Tampa Grouper Fishing

Hit the water at around 6am, loaded up with some bait and headed offshore to find some Snapper and Grouper. The Wave action was a little rough on the way out and ended up staying rough all day long. We hit the Rube Allyn first and ended up landing a couple Mangroves and plenty of small reds and grunts. We hooked into a Goliath and on the snapper pole it was not a long hook up. After a few larger fish broke us off on the rocks we headed to the vets reef. We landed the Grouper in the picture and lost a few more larger grouper to the rocks but all in all a good day of fishing. It seems the Chum is what brought in the larger grouper and each time we dropped a chum block down we hooked up with the Larger ones.

Great Summertime action

The trout on the flats are outstanding right now. They seem to be hitting just about anything you throw to them. The morning bait schools are alive and well and the trout are hanging around the edges looking for that easy meal. Top water is one of the most exciting and fun things to do and watching those trout explode on your bait is a real fun time. My favorite is a "bagleys jumping finger mullet" Silver or Gold and I cast it as far as I can on my 20lb braid and (18")17lb flouro leader once it hits I give it one violent jerk that makes it jump about 1-2ft after about two or three jerks you should have the attention of any nearby trout. After about 2-3 casts in the same spot you should have made them mad enough to hit it, and I mean hit it they seem to be jumping all the way out of the water chasing it. The picture above is the 24 incher that seemed to be one of the ones I made mad yesterday morning.

Fishing Report - Post 4th

Despite the rain coming down all weekend I was able to hit the beach early before sunrise for about 2 hrs on Saturday Morning before the Rain set in again. I caught 2, 20" snook and 4, 17" spanish mackerel that were cruising the beach. I was on the beach when it was Dark and was getting NO hits then as soon as the sun gave me enough light to see the gree/blue of the water the fish started hitting. Just about every hit was a strike and I believe many were schooled Spanish Macks running the beaches. I was broke off a few times just from the teeth. Also throughout the day I was able to fish the beach and land a few more Macks. The Snook were there but no real bites and there were no Pompano to be had or at least I didn't catch any. I will be trying to get back out this coming weekend and test the Redfish bite But we'll see how that goes with the Rain continuing all week.

July 4th Fishing Report

If you have time to Break Away this weekend and you can escape the rain. You should find some good fishing. The best part is that even though the weather has been typically hot during the middle of the day the Morning and Evening Bites have ben excellent. The fishing itself has been better than ever. Off some of the closer wrecks I have heard they are catching some keep sized Mangrove Snappers and even in the bay near the shipping channel there is a nice bite going on. So get out on the water and give it a try. I plan to be at Venice Beach, Florida for the Weekend. I am of course taking poles along and will be trying my luck at Pompano off the beach. Also the morning Snook Bite might be a good thing to do bright and early. I will post pics if I really get into em.