Big Redfish - Spring is Hot

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.

Fishing Report from Website

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.

WEEKEND FISHING REPORT

TampaBayFish.com  Weekend Fishing Report. It looks like the clouds have moved in and we have a heavy overcast with the threat of rain. Of course Fishing in Florida is always good we can all use a little help finding the fish and knowing what is biting.

Weather UPDATE: Looks like another FRONT is coming through however it is suppose to bring showers Today and Sunday with only scattered around the area. Prepare to get wet if fishing those days but look for the fishing to pretty hot on Saturday and perhaps today.

RADAR LINK

FORECAST LINK




SATURDAY:
high 78
low 66
SUNDAY:
high 69
low 48

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Fishing Report: Saturday looks to be the best day this weekend depending on how fast the front moves in it shouldn't slow the fish down that much since it is just a drop in the temp overnight BUT with the barometer dropping you should see good activity FRIDAY and possibly later Saturday. .

• REDFISH Early morning Saturday and the magic hour before dark are going to be the best bets but even the middle of the day may show a few fish feeding before the change on Sunday.
• TROUT will be hanging in the grass flats like always and should come after some live baits.
• SNOOK might still be hunting the shallows in the upper creeks.
• OTHER SPECIES most other fish will follow similar patterns look for the early morning and evening to be your best bets things are only going to get better from this time forward.

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.

WEEKEND FISHING REPORT

One of the new features of TampaBayFish.com is going to be a Weekend Fishing Report. Hopefully this will help those who are wanting to get out and fish over the weekend. Of course Fishing in Florida is always good we can all use a little help finding the fish and knowing what is biting.

Weather UPDATE: The weather isn't suppose to cooperate with us over the weekend so the fishing might be for those who aren't afraid of getting a little wet. Rain starting tonight will bring in the cold front.
HIGH:
Saturday 70
Sunday 56
LOW:
Saturday 56
Sunday 32

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Fishing Report: With Sunday being the cold day look for some activity Saturday Early depending on how fast the front moves in and slows the fish down. We are in a VERY VERY Early Spring pattern with the fish feeding during the onset of the cold fronts and the bites tapering off as the cold weather hits.

• REDFISH should still be active even though the cold front is moving in. Early morning Saturday and the magic hour before dark are going to be the best bets but even the middle of the day may show a few fish just confused with the weather and clouds.
• TROUT will be hanging in the grass flats like always and should come after some live baits. Look for them once the sun is up and there is a little warmth in the air. MIGHT be hard this weekend since the cold front is coming through. Trout also might be a little sluggish so pay attention to your retrieve speed.
• SNOOK might be hunting the shallows in the upper creeks but with the cold front look for them to be shut down once it comes through. For the next day or so the SNOOK may be recovering.
• OTHER SPECIES most other fish will follow similar patterns look for the early morning and evening to be your best bets once the weather passes we should see an increase in the bite.

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.

Fishing in these FALL months

The fishing has actually been excellent. The trout seem to be everywhere and the bigger Redfish have moved into their winter hideouts like salt water lakes off Anclote River, and the Creek mouths in upper Tampa Bay. Top water and shrimp under a Popping cork have worked excellent. We went out about a week ago off Anclote Key near the lighthouse. Anchored in about 7ft of water and caught Trout all day long and we even hooked a few Spanish mackerel and Some 18-20inch blue fish. Fishing this time of year can be great a lot of fishermen slow down in the winter, myself included, and you can have the water to yourself. Good luck 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.

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

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)

Fishing this weekend

The weather is moving into that perfect day pattern where the winds are low and the sun is shinning and the fish seem to be hungrier than ever. Trout are hitting all of the grass flats, Spanish macks have moved into the bay and are also all throughout the intercoastal. Even some reports of Tailing Reds near desoto and some of the other flats. Snook are still in their winter haunts for now but will slowly move towards the beaches as things warm up. Offshore the Grouper season is closed for a few more days but I talked with a few divers and they say that there are a lot of them out there and Mangos too good sized since many people were off the grouper the mangos benefitted as well. Kings should be showing on some of the closer wrecks as they follow the bait that has started showing up. All in all if your hitting the water to fish or just enjoy this wonderful weekend it should be great either way. Be safe and tight lines.

Fall Fishing Tampa Bay

The fishing overall has been fantastic in the bay and on the grass flats around Tampa Bay. I personally have been fishing the flats near St. Joseph Sound whenever I am able to get away from Work, Which lately hasn't been too often. However the reports I have gotten from my buddies have been that the fishing is great. The trout seem to be hitting everything you throw at them. The trick is finding the right depth to fish. I found on one of my last trips that the watre between 5-7 feet has been the most productive. Also I found on trip two weekends ago that there is everything out there biting. In just about 2 hrs of fishing My last trip we caught 18 Trout, 2 Small Grouper, 2 Small Black Sea Bass, a Spanish mackerel, a Remora, and numerous grunts. All while drifting the flats in about 5-7 foot of water.

Beach Snook

The Snook have moved to the beaches. This 33incher was just hangin about 15ft from shore in strong moving outgoing tide. A Chartruese 1/2oz DOA Jig head and a White Gulp Shrimp brought him in. Just before sunrise off the north beach on Anclote Island. The offshore we did was good but no keeper grouper. However friends that went out hit the Kings about 10 miles out and Grouper on some of the deeper reefs.

FREE SALTWATER FISHING WEEKEND in FLORIDA

Residents and Visitors Fish for free in Saltwater this weekend.

"Florida is the fishing capital of the world," Crist declared, "and our beaches are clean, the fish are biting, and we invite our friends to enjoy some Florida hospitality."

So no reason to not bring the poles along with you this Memorial Day Weekend.

OH and when filling up your boats BOYCOTT BP.

Memorial Day Fishing

Although the water may be churned up a bit and there will be more than your usual number of boaters on the water the fish still need to eat. If you can find that calm area without the 15 yr olds on Jet Skis skimming around you like the dragonflies you should be good. If your headed off shore look for the bait and there will probably be Kings around. Trolling a #1 or #3 planer should get you to them. Reports of keeper grouper on many of the wrecks are coming in but the trick has been a small pinfish, not the huge hand sized ones but live bait in general seems to help find the keepers. Short Reds and Grunts seem to be the main staple without the live bait. Keep your freeline on top and maybe that stray King or Cobia will give you a thrill.  Boating this weekend may be a little extra special SO take care and watch for your fellow boater. Remember your Safety Gear. (16ft+, throwable, life vests for everyone, sound device like a whistle, fire extinguisher) for more info fisit the FWC site here
     If your headed offshore to fish you need the following. Venting Tool and Dehooking device, ALSO remember that when harvesting REEF FISH. All personnel Must use NON-Stainless Steel Circle Hooks when using natural baits.

Keep this in min this weekend and be safe.
Tight Lines!

Kayaks, Snook and some Redfish

Hit the water around 5pm up near anclote river and attempted to target some Redfish. But they weren't cooperating. We ended up catching a couple small Snook. This was actually a good thing being this far north we figured we would see a bad effect from the cold earlier in the year. The Snook were about 18-20 inches and they were strong and healthy. This is a good sign that the Snook population is still doing well and should come back strong. We did see a lot of Reds swimming the shallows even one that was swimming in such shallow water about 10 inches along his back was exposed and he just kept swimming along.

Kingfish Just offshore - few tarpon showing

The kingfish are still out there and they seem to be hitting good starting in about 12-20ft of water. Trolling the beaches just outside of Clearwater all the way to johns pass should produce look for bait schools and for birds and you should find them. Also I have heard reports that Tarpon have been seen just outside of Ft. Desoto rolling off the beaches. Hoepfully the warmer water will keep them here and we should see them move into the bridges soon. Trout are a steady bite on the grass flats on outgoing tides and the Red fish seem to be hanging out as well on some of the flats off Dunedin and down near Desoto. Snook are there too but they are off limits best to just leave em alone and target the Reds and Trout, there are enough of them around to satisfy the bite.

Spanish Makerel Invade Tampa Bay

With the warmer weather and the excellent bait situation in the bay the waters are teaming with Spanish Makerel. They seem to be around every bait pod and just about anywhere you go within the bay there will be Macks looking to feed. This coming weekend if your looking to catch fish then Macks are it. Of course there are other fish around and the Redfishing is still excellent as well up on the flats.

Redfish Action is HOT in the Tampa Area

Just about every flat is holding Redfish right now. If you think you are going fishing this weekend at all. LOOK AT THE TIDES and hit the water at High Tide and find a Nice Flat to Drift accross.....My Favorite, GULP SHRIMP "New Penny" or "White" are excellent choices for Redfish this weekend. you can't go wrong if you are out there the fish are there too....Check out my Map for more places and exact locations.

Kayaks near Anclote River, Spanish Macks in the Bay. Snook here but still tired

Hit the water during the week and along the banks of a Small Salwater Lake off the Anclote river we found the Snook and Small Reds were very active. Hitting just about any top water or small swimming lure we through at them Hooked up 4 times and landed about a 29" Snook. She came up slow snapped the line next to the Kayak and laid there waiting for me to pick her up and take the hook out. She was BEAT jumped 3 times and came to the boat. I got the hooks out with no damage to her and towed her behind the kayak to get the oxygen flowing. She bit my finger and flipped her tail and was gone. other fish were active in the small eddies near the shore and tide currents.
   Another Tip was in the bay near Gandy Bridge the Spanish Macks were out in force over the weekend. Trailing behind large schools of glass minnows and other small bait schools. Anything Shiny and darting was a good bet. Easy to land about 10-15 in as many minutes. Bait seems to be all over in the shallows and across the bay. The cold doesn't seemt o have affected them much. Bad thing is walking the shoreline you can see the reminders of the cold on the Snook. Snook Skull bones were plentiful in the upper bay along the shores.

REDFISH - IN abundance

It seems the Redfish are making an appearance. The warm weather got them feeding and it seems in Cockroach Bay they have been schooling and hitting anything thrown at them. Also around Ft. Desoto reports have been good of schools and biting redfish. This is great news and hopefully it continues. BUT with the cool front moving through we may see a slight slow down BUT hold onto your hats cause it seems with the Warm Weather on its way fishing could be Heating up....LOL literally. look for early morning reds and early evening reds to be some of your best bets Although with the water getting to it's max in the middle of the day the Bite even in the heat of the day should continue to be good for a while.

Warm Weather - Better Bite....Hopefully

Well with the expected warmer weekend there should be a little better bite. If nothing more than we hear more about it because MORE fisherman are out and about able to report it. The Trout are still very active in some of the main areas near Dunedin, Ft. Desoto and the bay and grassy flat areas. This is a good sign if your out and about trying to fish, if nothing else you should have a great day on the water. Best bet is still Live Shrimp free lined on a Cork OR a scented plastic like a DOA or a GULP twitched along the bottom.