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.

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)

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.

Cold weather Report

With the water being pretty chilly the fish are slow but not scarce. Best bet is to go later in the day when the sun has had a chance to warm the water a little Soon warmer weather is on its way it won't be long until we have some great spring fishing action. In the meantime. Here are a few places that may produce. One is the beach areas along phillippe park in Safety Harbor, the water is shallow and the sandy bottom heats up rather quickly. If you hit the area before evening rolls around you may find some reds cruising along the mangroves when the tide is up.
          Near the Dunedin Causeway and the flats north towards Anclote are holding Trout but they seem to be in the 5-7ft range and are hitting slower moving jerked softbaits. Try this area when the sun is high in the sky so between 11-3pm is your best bet.
          Hopefully everyone has had enough winter and are ready to get back to some fishing weather. I will update my hotspots if I hear of anything good biting. The local paper is reporting large Sheepshead moving around in the Bay BUT I have never had much luck finding or catching them so for those of you that have the skills to do it that may be an option.
-- Tghtlines

Jason Prieto is Making a Special Offer

Every once in a while I run accross a good deal that one of the Charter Captains I have listed on my site has going on Here is one of those deals.

Forward of an Email Advertisement
Spring Fishing Almost Here!

captjasonp@aol.com
Spring fishing is almost here and booking early is the key to getting the date of your choice. We are already seeing a warming trend and I look for it to continue as we go into February. With warm weather comes great Trout, Snook, and Redfish fishing in Tampa Bay. To book a trip call

813-727-9890

Take advantage of our early booking special!

Book a 6 hr fishing trip for the price of a 4 hr. This means you get 2 more hours for free. This offer will be good until February 15th. As long as you book the trip before then you will get the discount. It does not matter when you run the trip! Take advantage of these big savings and get out on the prestine waters of Tampa Bay!

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.

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.

Trout non-stop action

If your looking for a good bite and a lot of fishing action, the trout are on fire across the grass flats in about 4 ft of water. I had excellent luck all weekend long on the grass flats near Sunset park and Howard Park in St. Joseph Sound (28.1428, -82.80250). Top water was the exciting bite. Bagleys Jumping Finger Mullet was the bait to use I used Silver and it worked great and I used a Chartruese and white. The best action was when I threw it out as far as I could get it and then Jerk it real hard so the lure practically flew about 1-2ft skipping back across the water. The Trout were so excited they were literally shooting up out of the water chasing the lure as soon as it sat for about a second or two. This action went on from about 8am until, I left about 10:30am and did not stop. I didn't see any Tarpon and no other fish were biting it seemed. I did however see a Red just cruising near the Mangroves across sandy bottom however no bites from the,

Trout on the flats

I think I've said this enough over the past two weeks but it is worth saying again. If you think you want to fish and catch some good sized Trout or just want to make sure you catch something the Trout are biting everywhere across the grass flats off Howard Park and Anclote Key. There are also spanish mackerel in with them and a Pin fish on a free line or under about a 3ft cork could bring in a Shark or two.  I was able to take my sister out Trout fishing accross the Flats and this is just one of the many trout we landed.