Fishing Report from Capt. Chris Haught of Inshore Charters

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

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.

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

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

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.

TampaBayFish.com Weekend Fishing report

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 

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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.

TampaBayFish.com Fishing report

Saturday was a good day to be on the water with the winds out of the South some of the protected areas turned out to be productive. the only problem encountered it wasn't until after the sun had just set that my buddy was able to hook up with four nice sized Redfish one after another. The Winds were pretty helpful being out of the South but the fish seemed a little slow to respond. The fishing seemed a little slow However due to the warm air and mild winter it looks like maybe the fish are already starting to move out of their winter haunts. The water temperatures are near their normal "MAY" temps and this could make a change in the fishing sooner this year and we could see Snook out on the beaches soon and some of the other fish transitioning to thier spring areas sooner than expected. The Hotspot Map has been updated with these 4 catches in the Anclote Salt Lake area.

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.