NEW FEATURES for TampaBayFish.com (SUBMIT YOUR OWN FISHING REPORT, UPDATED MOBILE Web Site.)

I've added a new feature to the web site. SUBMIT YOUR FISHING REPORT. I know sometimes you don't have one and you would like to come here and see what has been posted BUT if you do it is nice to see "regular" fisherman sharing their fishing stories. It's real simple and easy click the link to submit a report and just say what you caught and where. This way if people want to look back through this BLOG and see when something was biting it makes it easier and a better resource for us all.

Here is how it works. Go to my "Submit a Fishing Report" site and fill out the form. Once it is submitted I will transfer the information to this BLOG and submit it for everyone to see. I can include LINKS to your Web Site, pictures and any other information you would like as long as it meets the "BLOGGER" Terms of Service. SO go fishing and come back and tell us about it. http://www.tampabayfish.com/TBF-Blog_entry.htm Please include all information you would like to on yourself or your Business to ENSURE I provide the correct Credit to the Resource....If you want to include a Picture send it in an e-mail to tampabayfish@gmail.com

Hey ever thought about just advertising your BUSINESS by Sponsoring a Weekly fishing report. Easy enough! Just enter your Business NAME and your WEB SITE URL as the source of the report and its done and it's FREE.

ALSO I updated the MOBILE WEB Site to be more friendly for iPhone and Android based Touch screen Users with a better Bright sunlight COLOR Scheme. Check out local Radar, Weather Reports, And FIshing Regulations. Thanks again and Tight Lines!

NEW Charter Captain Added to "LOCAL RESOURCES"

I wanted to let everyone know that I have another Charter Captain that is listed in the LOCAL RESOURCES section of my site. Capt. Rob Salimbene of MangroveMan.com he specializes in light tackle and fly fishing covering the entire Tampa Bay area for Snook, Redfish, Seatrout, Tarpon, Cobia, Tripletail, Shark and more! He fishes out of a fully rigged 20' Maverick Flats boat and is ready to go get 'em when you are. 1-3 fisherman is ideal and he has special rates for Fly Fishing. Contact him at 863-899-0984 or visit his web site for more info. Thanks Capt. and Tight Lines.

Tampa Redfish

Hit the water both days over the weekend and found the redfish up on the flats around 10:30am. Funny thing we saw lots of fish and caught quite a few Trout but the Redfish seemed to be sleeping in. They showed up about the time we were ready to leave the water. Literally on my last cast I landed an 18" Redfish and my buddy caught his about 15 minutes before that both were caught around 10:45am near Indian Key by Ft. Desoto. My hotspots map will have the exact location later today. The Trout however were everywhere from sun up until we left and we landed a few up to 20" and one at 22".

Easter Morning was more of the same but this time I headed towards the north west side of the Dunedin causeway. Made the morning sunrise and headed towards the small spoils just to the east of Honeymoon. However NOTHING seemed to be biting on the flats and everything was happening along the Drop off that had the markers indicating NO MOTORS. This went from about 8-10ft to 1.5ft in a hurry and all along this drop off was fish, Trout, Sharks and one 18" Black Drum that I was going to keep but decided to release him.

NEW Fishing Report from Capt. Rob Salimbene Mangrove Man Charters www.mangroveman.com

Capt. Rob, reports.
Date: 23-24 April 2011 from http://www.mangroveman.com/

What is Biting: Redfish have really turned on this past week and should begin schooling up in large numbers within the next few weeks. I have been targeting reds around oyster bars and deep mangrove shorelines during the higher tide stages. The last two hours of the incoming tide and the first two hours of the outgoing tide have been producing very well. Most of the fish have come on cutbait, with fresh cut threadfin hearing being the best by far, however live shrimp or greenbacks have also been catching their fare share.

Snook have also continued to improve this past week. I have been fishing the south shore of Tampa Bay, basically from Miguel Bay (MAP LINK) to the Little Manatee River working the outside grass flats and passes. Find moving water with a deeper mangrove edge and some baitfish and Snook are bound to be in the surrounding area. The best bait has been live greenbacks, but live shrimp or the Mirrolure Mirrodine in the greenback color will also trigger strikes.

Lastly, Spanish Mackeral are swarming the entire bay area. This past weekend while Tarpon fishing, we were having difficulty keeping baits in the water due to the Spanish Mackeral that were tearing our baits and leaders to shreds. I like to target Mackeral with a live greenback rigged on a No.1 long shank hook connected to 40lb. fluorocarbon leader. Although you will get some bite-offs, I think you definitely get more bites and catch more fish with heavy flourocarbon leader rather than wire. The fish we have been catching are averaging 18 to 20 inches and we have been catching 20 to 30 per trip.

Source: Captain Rob Salimbene Mangrove Man Charters http://www.mangroveman.com/

Easter WEEKEND Fishing Report

Date: 23-24 April 2011

What is Biting: It looks like the weather is going to be perfect this weekend to hit the water and find some Redfish and Trout on many of the local FLATS. I myself plan to head to the Ft. Desoto Treasure Island area and hit the flats along west side of the 275 highway just prior to the skyway toll. The Redfish have been schooled up with the mullet along many of the flats and have been caught by casting in behind the schools of mullet. My bait of choice has been a GULP Shrimp in the New Penny color. But top waters are enticing them to Strike as well and can land you some nice Trout bites. Spanish Mackerel have been all over the bay and trolling for them seems to work very well as does hanging out near the bridges and casting the currents. A nice flashing jig will work if you twitch it fast enough.

As for offshore and near the skyway in the Egmont channel and along the shipping channel I've heard the Grouper bite has been good and the Mangrove Snapper Bite has been good. I've even heard of Tarpon sightings already in the area.

Source: TampaBayFish.com (Trevor)

Fishing Report from http://www.hardcorfishingcharter.com

Date: 22 April, 2011
Whats Biting: Capt. JP, reports. "The bait has shown up on most of the flats between the St.pete Pier and the Howard Franklin bridge. They have a been a little spooky so try and stand where the bait cant see you. Redfish and Snook have been on fire around the St.Pete airport. Throwing out some chummers has helped getting the bite turned on. Grouper has also been on fire fishing pinfish in the channel around the Skyway bridge. You will probably catch quite a few shorts but the big ones are down there!!! If you have any questions feel free to visit my website at http://www.hardcorefishingcharters.com/ and send me an email.

Tight Lines,

Captain JP"

NEW Charter Captain Added to "LOCAL RESOURCES"

I just wanted to inform everyone of a NEW Captain that I have added to the Local Resources Page. His name is Capt. JP and he is the owner of HARDCORE FISHING CHARTERS. You can visit his website at http://www.hardcorefishingcharter.com/. He fishes all of the Tampa Bay Area and specializes in Shallow Water Fishing. He uses top of the line G Loomis, tackle and fishes out of a 24 ft, Ranger Flats boat that can accomodate up to 5 but is best fished with 2-3. If your into "Catching" he is willing to make that happen. Contact him at 813-380-3443 or visit his web site for more info. Thanks Capt. and Tight Lines.

CrankBaits and Top Waters that I like to catch fish in the Tampa Area

This is another part of my favorite Lures section, these are some of the Crankbaits and Top Waters that have produced well for me over the years I have caught Trout, Redfish and Snook on everyone of these Lures. The Jumping finger Mullet seems to be my favorite, but all are very good additions to any tackle box.

Trout, Redfish and Snook Crankbaits and Topwater

New Fish added to Hot Spot Map.

Based on my past few outings and fish that I've caught I've updated the Hot Spot Map with Fish and locations. Check out the old and new locations here.

Jigs and Swim Baits that I like to catch fish in the Tampa Area

Ever get on the water and think man I have all my favorite baits that I use everytime I'm out, I wonder if they will bite on something different. WELL thats when I just strat going through lures, jigs, cranks and everything in my box to see if something else works. The best time to do this is when the fish are really biting and your arms are getting tired from reeling em in. This way you know they are biting and yeah it may be that they are hitting anything BUT you may be able to narrow down WHAT they WON'T hit. Sometimes that can be useful too. Because if they won't hit something when they are really biting then they definitly won't hit it when they AREN'T biting. Here are a few of the Swim Baits I like to use and have caught many trout on.


SwimBaits and Jig Heads (Trout, Redfish and Snook)

Saturday and Sunday

Hit the water both days before sunrise. The water was perfect and the fishing was excellent. Dunedin/Caladesi Saturday was alive with fish. Redfish were everywhere except on my hook. Still working on finding that perfect bait for redfish. Caught plenty of trout though and many keepers but I'm not the biggest fan of Trout so I released em all. Sunday same thing except I headed down towards Ft. Desoto and Turtle Key area, even hooked a few redfish but I don't think I set my hook good enough so had them on long enough to see them and have them spit the hook. Gonna try again next weekend and see if my luck improves. The fishing is great this time of year and we should see only better fishing as this nice spring weather really kicks in. I did talk to a few guys that said they were catching Redfish from the shore on cut bait though so I may have to give that a try.

Tampa Area Fishing Report

I've gotten a lot of comments on what is biting and where so I thought I would put them all down in a report.

The flats all along Tarpon Springs are alive with action. Reds are cruising the flats, Trout are hanging on the grass and Spanish Mackerel are any place there is bait to be had.

The Bay is full of Spanish Macks and the area near Weedon Island is really producing some nice Reds. Christmas Pass is full of Snook Trout and Reds and are typically found on an incoming tide. All the bridges are holding fish and the Lady Fish are thick like mosquitos.

The area all around Ft. Desoto is holding nice reds and trout and taking sinking baits during the day and top waters in the afternoon. Last weeks slow tides will be replaced with faster tides and more aggressive fish this week and weekend.

Grouper in State Waters have been bitting pretty good if you can get your bait down past the small red grouper and the KINGFISH bite has finally turned on and around the wrecks and in Egmont Channel you should find them hanging around.

Tarpon Springs in JUNE (Answer to an allexperts question from Michigan)

June in Tarpon Springs Area. There are a few places that will work great for you during that time of year. SO let me elaborate on a few things, SEASON, SPECIES, AREAS, BAITS/LURES and TACKLE(Rods/reels, etc...), and lastly some TIPS on fishing saltwater.


1. SEASON: Summertime hot. Best fishing times are the Magic hours (The Hour or two just after sunrise and the hour or two just before sunset.) So if your here just vacationing you could be on the water at 0630 and done by about 9am, and you can spend the rest of the day going to the beach or doing whatever. The water will be very warm and the fish will be very active. Fast retrieves, top water and some good jerk baits will do the trick. Remember sunscreen (NOT BULLFROG) even though it is the BEST SUNSCREEN ON THE MARKET. It is also the best fish "DETRACTANT" on the market. A pair of POLARIZED Glasses (These are just great no matter what your doing it makes seeing the shallows and bottom changes that much better.). Last thing be careful in the water on the shore and where you launch oyster beds are like a filed of razors and will tear your feet up.
2. SPECIES: Kayak on the flats and over the grass early can yield SNOOK, REDFISH, TROUT and LADYFISH. That time of year the TARPON will be rolling near Howard Park and Sunset Park and along the deeper water in those areas. You could possibly find a Spanish Mack or two also.
3. AREAS: Tarpon Springs has great flats all along it and there are a few places you can launch from and make things a little better.

• HOWARD PARK is a nice park with an ABUNDANCE of parking along the road on the way out.
• SUNSET PARK is another location that will get you right to the fish. As far as paddling you don't have to go far and I wouldn't try to go to far from shore without knowing the tides and letting someone know where your headed.
• ANCLOTE PARK is a Very Busy boat ramp area but can get you to some nice little flats areas near the south side of the channel heading into the inter coastal.

Paddling is not going to be that difficult watch the tides and don't go super far out, check out some of the local fishing charters for TARPON SPRINGS, TAMPA and other areas to see what their fishing reports say, watch the winds and for Summer time storms especially around evening. The rain is refreshing but the lightning here is famous so be careful. Make sure you have the proper safety equipment (Life Jacket, Whistle(noisemaker) and s few other niceties (small First aid kit, light, knife). Also dress to get wet cause the fish will splash you, and a large brim hat, light long sleeve shirt and Sunglasses. Neck Gators are the thing down here in the summer, their light and you can cover up your neck and it helps. (if your down here look for the light weight ones for saltwater fishing)
4. BAITS/LURES and TACKLE: Small 1/2oz or lighter jig heas with a plastic swim tail work great. Look for Red/White, Chartruese/White. Gold, Silver, Green Metalflake, and any other color that looks bright and flashy. These colors can be the jighead, swim tails and any combo of the two.
If you want to go with live bait (whitebaits will be hard to come by from a kayak but pin fish will be plentiful witha  small hook and a piece of frozen shrimp and a bait bucket you should have enough as needed) Live shrimp are available at just about all bait shops for about $5/dozen depending on size. Red/White popping corks with about 24-30" leader under it with a small 1.0 hook should be good.
TARPON will prefer a pin fish free lined right in front of them BUT will also take a Shrimp and Jigs.
TOP WATER: Zara Spooks, Top Dog, Bagleys Jumping Finger Mullet, some other top water poppers that swim like your walking the dog will work.
LINE: Most fisherman around here will use power pro line or the other equivalents (fireline, spider wire) with Monofilament leaders of up to 6ft in lengther. tied line to line with the less hardware items (swivels, clasps etc..) the better. Use about a 10lb no heavier than 15lb test and the monofilament can be a size heavier than the mainline or lighter depending on your preference and your reel. brown, green and even white or water camo color is the best. If your after a mixed bag of fish use about a 20lb with a 25lb leader and you should be able to handle a large Redifish or Snook.
RODS/REELS: 7'.5" medium action or 7' light action will be best for this type fishing. A heavy Action Rod with 35+lb will be needed if you run across a Tarpon. If your using a Saltwater Reel it will take the saltware beating better and should be washed with Fresh after every encounter with saltwater. Freshwater setups will last your one trip down here even if you wash them they will rust and the salt will eat them up.
5. TIPS: Don't get too excited when that fish is following your lure keep it steady and he will follow. OR throw back to the same spot and try again. Use hook outs and other tools to release, sometimes a thrashing fish will end up hooking you too. Tarpon will run and you need to chase them if you can or they will spool you unless you have heavy Tackle. SNOOK are CLOSED while your here BUT you can catch and release. Pay attention to the SLOT limits when keeping fish the Game Wardens love waiting for you to come back in. IF you have questions while your here ask the Bait shops they are all helpful and don't mind answering questions and telling you where and what is biting.  Search for local fishing site. Google search these Terms ("Tarpon Springs Fishing", "Tampa Fishing", "Tampa Trout Fishing", "Tampa Redfish", "Tampa Snook"

Spring Fishing is Great

Made it out on the water Saturday and Sunday, both days just fantastic weather wise and fishing also. Saturday we hit Sunset park area near Tarpon Springs. The Flats were alive with Big Reds roaming the flats mixed in with the schools of Mullet and The trout were everywhere on the grass and hitting anything that looked interesting. Top water seemed to be there favorit target. Sunday we hit the North East side of Courtney Campbell Causeway and Howard Frankin in the flats that are near the highway. The Trout were intermingled with Thousands of Lady Fish and an occasional Spanish Mack was sprinkled in to the catch. Every Cast using small White or Gold jigs worked the best and each cast was a hook up and you just had to wait to get it to the boat to see what it was. The only reason we stopped was because our arms got tired of reeling in the fish after about 4 hours of fishing.