I tried a few different style gulps and had a few nice strikes but
nothing aggressive enough to hook up. Then I noticed that there was
quite a bit of commotion on the top with schools of bait and fish
swimming through them feeding. I switched over to top water and that
seemed to do the trick. The fish started biting and after a few hook ups
my buddy landed a Trout, Redfish and Snook. The trout and redfish were
keeper size and the Snook, of course we let go.
We will be heading back here in the near future and trying it
out again. It may be a little better to try this spot during the week
when there isn't as much boat traffic.

Big Redfish - Spring is Hot

2013-04-27T19:05:00.002-05:00

Well Spring fishing seems to be really picking up. Here is Tim with a huge Red.

I havent been able to get out on the water much my Job has kept me on the road However I do know that the fishing has really been good so far this spring.

Florida Middle Grounds 27 July 2012

2012-08-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

We hadn't been on the weekend trip out of Hubbards Marina in so long it was almost like we had forgotten how much fun it could be. We finally decided to get it together and make a trip. One of the things we needed was the inside cabins, It makes for a more comfortable trip and in the hot summer days it truly keeps you from passing out in the heat. The 39 Hour trip is just that a trip that truly puts you on the fish and makes you want more...But your hands are cut up your arms are wore out and your tackle has taken a beating so by the end you need to go home to recover. WE left the dock at 3:00pm on the big Friendly Fisherman and we head out. We tied leaders and rigs until about 9pm then woke up when the Captain said we are getting ready to line up on the first spot.

Tim's Gag Grouper

It was 1:12 am and hopefully that little sleep was enough to last until we stopped fishing at 7:30pm the next night. The good thing was we immediately started catching fish. Nice Mangrove Snappers and literally we never stopped catching fish EXCEPT in between anchor runs for Captain Mark to put us right back on another great spot. When he said Mangroves he was right, when he said Grouper he was right. The only thing better would have been to have a School of Mahi show up....

Then they did. The three of us Me, Tim and Steve had our two day limit of Snapper already and some other very nice Grouper, Bar Jacks and BIG Porgies. One of the best trips we've ever been on.

and this video taken by Mr. Bob Harbison really captured the essence of the Trip. I cannot do justice to his write-up but I have to Thank Bob for his great coverage of our entire trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWK5G4HmO70&feature=plcp

Fishing Report from Website

2012-07-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

Joshua Taylor from "SaltyScales.com" www.saltyscales.com sent this fishing report.
"The fishing has been epic in the Tampa Bay with the big linesider reds and snook cooperating on all levels of the tide. The best action has been on the flood tides around the new and full moon, fishing the Southshore with artificial, live and cut baits. Early am try live bait or top water, as the sun rises switch to cut bait. The water heats up in the middle of the day and the fish become lethargic. Look for deep cuts in the mangroves and try and find areas with minimal boat traffic. Lord knows that the fish are extremely pressured. We have been doing really well with the Zara puppy early. For my complete report please be sure to visit www.saltyscales.com."
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Thanks Joshua I know what your talking about the past two weekends have been great we have been hitting the flats in the kayak and finding many Reds and Lots of Snook wanting to be caught. Early in the morning has been key and we have been out before sunup and off the water before 10am.

Early Sunday on the kayaks

2012-07-09T05:44:00.001-05:00

Hit the water before sunup, great calm water and some good early top water action. Just before the sun came up we had two nice fish. One 28 in Snook, and a nice keeper 26 in Redfish. Both on top water, the rest of the day want as eventful, a few small trout, and a jack creval.

Inner Coastal Fishing

2012-06-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

I've been out of the country on a vacation to Germany and Italy and finally made it out fishing. It truly is nice to have such a great place right in our back yard.
Went out on last Sunday, Memorial Day Weekend and thought it might not be too bad with the storm staying well North. The trout were biting and so were all the other fish, even a small 18 inch Grouper decided to bite my jig with a live shrimp on it. Also we never got pictures but we caught a Ladyfish that was the "Ladyfish that ate Tokyo" it had to be about 10 punds and 30 inches long. We at first thought it was a Big Bluefish, then maybe a small Tarpon but sure enough when we got it beside the boat it was a HUGE Lady fish. However the excitement of the day was the Grouper. IN about 12 foot of water and on a 1/8thoz jighead with a live shrimp.

$13,000 Fishing Tournament Next Weekend

2012-04-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

21st Annual Saltwater Fishing Tournament
May 5, 2012

There is a very large fishing tournament happening on May 5th, That is next weekend. Here is the Article I found talking about it
http://www.examiner.com/article/13-000-inshore-fishing-tournament

and here is the website for the Tournament.

http://www.optimistclubperryfl.com/

Fishing Report from Capt. Chris Haught of Inshore Charters

2012-04-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

Captain Chris Haught of http://www.inshorecharters.com submitted this report to the web site.

"Fishing in and around Tampa Bay has been unbelievable lately. We’ve been fishing mullet schools with live and cut bait for redfish in lower Tampa Bay having good success on the higher tides.

Snook have been on the flats near the structures and potholes eating scaled sardines, large threadfins, and pinfish. King mackerel have been on the beaches when the wind is cooperative out of the east and the water clarity is good. Anchoring up over hard bottom areas and putting out a spread of live baits on the surface and some live and dead bait on knocker rigs has produced kings, Spanish, bonito, key west grunt, red grouper, gag grouper, flounder, mangrove snapper, and more. Speaking of beach fishing, the flounder bite this year off the beaches has been stellar. Many of the flounder have been really nice sized compared to the usual size we see here.

My Spanish mackerel fishing has mostly been inside the bay so far because of the number of fish hanging near the schools of threadfins. I’m pretty much using live bait on the good tides and cut strips of bait on the slower tides. We’ve been hitting the plus sized seatrout in the real skinny water on live bait, cut bait, and artificials and the smaller fish have been more plentiful in the 3-6 ft. grass flat areas eating the same things.

Those deeper grass areas are also holding nice bluefish, ladyfish, jacks and more to bend the rod. We’ve been catching plenty of cobia so far but most have been on the small side with not many bigger ones yet. The tarpon are in their normal hangouts and have little traffic compared to May/June so now is the perfect time to target the silver king.

The sharks are also making an appearance inside the bay on the flats, the edge of the shipping channel and near the passes which make for an exciting battle on light tackle."

Captain Chris Haught
Tampa Bay Florida Fishing Guide
http://www.inshorecharters.com
chris@inshorecharters.com
727-420-4429

TampaBayFish.com - Weekend Fishing Report

2012-04-20T09:22:00.000-05:00

TampaBayFish.com Weekend Fishing Report. Saturday and Sunday are not suppose to be the best weather days. If your going fishing there may be some good chances on Sunday, watch for heavy rains and winds to possibly shut the fish down.

Weather UPDATE: Thunderstorms Saturday with the chance of rain going way down Sunday. It seems like a dip in the temperatures on Sunday but only to 79 so it should be excellent fishing all weekend long.

RADAR LINK

FORECAST LINK
SATURDAY:
high 80-83 70% chance of Rain
low 59-62
NE WINDS 10-15mph
SUNDAY:
high 73-78 60% isolated chance of Rain
low 64-66
N WINDS 10-15mph

Fishing Report: Look for Fishing to be good if you can get to protected waters and watch for the rain and winds.

FISH Redfish are hitting topwaters and trout are hitting popping corks with live or plastic shrimp.
Spanish Mackerel and Kingfish are making strong appearances. The Kings seem to be running strong out over the close wrecks and off the beaches and the Spanish Macks should be all over the Bay.

Any Florida Fishing Reports or Tampa Area Specific Fishing Reports are welcome please submit comments or other information here and maybe we can help others catch fish too.

Spoons that I have caught Redfish and Snook on

2012-04-15T08:21:00.001-05:00

This is another part of my favorite Lures section these are some of the Gold Spoons that have produced well for me over the years I have caught Trout, Redfish and Snook on every one of these Lures. The gold spoon with the small red spinner in the back seems to outproduce the plain gold spoon for some reason.

Redfish Lures

Tampa Fishing Report from Capt. Rick Reddick of Tampa Fishing Charters

2012-04-12T11:53:00.001-05:00

Capt. Rick Reddick submitted this report. Visit Tampa Fishing Charters for More info:
April 11, 2012 - Tampa Fishing Charters

Wow what an awesome spring mackerel run we are having. While slow trolling over artificial reefs and other live bottom areas we have barely been able to keep our baits in the water. We have had at least three Kingfish each day and around ten Spanish mackerel. Not to mention all “the ones that got away”.

Obviously we did not catch these two kings in front of this dock, but it was time to take pictures for my happy clients and they did not mind the location. Catching bait has been pretty easy and quick. I am very thankful for the bait we have around and the kings and Spanish love them. While slow trolling it is not uncommon to get double knock downs and we have had at least one on each trip.

When the fishing is this hot, it does not take long to get a large catch like these two professional junior anglers achieved. We should have another month of this awesome mackerel run. Many other species of fish are biting very well this spring:

It has been a pleasure to live and fish in Florida for my whole life, but the months of March and April definitely exemplifies why Florida is the fishing capital of the world. Snook, red fish, trout and grouper have all been caught on recent trips.

In contrast to the previous two springs, bait is easy to find and catch. This mild winter has allowed our fishery the chance to recover a bit, and God knows we need it. While fishing out of Tarpon Springs the past week, we caught this black grouper by free lining a scaled sardine in an edge.

An edge is place were two current flows meet to form a water barrier, that is, two rips moving in different directions. Add a whirlpool effect and you have an Eddie. On the next day’s trip, we caught this snook immediately after leaving the dock:

This happy client had never caught a fish before in his 85 years:

He caught many fish that date.

Here is a picture of a gag we caught while slow trolling for kings:

Fishing for the next few months will be superb, so get out on the water and catch them up!

Captain Rick Reddick
Tampa Fishing Charters |Tampa Fishing Guides
http://www.captainrickreddick.com/
info@captainrickreddick.com
813-787-0249
Tampa Fishing Charters | Tampa Fishing Guides

FREE FISHING Days for 2012

2012-04-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

The FWC has two Saltwater Free Fishing days scheduled this year there are Freshwater fishing days as well listed. This is the myfwc.org website that has the announcement. myfwc website announcement.

June 2 (saltwater) This is the First Day of Red Snapper Season in the Gulf.
Sept. 1 (saltwater) Labor Day weekend is always a busy fishing time and vacation time in Florida so free fishing fits right in.

for Freshwater the dates are

April 7 (freshwater) This is past sorry I was looking for the info and it just happens I found it just after the dates.
June 9 (freshwater) This is the opposite weekend of the saltwater free fishing day.

2012-04-06T09:24:00.001-05:00

TampaBayFish.com Weekend Fishing Report. The wind on Saturday may be a little high but Sunday will be very nice even if the temp drops a little. Flats are working up a lot of action, and the beaches will be heating up shortly. BAIT is everywhere and the schools of mullet are holding some Redfish.

Weather UPDATE: Scattered Thunderstorms Saturday with the chance of rain going way down Sunday. It seems like a dip in the temperatures on Sunday but only to 79 so it should be excellent fishing all weekend long.

RADAR LINK

FORECAST LINK

SATURDAY:
high 80-83 30% chance of Rain
low 59-62
NE WINDS 15-20mph
SUNDAY:
high 79-82 30% isolated chance of Rain
low 64-66
N WINDS 5-10mph

Fishing Report: The fishing should be excellent in a lot of places around Tampa and the waters North and South.

FISH Typical patterns for spring are expected for Redfish, Snook and Trout. Redfish seem to be very active on the flats. Trout are hitting a lot of baits on all the deeper grass flats.
Spanish Mackerel and Kingfish are making strong appearances. The Kings seem to be running strong out over the close wrecks and off the beaches and the Spanish Macks should be all over the Bay.

Any Florida Fishing Reports or Tampa Area Specific Fishing Reports are welcome please submit comments or other information here and maybe we can help others catch fish too.

Tampa Bay Fishing Report from Web Site

2012-04-03T14:31:00.002-05:00

I received this report from the web site. Thanks for submitting this report and I hope your info can help someone else catch fish. The fishing date was 3/25/2012

"I went wading off of Bayshore Blvd in Tampa, FL. We were out about 300yds off the shore during high tide and we caught three speckled trout ranging from the smallest 17", the middle was 22" and the largest one was 27 1/2" inches. They were all caught on live shrimp. We had to weed through some of the smaller ones before the bigger ones started to hit."

Capt. Rick Reddick of Tampa Fishing Charters posted this on his site

2012-03-29T13:43:00.001-05:00

TAMPA FISHING CHARTERS
The Mackerel are everywhere and the bite is Spectacular. The wrecks just off shore and the live bottom areas are his spots to target the fish. read more about it here at his website.
http://www.captainrickreddick.com/2012/03/28/tampa-bay-mackerel-bite-spectacular/

Saturday Fishiing Philippe Park

2012-03-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

It was a windy afternoon (4:30pm), there was a minor front moving in and it was suppose to bring rain Sunday so the winds were up a little over 15knts. They were out of the southwest and we thought that Philippe Park (Map Link) might be a good protected area. As you can see from the picture the waves were a little large for Kayaks, But they weren't bad enough to keep us off the water and the water was very warm.

It looked a little nicer from shore than it actually was. We launched right from one of the pull overs towards the south end of the park. and fished from creek mouth south about 200-300 yards. The mangroves were nicely covered with water.

Tim caught the first fish of the day a nice 18" Redfish. The water was pushed way up and we hit the place right at high tide and the mangroves were in the water and the treeline was flooded. With the murky water conditions we though that it might be best to use White Soft Jigs. I used a New Penny color and Tim was using solid white.

We caught a few more fish a couple of trout and some Ladyfish and as you can see Tim's catches of Redfish were right up in the Mangrove shallows. the water was about 2ft deep here and is normally less than 6 inches.
The wind isn't always your enemy as a matter of fact a nice South wind is a great thing in the upper Tampa Bay area where the water can be pushed into places that it normally isn't and the fish are there too.

TampaBayFish.com Weekend Fishing report

2012-03-23T09:42:00.002-05:00

TampaBayFish.com Weekend Fishing Report. This weekend is suppose to be excellent weather, warmer than usual including the water temperature being at levels near the normal MAY timeframe. This will lead to fish being very active and we should see a definite increase in Spanish Mackerel activity in the bay and along the beaches and the Kingfish run should be going on strong this weekend.

Weather UPDATE: Excellent weather Until Sunday with another little rain storm in scattered areas. It seems like a dip in the temperatures on Sunday but only to 79 so it should be excellent fishing all weekend long.

Submitted Report from the Website: "caught a twenty one inch and 19 inch red off of live bait while tide was going out at 4 o'clock pm." Not sure of the Exact Location but they are out there.

RADAR LINK

FORECAST LINK

SATURDAY:
high 83-85 20% chance of Rain
low 69-71
SW WINDS 10-14mph
SUNDAY:
high 79-81 30% isolated chance of Rain
low 51-53
W WINDS 8-11mph

Fishing Report: Look for both days to be good fishing this weekend the winds may keep a lot of people off the water but if the wind is from the south like expected look for the upper creeks and shallow areas to hold more fish due to the NEW water being pushed back into those areas.

FISH Typical patterns for spring are expected for Redfish, Snook and Trout.
Spanish Mackerel and Kingfish are making strong appearances. Look for Kings out over the close wrecks and off the beaches and the Spanish Macks should be all over the Bay.

Any Florida Fishing Reports or Tampa Area Specific Fishing Reports are welcome please submit comments or other information here and maybe we can help others catch fish too.

Ozello Shrimper - New Product

2012-03-13T06:36:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I have went shrimping in Tampa Bay and have had Great luck the guy who taught me had a nice shrimp catching tool bought from Ozello Shrimper online. The tool worked amazing and he always caught more shrimp than me. NOW The Ozello Shrimper has redesigned the product and made it even better. Here is the Link to his site. If you truly want to catch some Shrimp in Tampa you should get one of these they are amazing. Also if you haven't read my post on "Finding Shrimp in Tampa bay" here is the Link again.
Also I get nothing out of this other than knowing a great product when I see one and if it helps someone to catch more Shrimp or to Catch more fish than you know that is what my site is all about anyway.

Update to Redfish and Trout Regulation Changes

2012-03-06T07:56:00.000-05:00

Image is for reference and accuracy purposes.

My good fishing buddy Tim let me know that the fishing area designated as the Northwest region includes all of the water NORTH of the Howard Park Causeway. This is actually good news for those fishing that area. It means that two Redfish per person or 6 Per vessel can be kept if you are on the North Side of Howard Park Cause way. See the picture which comes straight from the Florida Wildlife Commission Website which shows the demarcation line between North and South regions. To read more see the new release here.

New Charter Captain Listed on TampaBayFish.com

2012-03-05T14:19:00.005-05:00

On my Local Links Page I have many Local Charter Captains that are more than willing to help you find fish and provide you with a great fishing experience. Whether your a local wanting to learn more or visiting from out of state be sure to check them out if your in the market for a Florida Fishing Guide.

Capt. Chris Haught is a Florida native, born and raised in the Tampa Bay, Florida area fishing these waters as a boy in search of the same species he now guides others to. Capt. Chris is very knowledgeable of his home waters and knows the surroundings and conditions it takes to make a fantastic Florida charter fishing adventure.
As a licensed and insured guide, safe boating habits are practiced at all times.
For the fishing adventure of a lifetime Capt. Chris will customize the trip to your needs just complete the form below (call or email is fine also) for information regarding Tampa Bay, Florida fishing charters. If you are on a business trip or don't have a fishing partner please contact Capt. Chris for special single angler rates. We'll look forward to hearing from you!!

Capt. Chris Haught
Home: 727-773-0299
Cellular: 727-420-4429
chris@inshorecharters.com