Early Kings

On the water by about 6:30am. Launched from Bay Pines Ramp and we even got a call into the Capt. Mel Fishing Show on 620 AM "The Sports Animal" I asked Capt. Mel if we would find any Kingfish?" He said. "look for birds hitting bait and then throw out a shiny flashy lure and you should hit some early kings not the big Smokers but the early ones." Well thats what we did. We hit Indian Shores Reef and as we were trolling across the site looking for bottom structure one of the guys hooked up with a king that caught us all by surprise. We got him to the boat and he straightened the leader. Oops. Anyway we re rigged and started two of us fishing on the bottom for snapper or what have you and the other two for Kings. Man were the Kings in almost every other cast they were hitting the baits thrown and if they didn't hit they were following them all the way into the boat. The Bottom fishing was on but only small bluefish hitting everything that went down. So we all started hitting the kings. we musta caught about 10 fish here, we let go 6 of em and headed to South County Reef. A great day on the water and the boats seemed to be everywhere. We searched for some open structure without other boats on it and we started seeing more kings so we hit a few more of them after the bites on the bottom turned out to be ankle biters. We hooked another 10 Kings here and kept one then we headed to Treasure Island Reef. We hooked 3 18 inch grouper and released em all and finally decided to call it a day. Great Day of fishing and will post pics in a few.

Desoto Pier Fishing

Sheepshead are very abundant. Also the pompano are hitting at a nice rate and many people using the docs goofy Jigs are really slaying them. The bayside pier at Ft. Desoto is a favorite early in the morning for keeper pompano.

Clearwater Pass Fishing

The fishing will be heating up very shortly. There are a few spots worth noting currently. The tops of the bay in the creek mouths are seeing a lot of Snook activity I should have some pictures and a report later this week from the creeks. Additonally I went out to Marker #1 out of clearwater pass and found an abundance of bait fish and other activity there as well. In shore most of the grass flats around the causeways are holding trout.

Bay Fishing

On the water by about 10:30 a late start but really just a lazy fishing day. We headed south outta gandy ramp and were going to try our luck at a spot we found just off St. Pete Pier. Once there we found no fish at all we tried looking for structure ont he bottom and event then found not fish. SO we headed east and anchored just off the shipping channel on the edge of about 40ft water. We immediately started catching one after another Sand Perch (Squirrel Fish) Excellent Grouper Bait, and they taste good but a little too much to clean for such a small fish. The ones we caught were all in about the 10-12in range. After about 20 or so of these we decided that we would head back in since a front was moving in and the water started to really roll. Hopefully we will have better luck in the next few weeks.

Double Branch

Well if the manatees weren't coming up under the Kayaks and the Snook weren't slapping at everything we threw then I guess it would have been a Boring night. We got on the water at around 5:30pm and we were getting hits on top water almost from the time we got in the water. Great night for fishing and the moon, manatees and snook were out in force.

Redfish Tailing

Wow, what a morning, if we could have had the rain stop before 6 it would have been perfect. But when we did get on the water even at 8:00am the redfish were schooled up and hitting everything that we threw at them. Top waters seemed most effective jumping finger mullet to be exact even some of the mirr-o-lure floaters worked great. Near Ft. Desoto Early morning, This time of year is a great site to see about 200 or more redfish tailing in the grass flats. Bad thing (depending on how you look at it) we had to throw back all of the reds we caught because they were TOO BIG....oh well. Trying Over near Dunedin in the near future and will post. (and will bring my camera this next time). bad to catch monsters and not have the pics.....sounds like a (RED)fish tail to me.

Scalloping...Homosassa

What? Scalloping? Yeah thats what I thought too...But it turned out to be one of the fun things of the summer to do that the whole family can do. The one skill needed is the ability to snorkle and a boat to get to the scallops. We went out the Homosassa River from Riverview Marina of Halls River Rd. $10.00 boat launch fee. They pointed us towards Marker #4 and then south 1.5 miles. We got out there and there was no boat at all on the water. A few we could tell were headed out to do what we were doing but they seemed to know as much as we did.
After a Few stops and hanging over the edge of the boat looking in the water at the grass beds we finally thought, What the hell just jump in and look around. I heard a noise over head as I was snorkling around and I looked up to see three Ultra-Light planes land and throw out their dive flags. We we must have been in the right spot because after that it seemed like the scallops were all over the bottom hanging out on the edges of the grass beds.
We picked up about 5 gallons and decided to head out. This was truly a fun time and even though we had beginners and 7 people on board we sure did have a great time. Remember 10 gallons per boat or 2.5 gallons per person whichever is LESS and make sure you have a regulation Dive Flag. Also DRIVE SLOW Snorklers are everywhere by the time we left there were close to 150 boats all around us in every direction. Just head out that way you'll see the boats and then you can't miss the scallops.

Courtney Campbel Causeway Fishing

Well we headed to the causeway to do some Tarpon Fishing. We got there couldn't catch any bait until the minor thunderstorm blew threw then we caught all we needed. So we set our lines and waited. about 30 minutes is all it took and something big nailed our top running bait and ran off like a small train. It thrashed on top of the water a few times but never jumped and finally broke off. We think it was a big shark but never saw anything other then the thrashes. we are going back out this next week to try our luck again.

TightLines

Sharks, Bigguns too

Ummm where'd the Tarpon go? We were on the water by 6:00pm heading to Gandy for more Tarpon. BUT. Instead we about got yanked into the water by a couple big predators. The first one we landed(pulled to the side of the boat) had to be about 140lbs and about 6ft. long, Mean and Strong as a Train. This Black Tip's initial Run about spooled our 100lb line and pulled so hard it about yanked the guy on the pole in the water. Once we got him up, 45 minutes later, we took a few pics and released him. The next one was a bit smaller but same story. After these two fights we figured since No one has taken us up on the "Work 2 days Fish 5" work weel had better pull anchor and head to the house.

TARPON AT GANDY BRIDGE

WOW, heres the comparison. Take a Big hook stand on the side of Hillsborough Ave. wing it into Traffic and HOLD ON! That is what it was like Saturday Night. On the water by 6:30pm. Looked everywhere for Pinfish none to be had. 8 small blue crabs in the live well and about 8:25 we anchored at Gandy on the south Side Mid Span. We hooked 3 Tarpon in total. 2 running to 80lbs one upwards of 120lbs. The boat was all setup and rigged to Chase these silver kings and we were scrambling......approximately 10 other boats were anchored in the same general area....AND hmmm....we were the ONLY boat I saw all night HOOK UP. (musta been the bait..just to say it wasn't the crabs) Look for more of these reports in the coming days and look for the pictures when we land em.

Top of the Bay

Fishing up near Channel A, The flats and the bridges. We hit the water at around 6:00am the sun was just coming up and the water seemed like it would be perfect for fishing. We started by drifting on the incoming tide. Top water was fun but the fish we were looking for were not around. Ladyfish almost non-stop on the top water was the cathc of the day. We thought at least we would hook a trout or a stray red but we had no luck there. Even Live Shrimp couldn't land us a hit....Well at least this weekend should be better. Our Hubbards Marina Offshore Trip Leaves Friday and we should have some good fishing all weekend...Hopefully the American Red Snappers won't be so elusive.

tight Lines

SNOOK in Double Branch

This is not NEW NEWS...... Hit the water by 5:15pm thought we would try out the creek and see what we could find stopped at some of the best looking spots along the way for top water and found that nothing seemed to be working deep in the creek. Once we hit the mouth it was a different story. the main channel was producing Snook on about every third throw. Dual 27's were landed in about 15 minutes and some of the biggest Jack Creval were landed. The place was hot right up until dark but we had our limit so we headed back. The fishing was great and the water temp is really up. Next weekend is our offshore trip and we hope to light up the American Reds.

tight lines

Fishing In the Bay

On the Water by around 11:30am nothing special planned just heading towards the water to see what we could catch. Nothing really biting except a few Catfish and some Ladyfish. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will warm the water and we should see some Spanish macks and some trout in the upper bay waters

Early Snook Fishing

We got out at the top of Double Branch and Were checking things out ...kinda testing the waters to see what we could find....We ended up catching a 20inch trout and a few catfish....

The new NEWS is that I got another small boat..a 14ft Aluminum Creek boat....I should have this boat Up and running by the end of the month...

Another Offshore trip is also planned for 28 April after the American Red Season is opened...

Trout Fishing South SkyWay

We hit the water by 0700 we took both of the Kayaks to the South SkyWay. We put in on an Extreme Low Tide but after we got in the water and a little bit of searching we found some fish. They were hitting on almost every Cast in 3-4ft of water. The bottom was sandy but a LINE of grass was about ten feet away, we would cast to the Grass Line and SLOWLY retrieve the Lures with a quick Twitch. IN about an hour we had caught and Released about 20 KEEPER size Trout Some running to 20". The Lure I was using was a Rapala X-Rap. (Red Head and Oil body) My buddy was using a Mirr-O-Lure (Not sure the Model) and then switched to soft plastic Gold swimmin minnows. A good Morning of fishing but the wind picked up and for safety we pulled out. The Cold water has forced us to Slow our retrieve WAY down, Keep this in mind that the fish are not as quick when the water is cooler and you'll increase your catch with a SLOW patient retrieve.

Mangroves Biting

Sunday Morning, Mangrove Snapper Fishing near St. Pete Pier. On the Water by 6:00am, still dark, cool, and calm waters and the Snapper was biting. We headed straight to the submerged piles that we knew would hold fish and after we anchored and dropped the first bait in the water we knew that our fish finder wasn't lying when we started marking fish all over the structure. I immediately landed a Pretty, but Small Gag Grouper and then we started landing Snappers. 13-14 inchers and after a few Larger ones broke off we knew we were on the right spot. approximately 5 other boats were near us but none were bringing in fish that we could see and we knew we had arrived before everyone and picked out the right spot. About 2 hours of some good fishing the bite stopped and we moved around to see if there was anything else biting with no luck. All and all a good day of fishing and we got back in time to see the Bucs Finish off the Dolphins. Tight Lines

Double Branch Is HOT!!

On the water by 6:00pm the tide was super low but the fish were moving and hitting everything thrown at them. The top water was excellent and at our first stop we had plenty of topwater slaps from small Reds then we hooked into a nice sized Snook but decided there were bigger to be had. The next stop about two inches from shore gave us another good snook and our next stop produced some good keeper Trout on top water. As darkness set in we started hitting the Jacks Feeding frenzy that almost had the fish jumping in the boat to escape the Jacks. All in all a Great Night of fishing and some real good pole bending.

Testing the Waters

We ended up on the water by about 1:00pm it was a hot day but we were just going out and seeing what was biting. We ended up initially at the Gandy / 275 Artificial Reef and drifted back and forth across the reef with live shrimp looking for some snapper off the bottom. We ended up with only one snapper and about 4 Large Lizard fish. Nothing to write home about. We then moved under Gandy and hooked a few large fish that got away and a small black sea bass. The fish seem to be out and about and with the water cooling and the red tide NOT in the bay the fishing seems fairly good. Check your tides and try your luck. Moving around or drift fishing seems to be the best producer.

Dunedin Causeway Fishing (Mangrove Snappers?)

We were on the water by about 6:15pm took both Kayaks across the small bay to the Caladesi Ferry Docks and targeted Redfish with Live Shrimp and Silver/Gold Spoons. Had a Few hits and landed a Ladyfish or two but as the Sun set we started noticing a lot of topwater activity so we switched tactics and threw some topwaters lures at the fish breaking the surface. To our surprise we ended up landing some nice 13-14" Snappers. On topwater of all things. We released the few we landed and headed out for the night. Looks like the Moon is gaining and in the next few nights we will try our old haunt near Double Branch.

Snook Fishing Opening Day

We headed out to Dunedin Causeway and fished the entire area from hurricane pass up into the ferry bay for Caladesi Island. Back int he calm water of the bay the grass beds looked real healthy and we spooked up some very large Redfish that swooped at our Topwaters but missed. We were targeting Snook and for the opening day we thought we had a vary fishy area. A few Redfish bites and that was about it. we are heading back out this week sometime possibly tonight to try our double branch haunt and see what we can spook up there.