January 09, 2021
By Florida Sportsman
Recent inshore fishing reports from the West Central region.
Day Saving Red
Florida Sportsman Follower: @dawnomal
Photographic proof of the day-saving fish.
A day saver. Sometimes it only takes one fish, one screaming drag, to launch your day from zero to hero. Dawn Daugherty, Clearwater, took this trip this week. “ We were fishing Tampa Bay against the 15-20mph wind today and it was tough. We found some mangroves that blocked the wind but didn't have enough water so assuming the fish pushed off the mangroves with the tide, we fished a little sandy hole with lady fish cut bait.
The whole crew.
The bite was slow so when I caught this 33.2” and 13lbs redfish it made our day. Especially since we took my 84 year old father in-law out for a bday gift.”
Click here to read the full report and others like it.
Skyway Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman member: HFF
The Tampa Bay Skyway Bridge is home to a wide variety of fish species, sheepshead being one of the many residents. Hop in the boat with me as we search for supper on this adventure. Sheepshead are a favorite winter time fishery here in Tampa Bay. Many people target them around rockpiles, docks, ledges, pilings, and seawalls. They are associated with crusty shell entangled structure. They have unique teeth that allow them to crunch on barnacles, mussels, sand fleas, shrimp, crabs, anything that's crunchy! Live or fresh shrimp, fiddler crabs, and sand fleas are favorite choices. Many people use barnacle scrapings as chum to get sheepshead on the feed!
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Tampa Bay Fly Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: ethankiburz
Redfish have been absolutely on fire with a properly presented fly. The selection inside of Tampa bay has been more important in the upper bay where there is a very sparse shoal grass and mostly a sand bottom. Fly rod anglers should use flies no bigger than a #2 and try to use lightly weighted patterns that make minimal noise when entering the water. Crab patterns and mantis shrimp imitations are my favorite but typically it's one or the other. With an extra slow strip, it should get annihilated when presented perfectly. In the southern parts of Tampa bay, Fort Desoto, and up to Tarpon Springs where there is more turtle grass, we see more forage and I like to use Puglisi patterns that land quietly in front of fish.
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Family on the Flats
Florida Sportsman member: MaineOffShore
We went to the flats to try for some trout and get some pins. There was all kinds of bait and my daughter caught her first trout there. We went out past the tarpon, looking for new bottom, but I'm still struggling in that department. We managed to find the sea bass, porgy and grunts which kept the kids happy and enjoying the day. Yesterday after school, I took my son and his friend fishing after school. We found a flat that was protected from the brutal wind. I was pleasantly treated to a bunch of sheepshead on the grass flats. It was two nice days with the youngsters and my daughter was awarded "Fisherwomen of the Day," showing me up and catching five different species.
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Tampa Bay Action
Florida Sportsman member: HFF
Here's an action video mashup from recent trips. There were lots of cool strikes, jumps, and blowups. We were fishing mainly Pinellas Point and Tierra Verde. The fish were caught on live whitebait and the Nomad Madscad.
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Tampa Bay Slob
Florida Sportsman member: T.Cov
I went out this weekend and hammered some snook. Most of the fish were in the 20 to 22 inch range with a few upper 20's mixed in. It was tons of fun, but the highlight was when this absolute behemoth of a fish decided to eat. I was literally shaking when I got her in the boat and was almost speechless. She is my new personal best and measured just over 41”. Just a beast!
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Red Saves the Day
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
My lure of choice was a 3" RT Mullet in electric chicken, shadflash shad and smoke mullet. After about 15 small snook and one rat red, I stopped keeping track. I worked three shallow bays during the day with lots of action, but no size. I ended up catching close to 30 snook, ranging from 6" to 20". I also had by-catches of two jacks and one lady fish. I was probing a shallow water bay and in about two feet of water when my lure got hammered. I set the hook on a solid fish. It took off towards deeper water and was peeling some drag. Violent head shakes and a glint of copper let me know she was a red. After a terrific fight, I slipped the net under her. She came in at a respectable 26.5".
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Spotted Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: Rosemary White
The boys and I had been watching the weather for days in anticipation of a "good fishing day". Winter in Florida usually involves winds that can make or break a great fishing trip. Wind also limits the type of lures we can use inshore. We finally got a break and launched out of O'Neill's Marina with our bag full of Yo-Zuri lures. It was a no live bait kind of day. It was calm and the water like glass. We targeted the deep holes of the flats, in about six to seven feet of water on a high outgoing tide. The water was alive with the typical winter bluefish, and mackerel. I cast out and worked the Yo-Zuri 3D inshore minnow with a quick erratic retrieve. When I set the hook and saw the silver flash from a distance I thought it was a snook. As I reeled in I heard the boys say, "That's a trout!" I have a tendency to horse fish in, so the boys had to remind me of the trout's soft mouth and to ease the chunky 24" big girl gently. Not a bad way to start the day!
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The Fish are Chewing
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
The water temperature was 74 degrees and there was a pretty strong wind out of the southeast. I started off with a Lunker City Swimmin' Ribster in Watermelon Red. I was off to a pretty good start with a 24" snook at 12:34pm. I then switched back to the 3" mullet in Killifish. Missed a fish, but hooked up with a nice snook on the same cast. She was mid-20's. Read the full reports below.
Click here to read the full 2/11 report.
Click here to read the full 2/10 report.
Clearwater Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
I fished the incoming tide in Clearwater with Pete and John the other day and we targeted tripletail, snook, reds, and trout with live sardines. We caught six tripletail with the two shorts, two 15", and two over ten pounds. We came back inside an caught a few reds, a couple snook, and a handful of trout before calling it a day. The fishing has been good overall and the weather has been perfect, so get out there now before it gets too cold.
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Time Change Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
Drift number two started off with two pinfish under corks in the rod holders with bails open. While using the trolling motor to deploy the baits further back, one of the pinfish got smoked. Flipped the bail and the tarpon immediately got tangled in the other line. After clearing the line, we were set to fight the fish. You could tell this tarpon was cold, as it only ripped off 60 yards and did not jump until ten minutes into the fight. After a little while the fish was boat-side and we called it a day. Very slow out there for me, wish we could have put a cobia in the boat for some meat but oh well. Nice to pull on a fish at least.
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Flats Assessment
Florida Sportsman member: The Renegade Angler
The fish pushed up from their deep water structure and began to return to the shallow flats. I noticed that there where huge schools of bait that moved relatively unopposed with the odd ball snook or redfish that had ridden out the storm on or near the flats. These fish that had remained either on or very near the flat where in one of the two categories, either extremely big or under slot. The first day the water clarity was murky, but still clear enough to sight cast. However, and by the third day, the flats turned black with "chocolate water" or "cypress juice".
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Flats Report
Florida Sportsman member: The Renegade Angler
Most of the larger snook in my area were in small schools, travelers with the tide, or they where alone and never left their mangrove line. The local redfish were often times in big schools around 50 and could be lured to you when the small waves of fish would travel with the tide. I found good luck using the marker54 hard plastic shrimp and the eye strike hair jig. Schools of mullet and ballyhoo cover the flats. I've caught most of my fish in under five feet of water and over four to six inches of water.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Post-Irma Bay Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Matt822
There was lots or fresh water run off and stuff floating around. Some markers were leaning over, but overall, we are very lucky. The snook bite was solid all day, banging bushes around the bay with the higher than normal water level. My brother landed some upper slot fish, which is nice to get when he's on the boat. It seems like the couple degree temperature drop because of the rain and cloudy days, have fired the bite off. The bait is still plentiful.
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Family Fishing Memories
Florida Sportsman member: ericf
We got a good six or seven dozen pilchards with the 12' net in one shot without chumming, some nice big ones too. The plan now is to run back in towards home and fish some shorelines. Aria had her Frozen/Barbie/Snoopy grade fishing rod, rigged with five inches of 20 pound leader tied right to the four pound main line. First stop, first cast, she gets her first snook!
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Beach Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Marty McFly
The spawn has wrapped up for the most part, but there are still plenty of snook off the beaches. The last few trips the past two weeks have all produced good fish, but the spike up in water temperature did slow it down for one week. My parents came over from the east coast looking to catch a couple. Unfortunately, neither caught a snook, but my dad did land a fun-sized tarpon, which put on a great show.
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Tampa Bay Snook
Florida Sportsman member: greg123168
I have been fishing Tampa Bay waters for quite some time and the biggest snook to date is 32 inches. I have been down south and caught a 39. But this past weekend, I restored my faith in the Tampa waters, there really are some big snook around. This girl measured out 38 inches, not like all those 20 to 27 inchers that I continually catch.
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Beach Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: BeachinNJeepin
We decided to walk around the back of Honeymoon Island and I saw a couple cruising fish. They wanted nothing to do with my fly, but one big girl took a liking to Jessica's white paddle tail. The fight was on and Jess successfully landed her first snook and boy was she a beauty. She measured just under 40 inches. We got a quick picture and she was on her way to give us all some more baby snook. The fish seemed few and far between around Hurricane Pass, but the ones we saw were all upper to overslot.
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Skyway Grouper and Snapper
Florida Sportsman member: huynguyen
The bite has been great! I fished the skyway twice since the season opened and on both trips I've caught my limit with some nice quality fish. The groupers are hitting everything I'm throwing at them, pinfish, grunts, greenbacks, threadfins, and even cut lady fish. The snapper bite has been pretty good as well, with plenty of +12 inch mangos each night. The fish are here, you just have to find them.
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Short, but Sweet Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
I hit the south shore this morning just before 11am. The water temperature was 85. There was lots of fish activity. On my second cast, I caught a small snook at 11am. I picked up another small snook at 11:59am. A couple of casts later, I picked up another small snook at 12:03pm. I casted out and my mullet near a mangrove island and it got rocked. I got an early look due to the shallow water and saw a broad red back surface. After some strong runs and violent headshakes, I slipped him in the net at 12:50pm. He came in at 29 1/4" and was heavy.
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Hot Bites in Tampa Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Matt822
As the tide turned and started coming in, we made a move, which paid us in red gold. We proceeded to land about 15 overslot reds. The fish didn't seem to spook or even care we were there, just one after another, for about an hour. Then, just like the switch turned on, it was off and not a bite. We checked a couple other spots until we found some hungry snook, which there was some that looked a bit like logs on the bottom. The tide slowed some and they seemed to turn off as well. With a successful day already in the books, we headed for Hula Bay and a cold Corona.
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Live Baiting Snook
Florida Sportsman member: rdh1384
We stayed on the flat all day and caught 41 snook. The size was in the 18 to 23.5 inch range and we were in about one to three feet of water. We had four double hookups, which are always fun. Having bait has made a huge difference versus using artificials.
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Fishing the South Shore
Florida Sportsman member: rdh1384
We ended up fishing a mangrove area on the way back to Little Harbor. We used greenbacks for chum and caught a couple more snook, a mangrove snapper, and a catfish. The largest snook of that group was 23.5 inches.
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Well Earned Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
I worked mangroves lining the pond and came to a crab pot out in the middle. I casted past it. Just past the pot, my lure got blasted so hard the rod almost came out of my hand.
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New Port Richey Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: micklej2
We had two shark hook ups, one goliath grouper and several spanish mackerels. Bob managed a limit of hog snapper and most of the spanish mackerel and a permit to boot.
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Sarasota Bay Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: capt.nate
We couldn't count the number of snook they caught, there were so many. They got two redfish that were 29 inch twins and a snook that was 27.995 inches.
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Bradenton Jacks, Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: capt.nate
I had the Robinson clan out for a six hour trip today. They caught a good variety of fish including an 11 pound jack!
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Tampa Bay Action
Florida Sportsman: Matt822
With the arrival of spring water temps a little early, it appears the bite has woken up over the last three weeks with tons of snook on the flats and schools of redfish covering the mangrove lines. The last two weekends I was able to get them on top water baits early in the morning, then switched to green swimbaits or paddle tails.
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Slammin' Snook
Florida Sportsman: capt.nate
The bite started slow, but after the first fish ate, it was on like Donkey Kong! That first fish happened to be a 38? beast of a snook! They caught fish, after fish, after fish for four solid hours.
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February Inshore Review
Florida Sportsman: Matt822
The trout bite has been really good as well with some fish in the 24-28" range. I've been getting them on zman paddle tails, bouncing the edges of the pot holes in one to five feet of water. They usually hit it on the drop, so be ready.
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Weedon Island Small Snook, Big Fight
Florida Sportsman: KingCatch
About halfway through the rising tide, the fish turned on and we nabbed a few snook. I got some on a white topwater plug and Danny got a couple to eat a DOA Cal on a 1/4 oz jig.
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Tampa Bay Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman: Rick Franco
Capt. Rick Franco and his wife Jamie recently enjoyed tugging on some nice Tampa Bay sheepshead. In the winter months you can find these "convict fish" amassing over hard bottom structure. Capt. Rick's advice: Fish deeper water for the bigger fish and weed out puffers and other bait-stealers by fishing with crabs.
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Winter Fishing Tampa Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Jeremy 1
Trout have been consistent and can be caught with ease. They can be found on deeper three to seven foot grass flats with thick turtle grass bottom and potholes. I usually throw lures that resemble white bait such as a Mirrodine but I have found Mirrolure's Lil Jon bait on a ¼ jig head bounced along the bottom will catch them consistently. A general rule of thumb is once you've caught one, there's many more in the vicinity so keep throwing.
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42" Mega Snook in the Canal
Florida Sportsman member: harrisa2006
She put up one incredible fight. I knew this was going to be a good fish, but when she partially surfaced and I saw her tail, I could not believe me eyes. My arms began to shake, I was completely flabbergasted. I have caught big snook before, but this snook was so big, that it did not even look like a snook anymore. It looked like a living dinosaur.
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Anna Maria Island: Friends and Firsts
Florida Sportsman member: sas0061
I set out three lines; one popping bobber with a 12" leader and live shrimp and two freelined pilchards with 4' leaders. After 30 minutes, the line started tearing out of one of the pilchard setups. I handed the rod to a friend who had never been inshore saltwater fishing before. She ended up landing her first trout and it was a big one!
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Anna Maria Island Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: sas0061
We decided to hit some more oyster beds and mangroves. We freelined two pilchards out the front, one pilchard with the popping bobber out the back, and I threw a doa until it was time to check lines. About 45 minutes in, one of the freelined greenies was hit. As soon as I started to reel in, I saw the jump. It was a snook! Just after releasing it, a second fish struck the remaining freelined pilchard. In five minutes, we landed two nice snook.
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Fat Trout, Reclusive Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Matt822
The big trout have really made a push on to the flats with fish average being over 20 inches. The Redfish seem to be a bit more elusive but I've still managed to get some ones and twos here and there. Haven't been able to locate the "big school" everyone wants to see.
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Florida Fall Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: permit_me
We fished the St. Joseph Sound/Anclote area for reds. The fish were there and we managed a few each. All nice fish, 24" and over. We saw a couple sheepshead in about a foot of water threw to them and bam, we both got one. They were 16" and 19".
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Drift Fishing Tampa Bay: Skyway to Egmont
Florida Sportsman member: Soda Popinski
We drifted a channel marker and my son got a 22" gag on a pinfish that had very little life left in it. Caught it on 12lb cajun line with a 30lb mono leader, that leader was beat to death by the time we got him to the boat. Water temp was 66.4 degrees. No keepers but still fun to get out on the water, it had been a while. Love fishing the bay, you never know what you might hook.
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St. Pete Late Season Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
The fish have been eating live pinfish very well. The pinfish spawn is about to happen so there are massive schools of them up in the bay. This happens every year and you can find schools of thousands of pinfish on the edges of flats. The tarpon have been pretty cooperative until the tide starts to really rip.
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Battle In The Bay Win
Florida Sportsman member: SouthshoreSlayer
Due to red tide in my area I fish this time of year, I decided to run to a new area I have never fished. Well the gamble ended up paying off, as by 10 AM we had two reds at 26 7/8" each and a 23" trout. Our weight came out to 18.05lbs to win us first out of 60 boats. We took home a check for $2,000.
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St. Pete Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
While looking for cobia, I came across a spot that I have never seen tarpon before. As I began to inspect the spot more, I found that tarpon were traveling in a particular zone and in a certain depth. They appeared to be using this spot as a highway.
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Ditch Trolling for Grouper
Florida Sportsman member: swordawet
I tweaked my ditch trolling technique with some new and valuable information. I sent the gear down at the early crack of 10am and by 10:15 I was tight with a nice 27" gag. A quick selfie and into the ice bath he went.
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Skyway Channel Grouper
Florida Sportsman member: winderbill
I only caught four fish, but they were ALL keepers, 25", 26", 26" and 28". Only trolled for three hours and I was culling after an hour and a half. All were caught in the same hundred yard stretch, no shorts. I didn't see another boat there the entire time. Troll em up, they're out there!
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Tampa Bay Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Matt822
I have not yet seen the redfish mixed in with the mullet yet the fish I have found in schools have been over slot size fish. If you can manage to find these fish before the rest of the people do they will be schooled up and eating every bait you throw at them.
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South Tampa Bite
Florida Sportsman member: gettinwet
We started in the backwaters focusing around mangrove points and cuts between islands as well as schools of large black mullet. After a lot of short strikes on topwater plugs we did manage to hook up a couple of nice reds.
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St. Pete Summer Bite
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
Tarpon are creatures of habit that move huge distances on a daily basis. They generally come back to the same haunts year after year, but it can at times be a bit of a struggle to find out where they are on a particular day, unless you get them "dialed in". Getting them dialed takes a lot of time, a lot of dedication and a lot of failed attempts, but once you figure it out the feeling of accomplishment is something else.
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West Central Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: CL604
Went fishing with our Son Capt. Mike ( Mangrove Bully ) out of Tarpon Springs. Despite the gusty winds we were able to find fish-able spots with a total of 11 snook and two reds in just two hours.
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Sarasota Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: MGD
Linda and I fished w Capt. Clark Wright 3 days last week and it was amazing. I've caught small tarpon before (maybe 30 pounds) but wanted to get us on some big ones. We went 4/10, 4/6 and 2/5 in the three days fishing the pass and the beach.
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Tarpon Tips
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
I wanted to take a little time to help people understand what good etiquette means, as well as show you some of the fish that we have caught so far this year. Etiquette goes a long way and helps everyone catch more fish.
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Prefrontal Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Casting with the wind down the side of a mangrove bank and I got a strike/pull-down on my mullet. I casted past the same spot again, reeling it through and nothing. I let the lure fall to the bottom near the boat and it got blasted.
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Manatee River Reds and More
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
A few minutes later a pretty copper-colored rat red inhaled my bait. I needed to size up, so I kept paralleling the shoreline. Reeling in a few minutes later and my lure got blasted, I set the hook on something solid that had some weight.
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Wintertime in Tampa Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Trout have really moved in good with the last few cold fronts, and there has been some nice sized fish being caught between 18 to 22 inches. Artificial jigs have been out producing everything else over the past week, live shrimp did produce a few fish as well as sardines, but 5 “soft plastic jerkbaits darker in color rigged with a light lead head did the best.
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Tampa Bay Reds and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Tailn_reds
I have been finding that the reds want the shrimp and the snook want the white bait. The last few times I have been out I have launched out of gandy and fished Weedon Island or south. I find that a lot of the fish I have been catching come from under the mangroves or in deeper water banks.
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Wade Slam
Florida Sportsman member: spydermonkey
We stopped at Gandy and got some shrimp in case I couldn't find any greenies on the flat. Got to the flat about 8:30 and started off with topwaters. I was throwing a livetarget mullet and my dad was throwing a spook in mullet coloration. After about 20 minutes I hooked up with a nice redfish.
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Tampa Bay Fall Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Snook fishing has started to get real good inside of Tampa bay. The fish are starting to get concentrated in the canals, rivers, and creeks making for some of phenomenal snook fishing trips. Live sardines will be the bait of choice until they are gone for winter. Free lined baits rigged with a 1/0 hook are the rig of choice.
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South Shore Win
Florida Sportsman member: SouthShoreSlayer
We went where I was on a big school Friday but they never showed up. We moved and she got a 20 inch fish. We ran 15 miles north and I knew it was a bad call. We ran back to Fort Desoto and found them. We wrecked them with double hookups for 20 minutes then they shut back down.
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Catching in the Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Redfish have been everywhere this month, and the action should only get better. Most of the Redfish I have been catching have been coming from large schools of fish that are over-slot in size. I have also been catch a few more Redfish this week mixed with the Snook and these fish have been mid to upper slot size. Live sardines have been the bait of choice, and they can't be too big for these big bruiser reds.
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Tampa Bay Variety
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Juvenile Tarpon have really made a showing recently and have been a blast to catch on light tackle and fly rods. Look for the smaller tarpon to be in small creeks, canals, and river mouths throughout the bay area. Small poppers and weedless jerk baits have been working well during dawn and dusk hours.
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Hot Bite Before the Storm
Florida Sportsman member: Slamaholic
In that short time we landed 10 small tarpon and six snook. We worked structure with whitebait. Our chummers were getting blown up in every direction. Before we were pushed away by the thunderstorms, we dropped a lady fish on the bottom and landed a nice 20 pound goliath grouper.
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Tampa Bay Bruiser
Florida Sportsman member: SnookStack
My rod doubles over and I'm set for an 8 minute battle with a 40 inch snook on 20 pound test. Every head shake my heart dropped. I thought for sure this fish was going to own me. I played the fish with a real light drag she made multiple big runs with a few violent head shakes.
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Tampa Bay Tarpon and More
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Jared
Inshore snook, redfish, mackerel, and snapper have been keeping the lines tight for the anglers that haven't wanted to tangle with the silver king. Red fishing has seemed to be improving in the areas of the bay that I have been fishing and most of the fish have been over slot, cut bait has been the most effective with the heat.
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Snook on Sand
Florida Sportsman member: johnny-moe
Beach bite has been really good on these great tide days. Nice to see the return of good sized snook in numbers. Also was nice to get my son Charlie on his biggest snook around 38 to 40 inches.
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Dinner and a Show
Florida Sportsman member: SouthshoreSlayer
When the tide died we went Snapper fishing. The bite was on but the wind and tide were fighting each other and could not hold over the ledge. What I ended up doing was keeping the outboard in reverse to hold the anchor tight. It was difficult but we got it done with snapper to 19 inches.
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Surprise in the Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Royalflush
after a few minutes of finesse battle with only 20 pound braid and 30 pound mono leader, the brown bomber shows himself. But he's not ready to be landed, got him boat side about 8 times and each time he darted back down.
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Rough Weather Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
After locating some free jumping fish on Saturday with nothing but mackerel gear on board we decided to head back out Sunday and at least be semi-prepared. Spent two hours catching bait and headed out to get a bite within three minutes.
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Upper Tampa Bay Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: BryanC
While I was taking pics of that, my rod bent over in the rod holder and I was hooked into a big snook! Unfortunately, she broke me off. Another one bit a little later, and I got her close to the boat, this one looked smaller, possibly a slot fish, but once again my 20 pound leader broke.
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Insane Snook Day
Florida Sportsman member: Snookerman311
"Yesterday was a day that will go down in my record books and one I will never forget. On saturday night I had invited a close friend of mine to fish sunday morning with the intentions of throwing artificial and trying to hide from the wind..."
Want to catch monster snook like this? Click here for how-to videos, feature stories, and more. Fishing in the Wind
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
I loosen my drag cause I know she isn't done. She gets to the boat and dives under it. I stick my rod in the water and she makes another long run for the mangroves, then a half-jump. Nice! I bring her around and baby her to the right and then left of the boat. She is on top now and I bring her right next to the boat and freaky expertly slips the net under her.
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Catching Dinner
Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt
The day was cold but the bite was hot and by the time we brought up our last line we had 42 keeper sheepshead in the box, mixed in with a couple chunky key west grunts and black sea bass. Another 20 or more short sheeps were released.
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February Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Live shrimp fished under a cork has been been producing good results, but artificial's have been working just as well. Soft plastic jerk baits in darker colors fished on the bottom have been top producers, but suspending twitch bait's have produced some of the larger fish.
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Negative Tides, Positive Results
Florida Sportsman member: SnookStack
Moving out to the flats I was anxious to start seeing trails and single reds scattered. Soon we started spooking fish, we set our drifts up and started working a 1 1/2 foot depth with mixed grass and sand. It was on, we landed quality reds on the next few drifts.
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January in Tampa Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Live shrimp has been producing good results either free-lined or fished under a cork. Soft plastic jigs have also been producing just as well as live bait. Darker colored soft plastic jerk baits fished on a lighter jig heads such as a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce.
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West Central Inshore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Matt822
The redfish bite has been pretty good with the exception of last weeks cold front I think they are finally starting to settle in to a winter pattern. The big trout bite has really fired up the last couple weeks with fish in the 25-30 inch range holding in deep pot holes on the flats and edges of channels. I have been using all artificials and they have been producing consistently.
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Wintertime In Tampa Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Tfoucher
Bait was a little tough for us but we got it and the bite in the morning was not very good since we had slower tides and cold water to deal with. After moving around we finally got into some fish. We ended up with some nice snook, a couple of nice reds and some trout.
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South Shore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: SouthshoreSlayer
After fishing that for two hours the tide was getting right for my spots up North of Cockroach. We made 8 different stops on various mangrove edges, live chummed, and pulled fish from every stop. Most were Snook but we also got 9 Redfish, 3 Trout, and I caught a Sheepshead in a whitebait which was a first for me.
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Tampa Bay Hot Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Tfoucher
I really did not think the bite was going to be very good but I was wrong. We got 80 plus reds, snook and trout with it mostly being reds and snook with the few trout to round out our inshore slams.
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North Pinellas Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Trout fishing has finally started to pick up in the last week with the slot fish starting to school up, and the larger breeder trout starting moving into the shallows. Look for slot size fish to be in the deeper channels and creeks throughout the bay area.
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Great Way to Spend Your Birthday
Florida Sportsman member: Tfoucher
We had caught the last of the outgoing tide and the whole incoming tide. The fish were unbelievably hungry. I told Chad that we had to keep count of all the fish that we caught. I told him that I felt this could be a 100 plus fish day. Boy was I right! To be exact it was 112.
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Mayhem Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Tfoucher
We probably ended up with between 60 to 70 fish maybe more since we were not really keeping tabs. We got snook, reds and trout with most of the fish being snook. I was the only one not to get a slam on the boat!
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Catching on the Alafia
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
I kept working the shallower docks. Skipped under one at 10:50am and got crushed. This fish had some weight and gave me a great battle. I got it in the boat and it was a solid slot red of 25 1/2 inches.
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Starting Them Young
Florida Sportsman member: jimmy77
We anchored up on the edge of a pot hole and put out pins and greenbacks under floats over the shallow flooding grass. I got a decent flounder on a pinfish and we got a few reds on greenbacks. My son got the nicest fish, a 23 inch redfish.
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Catching on the Drift
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
The water was very skinny and we kept targeting the 1 1/2 to 3 foot zone. We drifted north and Stormy caught a 20 inch snook on the Bait Buster just a few minutes later. We caught more snook on the flats than I can ever remember.
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Upper Tampa Bay Hot Bite
Florida Sportsman member: snook1998
I handed my buddy a rod with a greenback on it and he made a perfect cast right up against a submerged log, BAM he was on. The fish took a good amount of line, we got it up to the boat and it was a 26 inch snook.
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West Central Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Large tarpon have been inside the bay for a few months now and are in post-spawn transition patterns. Early morning and sundown is the best time to get shots at these large fish. Swimbaits such as the D.O.A. baitbuster are the go to lures right now.
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Tampa Bay Sight Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast
Got a chance to fish with Willie "Jack" Jackson in hopes of getting some sight fishing in on the +0.3 low tide late in the morning. The outgoing tide and the recent amount of rain left the water quite stained coming out of the Little Manatee River but we were able to work up a small slam including Jack's first ever redfish.
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Taming the Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
Locating the fish was the hardest part, but once we did find them they were willing to put on a show. We even had a double header Saturday and landed them both. We were in by noon both days as it seemed the bite shut down early.
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Changing Tactics, Catching Fish
Florida Sportsman member: SnookStack
I can't seem to catch the specks, but being tempted to take my ladyfish and chunk it up was too tempting. I aborted trout fishing by 8 and the change in tactics paid off! I caught two beauties and was off the water by 10 am.
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Tampa Tarpon Action
Florida Sportsman member: CatchDog
Forum member
CatchDog Put together an awesome video of some adrenaline filled Tampa tarpon. Between the big jumps and aggressive sharks, tarpon are sure to get your blood flowing. Nice Work!
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Wading Picnic Island
Florida Sportsman member: OverslotsOnly
Seeing some mullet getting spooked near a sand patch, I made a cast, twitched it twice and I was on, but it wasn't a little trout. The drag starts singing and I'm thinking red, but then the fish breaks the surface with those big unmistakable headshakes I'm so accustomed to seeing over in my hometown of Stuart, huge snook!
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Keepers in the Bay
Florida Sportsman member: Captainbly
Only got one bite but only fished for about 30 minutes. But, it was a nice 24 inch gag. Caught on a magnum bomber gold and black trolled on a number 3 planer at about 3.1 mph going against the incoming tide.
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West Central Beach Snook
Florida Sportsman member: splitshot
Forum member
splitshot shared some nice snook caught recently from the beach. Throwing top waters in the early morning has produced. Nice work!
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West Central Tarpon and More
Florida Sportsman member: stpetebaitman
Tarpon fishing has been excellent in the bay. But, they are not showing themselves very well. On the 4th we went 3 for 4 before noon. The only fish we saw were the ones we jumped, not a single fish rolled.
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Trout Fishing with a Cobia Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: spicyswamprabbit
Our first thought was that it was a shark but as the fight began we quickly realized that it was a rather large cobia. My dad quickly manned the trolling motor and the chase was on. My friend scrambled to get our gaff and readied himself incase we were able to get the fish close enough to the boat. We chased the fish for 15 minutes, and after a failed first attempt to gaff the fish, we managed to get it boat side, gaffed and in the boat.
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North Pinellas Snook Bite
Florida Sportsman member: TailingReds
Targeted linesiders around Three-Rooker and Anclote last Wednesday evening. Caught and released four snook to 35 inches, plus a bonus 23 inch trout. All fish were caught during the first part of the outgoing tide on palm sized pinfish and grunts.
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Tampa Bay Toads
Florida Sportsman member: Tailn_reds
I suddenly hooked up with a 25 and a 1/2 inch red. After we released it my fried hooks up with another monster snook we got it within 10 yards of the boat and it came off. Suddenly I hook up with a huge snook It jumped a few and was gone, finally I ended up getting a 39 inch snook.
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Snook for Everyone
Florida Sportsman member: Bruce F
Forum member
Bruce F took his family out snook fishing on mother's day. They got into them to say the least! Everyone caught nice fish! Great work.
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Anna Maria Island Sharkin'
Florida Sportsman member: Royalflush
First run was a 3 foot blacktip. 5 or 6 missed fish later , we had a big one, but turned out to be a 6 foot nurse. More missets and hook pulls, then boom the 12/0 gets nailed, hook set good! About a half hour into the hour long battle, we assume we have either a jewfish or small shark wrapped in a crab trap. Wrong , big bull, 105 inch fat boy.
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Tampa Bay Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Tailn_reds
We showed up at our spot, water was high and getting ready to drop. The wind and rain started to pick up but we decided to fish through the weather. First cast through out a live bait not 2 minutes later I got smashed and my Friend hooked up with a 30 inch redfish. After a photo release we kept fishing, we caught multiple large jacks and lady fish.
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Disturbing the Peace, Catching Bruisers
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Reeling along slowly and as soon as the lure cleared the dock, it got blasted. Set the hook and my drag begins screaming. Rather than take me right back under the dock and break me off, the fish heads for deeper water at high speed. Rookie mistake by a big fish. The fish comes up tail-walking away from me. It is a beast!
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Skyway Kings
Florida Sportsman member: SnookStack
Early Saturday morning I headed out to the Sunshine Skyway to see if the Kings were around. At first light I got my first ever landed Kingfish. Being a flats fisherman this was quite the experience!
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Tampa Bay Slobs
Florida Sportsman member: Youngbuck
Forum member
Youngbuck had a good week, busting 2 healthy Tampa Bay snook. One on a Cut bait and the other on a D.O.A. shrimp.
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Tampa Bay Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Jared
Red fishing has been excellent over the past few weeks and should remain steady for the next few months. Most of the fish we have been catching have been top slot fish, with many fish over slot. Double and triple hook ups have been pretty common on most trips and we have been averaging 12 to 20 fish on a four hour trip with many in the 28-34 inch range.
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Slammin' Snook and More
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
This is just a quick synopsis with the highlights. We fished from around 1pm to dark. First we caught a couple of keeper trout. Around 1:30pm, my lure got crushed on a wind blown bank. Up comes a very nice snook. After a great fight with another jump or two, we got her in the boat. She measured 33 inches.
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Tampa Bay Heating Up
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Jared
The redfish bite has been extremely good especially fishing the high water around the new and full moon. Look for the fish to be schooled up on the flats on the higher part of the tides. Live bait has been productive, but fresh dead bait never fails, cut ladyfish, pinfish, threadfin and just about any fresh dead bait will do the trick.
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Sarasota Inshore Permit and Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman member: aaron
I saw something that looked like a massive sheepie sitting under a mangrove, so I landed my fly on its head and it ended up being about 5 medium to nice sized ones. They all swarmed my fly and I hooked up after one strip. We had to head out shortly after, but I am very curious if my method would have tricked one of those permit. I did see one school of three permit cruising along the mangroves averaging about 10 pounds, but I was being a fool and didn't get a chance to throw to them.
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Tampa Bay Trout and More
Florida Sportsman member: rKotinsky
As the day moves on, I receive another hard hit and suspect a good mid-size red fish. It pulls drag and avoids my yak like the plague. I finally wear her out and see another gator trout, this time I do not miss with the net and capture this happy moment on my GoPro.
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Southshore Shallows
Florida Sportsman member: srqmynatt
We got into some ladyfish and jacks on the outer sandbar, then we made our way in and started getting trout on the flats. After putting a few nice trout in the box for dinner, we made our way back inside and managed one 25 inch redfish along the mangroves, he ate a penny gulp shrimp.
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Macks for Dinner
Florida Sportsman member: aquaholik
This warm weather has the macks fired up pretty good if you are looking for fish for the smoker. I've been experimenting with various jigs made of marabou and synthetics.
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West Central Bowfishing
Florida Sportsman member: Barnakiller
Bowfishing is not something you hear about often around here, but is a ton of fun. It's like hunting, but you get a lot of shots. At the same time, it's like spearfishing but you don't have to get wet. I would like to get more people interested in it around these parts. Legally, anything you can spearfish you can bowfish.
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Doormats Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: NOTyourSPOT
Forum member
NOTyourSPOT found some really nice sized flounder in deep holes inshore. Now is the time to get out there and bring home a doormat or two.
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West Central Winter Wading
Florida Sportsman member: secretspot
sheepshead-docks, rock piles and bridges, also on the flats in deeper holes-use barnacles, shrimp, fiddlers or tube worms
black drum-same as above but add in cut blue crab to the bait list. the big ones are still a month or so away.
trout , reds, flounder- shrimp or cut baits will work but I prefer a super slow fished soft plastic jig or plug- Logic Lures are working well as are the Unfair Lures rip n slash. Hit the same areas for all three, deeper flats, potholes, channels, docks , and seawalls.
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West Central Flats Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Angler Systems
Fished a water depth under 30 inches all day. The majority of my fish were caught on a Sebile Innovative Fishing Stick Shad using FINS fishing Windtamer 10 pound braid, Seaguar Fluorocarbon 20 pound leader and a Shimano Stratic 3000FJ. Total fish count included Redfish up to 29 inches and Trout to 25 inches.
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Fighting the Wind, Catching the Fish
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
This fish was pretty strong and ran towards the mangroves first, but inexplicably back out into open water. She had me if she got in the roots. Came up thrashing and it was a pretty good red. Came back to and dove under the boat. Got momentarily wrapped around the motor, a couple of more runs and slipped her into the net at 3:50pm. She had absolutely choked the lure and I had to use pliers it was so deep in her mouth. She measured 25 and a half inches.
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Fighting The Wind, Catching Fish
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
This fish was pretty strong and ran towards the mangroves first, but inexplicably back out into open water. She had me if she got in the roots. Came up thrashing and it was a pretty good red. Came back to and dove under the boat. Got momentarily wrapped around the motor, a couple of more runs and slipped her into the net at 3:50pm. She had absolutely choked the lure and I had to use pliers it was so deep in her mouth. She measured 25 and a half inches.
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Fort Desoto Fun With The Whole Family
Florida Sportsman member: BryanC
Then Ron hooked into something that pulled quite a bit of drag. We had seen a few rays swimming around the boat and I figured he had hooked into one of them. Turned out to be a permit! That was pretty cool to see, and I thought we were kind of lucky to land it with 10 pound mono & no leader. A couple minutes later his line goes off again, and it's another permit! After that everyone started to copy what he was doing and we ended up catching a total of 5 permit over the span of 45 minutes.
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Miguel Bay Via Kayak
Florida Sportsman member: rkotinsky
I fished my usual spots and began catching a lot of small trout and jacks but no slot fish. I moved on and followed my usual recipe for success, hit the ladyfish waypoint for cut bait and yak on over to the redfish honey hole. Not long after tossing out the cut ladyfish I hookup with a nice red.
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Miguel Bay Via Kayak
Florida Sportsman member: rkotinsky
I fished my usual spots and began catching a lot of small trout and jacks but no slot fish. I moved on and followed my usual recipe for success, hit the ladyfish waypoint for cut bait and yak on over to the redfish honey hole. Not long after tossing out the cut ladyfish I hookup with a nice red.
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South Shore Flats Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Cast out into about a foot of water with the electric chicken. Reeling in pretty quickly and my lure got destroyed. Set the hook and the fish came up and tried to shake it. Thought for sure it was a trout, but then I felt the power. It was a nice red that put up a great fight. Finally got her in the boat and she measured 25 1/2 inches.
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Shallow Water Reds
Florida Sportsman member: jbibler
These fish were pretty fired up, but you had to be super stealthy in order to get close enough for a cast.
With any clink, clunk, step up or down on the boat and they would push away outside of casting range.
If you could get a cast far enough outside of them they would eat, but if you threw into the middle they were off to the races. Lots of patients was the key and we were rewarded with several fish.
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Terra Ceia Slam
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
We worked it a bit longer, but had no more luck there. We decided to run up to Miguel Bay. Lots of bird activity and baitfish near the mouth. Still working topwater and I hooked a 15 inch trout on the spook at 8:45am. We went inside, but tide was very low and had no luck. Back out to the mouth and we began to drift south along the shoreline. A small 12 1/2 inch trout for me at 9:45am. Pretty good sand and grass mix out there and the water was 2-3 feet deep. About this time Phi hooked into what appeared to be a good red on a topwater lure, but she got off. Another trout just over 15 inches for me at 9:53am. Five minutes later a trout just over 13 inch for me. Caught a trout just over 13 inch on the 3 inch shadflash at 10:25am
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South Shore Angling
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched out of CRB today at 7:45am. The wind was blowing at least 15mph out of the west. Plans were to go south towards Port Manatee and try my luck. Got down near Piney Point. The wind and floating grass were brutal. Went inside for a bit and picked up at snook just shy of 17 inches on the spook jr in bone at 8:37am. Came back out and went south.
Was struggling with the grass almost every cast. Was just about to go and managed to catch a 20 3/4-inch red on the 3-inch mullet in rootbeer at 9:34am. Worked south a bit longer, but no more strikes. It was so bad I contemplated going across the road and putting in the river to get a break from the wind and grass. Decided to keep trying. Went up in Big Pass. Water was really low now. Picked up a 14-inch trout on the spook at 11:49pm. Clouds rolled in and it began to rain. Picked up an 18-inch snook on the spook on a point inside Big Pass at 12:42pm.
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Upper Tampa Bay Reds and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched with Phil in UTB at 6:45am today. We headed over to a nearby oyster bar and Phil immediately hooked and landed an 18-inch red on the Spook Jr. in bone. No more strikes in this area so we went down to a nearby point. Phil's spook got destroyed at 8am. After a tremendous fight I slipped an over slot red of 27 3/4 inches into the net.
We moved around the point into this shallow bay. It was alive with activity. Mullet were jumping everywhere and lots of bait fish were moving. Six minutes later Phil caught a small jack on the spook. I finally got on the board at 8:20am with a 20 1/2" red on a skitterwalk that I sanded and re-painted gold. Phil got a 20 1/2-inch red on the spook just 3 minutes later. I picked up a 19-inch red at 9:05 am on the gold sw. At 9:26am I caught a 19 1/2-inch red on the sw.
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Spawning Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Tarpontine
Met up with a couple of buddies I hadn't fished with in a while and decided to pick on some different fish. My buddy hooked a big trout on his first cast, went around 25 inches, then we worked our way around some flats. After getting some short trout and some 20-21 inch reds, we eased into an area I normally hit the big reds. They were home...but being picky! There was a decent size school, probably over 40-50 overslot or very upper slot, but just wouldn't eat top water or jigs. I told my buddy if we switched it up to some bait we would get them.
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Paddling For Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: abm5926
Fished off the beach in my kayak today. The day started off pretty bad with really high seas, wind, and catfish on every drop with my sabiki. I managed to get a few greenbacks but I wasn't getting anything on them and I went through like 4 sabikis because the catfish would get all tangled in them. Finally I got a good sized grunt and put it under a cork. A few minutes later, I see a tarpon airborne with my bait. Took me about 40 min to pull the fish in and it was a relatively small one - probably around 80 to 100 pounds? I'm not too sure about the weight but it was between 5 and 6 feet long. It went around my anchor line and my sabiki during the fight, I have no idea how I got untangled and landed it. Awesome fight and released safely.The best part was I got the whole thing on video...
Here's the video and as a warning, I think there is a curse word or two
Manatee River Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
We hit the south side of the 75 bridge first. I lost a small snook on 4 inch shadflash. There were tarpon rolling under the bridge, but couldn't connect. Jeff hooked and landed a small snook. We went further up river and found a shade line in a little bay on the north side of the river. Jeff had a couple of good pops on the big spook in bone, but didn't hook up. I lost a small snook on the spook jr.
We worked a long mangrove line near Redfish Point but had no luck
Went to my north side docks that have produced in the past. First cast under the last dock and I caught a small snook on the 4" sf. We kept working docks and Jeff landed a small snook also on a paddle tail. Proceeded on down and we were probing under a dock thoroughly. Nothing. Made one more cast to the T of the dock and it got crushed. Set the hook on a good fish that went ballistic. She went out and then back for the dock. Kept her away and she made a great jump. Circled the boat and Jeff got her in the net. She measured 28.5 inches.
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Anclote Reds
Florida Sportsman member: TailingReds
Pretty good day on the water fishing the hill tide at Anclote. We caught two redfish, 23.5 inches and 32 inches. My buddy Mike caught the bigger fish on cut ladyfish and I caught the slot fish on a live pilchard. FYI, the small black tips are thick, so you have to sift through them to get the reds and snook.
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Little Cockroach Bay Action
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched out of Domino on the LMR today around 11:15am. Headed to the flat off LCRB. Still nothing happening there so I went back into LCRB. Fished back in there for the next 5+ hours. Worked mangrove islands, potholes and oyster bars. I did pretty well. All fish were caught on the 3 inch mullet in shadflash or the spook jr. in bone[...]
Finally got out of LCRB and went to the "guide" bank for some snook. Too windy and water was low. Went around the corner towards the back entrance to LCRB. Paralleling the mangroves with the spook in maybe 2-3' of water. Getting near the entrance and my spook got crushed. The fish took off towards the mangroves and then came right back out. This fish had some power and was really putting me to the test. It was a good snook. She went under the boat and back out deep. After a great fight, I finally slipped her in the net at 6:50pm. She measured 30 1/4 inches and was extremely fat and healthy.
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Overcast Reds and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: abm5926
Yesterday, I went out to one of my trout/redfish spots and started throwing a spook jr since it was so cloudy. I caught several lower slot reds and some trout between 18 - 22 inches. It was low tide and when it started coming in, I was getting huge blow ups on topwater, seeing redfish starting to tail, and then some idiot in a inflatable boat ran his outboard right through the shallow flat I was fishing. I was pissed but I sucked it up and went to a steep drop off and started throwing 1/16th ounce jighead with a zman 5 inch shad tail. I twitched once and got slammed by something big. I was using a med/light rod and 3000 reel with 10 pound braid and 20 pound leader and almost went to the backing. After a nice fight, I pulled in this 36" snook.
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Steady Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: captainrandy
Todays charter landed two 39 inch snook and one 37 inch snook and lost another along the side of the boat. We have been catching them on the incoming tide along deep depressions and on points with rocks using white bait 4-6 inches in size. They have been feeding about an hour after the tide gets moving up to about 2 hours before high tide then they are cruising the mangroves and seem to settle in to looking at the baits. The trout have been around as well but they are in the lower limit of the slot with an occassional upper slot one thrown in. Get out and bend a rod as the cobia, mackerel are around to give you a great day on the water.
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St. Pete Trout and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Icatcher22
Planned on taking the kayaks out to a protected flat in St.Pete to hide from the wind. The overcast made it a perfect opportunity for a top-water day. RawDaws (Brian) and myself both started off with skitterwalks. We started out hitting some average/smaller trout and then I finally got a big blow up. After a nice fight landed my personal best top-water trout that measured right at 27".
Went on to work around the mangroves - had a couple followers that pushed some very large wakes but all hit and misses...I believe they were reds but for some reason, they were having trouble connecting with the top-water...tried slowing it down, stopping , changing retrieve but no luck w red on top-water.
Got back to a nice cove and switched to a 1/16thoz jighead w/ a white zmann jerk shad. Second cast and I connected with a pretty overslot red. It put up a great fight with a couple impressive runs. Ended up right around 31"
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Desoto Action
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Inspired by Cody's recent beatdown that he put on the redfish over at Desoto, I decided to see if I could catch a few reds too. Fifty-three miles, $4.50 in tolls, $6 for ramp fee and an 1/8 of a tank of gas later, I made it to the launch. I put in at 12:30pm and headed over to Sawyer Key. I trolled over a pothole and at least 20 trout scattered. What I ended up doing during the day was circling Sawyer Key twice with a trek just north of there also. I mostly fished 1-5 feet in depth and focused on sandy areas with a decent grass mix whenever possible. I did work docks close by but had no luck on them. Water temp was 69-74 degrees. The weather was great and mullet were everywhere. This place was alive with activity[...]
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Going for the Trifecta
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched out of Wildcat Park today around 12:30pm. Water temp was 67-69 degrees and the wind was howling. Headed down to the big dock on the southside. Skipped under it with the 4 inch RT Mullet in smoke/gold halo. Got a strike on the first cast. It was a 14 1/4 inch rat red caught at 12:38pm. Went to the next dock but no strikes.
Down to the 75 bridge. Worked the pilings on the north side but no luck. Over to the south side. Worked one side and no strikes. Over to the other and threw out the same lure to parallel the pilings. Near the end of the cast and got a nice strike. Set the hook and a good snook broke the surface. Got her away from the pilings and she put up a great fight. Got her in the boat at 1:15pm. She measured 25 1/4 inches. Thought about taking a pic but too much of a hassle with the wind. It was brutal.
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Braden River Trout & Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Alex from GA
Didn't get a bite until 1:15 when my partner caught a small redfish. Then I caught 5 trout from 12 to 16 inches in the next 45 minutes. In the next 3 hours I caught a 22, 23 and 28.5 inch redfish.
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Anclote Trout & Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Juicebucket
We drowned a handfull of already dead cut pins for about 10 minutess before the first rod went down. I was suprised to see 20 inch class Trout on the end instead of a Red. I've caught em on cut bait before I just wasn't expecting it today. Suddenly it became a day of Trout fishing. Every few minutes a bait would get picked up and trout after trout came aboard. Decided it was time to get the girlfriend involved and had her grab the next rod to go down. It did and she did. A couple minutes later she had her first fish. It was a rather healthy 23" Momma Gator; not a bad way to get into fishing I'd say[...]
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Tampa Bay Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman member: mojotarpon
Despite a little wind we had to get out and fish and break in the new boat. We loaded up on some shrimp and hit some spots for sheepshead. This time of year I love to target sheepshead and what a great battle they are on light tackle. Make sure you get plenty of shrimp, today two of us went through 15 dozen shrimp and ran out with fish eating. We started out on the incoming tide and work a line of docks. I like to get in the tower and just crews the docks spotting the fish and then just head back at the beging and target the docks with fish. We had pretty good luck and had a dozen nice fish in about a hour.
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Gator Trout & A Surprise Guest
Florida Sportsman member: secretspot
Jeremy came down for a day of fishing for some gators and maybe reds. After a very late start, we arrive to have the area all to ourselves- a rarity. I hook up with something that was fighting unlike anything I've ever hooked before. I then see why. It's no fish but a little sea turtle. A few quick pics and a unhook and back he goes. We proceeded to tear into trout between 21-25 inches for about 2 hours. I lost a fish that might have been the biggest trout I've ever had. It was a monster.
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Killer Day on the South Shore
Florida Sportsman member: SouthshoreSlayer
With the warm weather we might have been able to get bait somewhere closer but I would rather head to the Skyway where I know I can get it 100%. After anchoring and getting set up just a couple tosses of the net and my 30 Gal well was full. We decided to hit Piney Point on the way back up to Cockroach. We fished there for about 30 minutes but there was no signs of bait, fish, mullet, or any life at all so we decided to head more North and hit the Cockroach flats. The tide was - 0.6 so there was hardly any water on the flats. Josh didn't want to push his boat so he waded the outside bar while I pushed my boat through the real skinny parts and over the bar. I was looking for potholes and wakes. I saw some movement about 100 yards away and quietly headed that way. When I got within casting distance I anchored and threw out 2 bats of chummers. The were getting chased and I knew it was game on. I had a bait out for about 30 seconds and my drag starts to scream[...]"
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Full Day of Reds & Snook
Florida Sportsman member: second splash
First stop was a small cut near the mouth I did pretty well on last week and got set up. Cranked a couple baits of chummers and they were getting popped. First bait in the water gets hit within 15 seconds, a snook around the 18 inch range. As I release him Dave hooks up on an 18 inch red. Within 2 minutes of fishing we are 2/3 the way of a boat slam. All the fish caught today were in the 16-24 inch range. I think we need some cold weather to push more of the bigger ones back in the river. We caught 6 or so fish (reds and snook) at the first spot and decided to push up river. We anchored up on the second spot and started chumming. I get a snook on the first bait[...]"
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Got Snook?
Florida Sportsman member: Tarpontine
"Got on the water around 7 launching out of Gandy with a buddy. Loaded up pretty good on bait- some fat snook size whitebait, tons of little threads, and a couple dozen pins. Made a stop just north of the Howard Frankland and got a 23" snook, a couple keeper size trout, and a rat red.
Looking for some more consistent action we moved to UTB, weaved our way through a maze of boats fishing the same area as we scouted for fish. Throwing some chummers as we went, we pulled on to an area where I started to see some fish. Next 2 hours were pretty steady- with the first 30-45 mins being non stop. Between the two of us we got 4 snook 30" or better, a bunch in the low 20's, and 10 or so rat reds. [...]"
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Gusty Winds, Redfish hitting
Florida Sportsman member: Lilcthefishslayer
"Mike busted up like 4 fat fish all within 20 mins or so. I caught a few myself with one being a real stud that came home for some blackened redfish. All fish were beautiful slot fish 24-26 except Mike getting one at 27 1/2. With a few 24's in the mix as well. Only caught 1 rat which was nice! Plus all fish are fighting at least twice as hard now that the water temp has dropped. I love cold weather redfish! [...]"
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No Sunshine Slam
Florida Sportsman member: Lilcthefishslayer
Took Mike out on the skiff today hoping to get on some afternoon reds during the low tide. Well the sun wasn't cooperating so no sight fishing. We picked up a few reds right off the bat, then we made a big move. At the next spot it was kinda slow, spotted a huge black drum just roaming around the flats but he wasn't eating. Caught a few trout and snook along with a little red and made another move across the bay [...]
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Fort Desoto Breeder Reds
Florida Sportsman member: secretspot
Being that I am known as a gator trout specialist, I'd like to throw some reds up for your viewing pleasure. Two came on the spook Jr. Clown, pinfish color, and one on the DOA paddle tail, bream color. Leader was 20 pound flour with 10 pound braid main line. It was Capt. Chris Hanna, his girlfriend Christina, and myself [...]
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John's Pass Slam
Florida Sportsman member: jewfish7
The weather looked ok for Thursday so I planned on throwing some artificials under the John's Pass bridge and then hit a near shore reef to look for some snaps. The water was really dirty so the bridge didnt look so promising but I tried anyhow.Second cast using a 5-inch swimbait a tarpon eats it and makes some decent runs then a couple jumps and then he throws the hook next to the boat [...]
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Pass-A-Grille Beach Linesiders
Florida Sportsman member: watsondan1515
From the end of July up until last week I had good action (didn't get skunked) each time I waded out from the beach at Pass-A-Grille. Go early, first light til about 10:30 a.m., or in the evening 7:30 p.m through sunset. Netted some greenies then chummed the outer sandbar in about waist deep water and hold on tight; trout, reds, snook, mackerel, blacktips, and of course the ladyfish [...]
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Flats Suprise
Florida Sportsman member: KeepmBent
We left out of Simmons Park looking to fish some reefs for grouper and snapper. We loaded up on threadfins that we used for cut bait and found a few mangos and macks, and a LOT of sharks. The gags did not want to play. We tried moving to some nearby wrecks but there were already boats anchored on them [...]
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Cockroach Bay Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: flatsjunkie88
Got a call from a friend that wanted to give inshore fishing a shot. I told him I had a full boat but if he wanted to bring his we could hit the flats together. We loaded up with shrimp at Southshore Bait and Tackle. The shrimp were pitifully small ( 2" was a big one ). We launched at CRB at 5:15 A.M. [...]
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Topwater Excitement
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched out of CRB at 6:15 a.m. yesterday with Dave (stormy). I had not done much fishing south of CRB so that was the plan. The noseeums are vicious at the ramp in the AM and then the mosquitos joined in at dark so have your repellent handy. We went out to the farthest mangrove point on the left and headed south along the shoreline. I started with the Spook Jr. in bone of course and Dave with the DOA chugger. It was overcast/cloudy and the sun only came out for a bit during the entire day. Conditions were ideal for a topwater bite [...]
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On the Road Again
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Decided to head back down to the Peace River yesterday with Dave (stormy). Launched out of Harbour Heights ramp at 6:20 a.m. I started off with the Spook Jr. in bone and Dave was throwing a DOA with a chugger head attached. We proceed over to the grassy points near the ramp, but no luck. Down to the little mangrove island at the mouth of Whidden Bay. Gave Dave first shot at the point of this island and he put it right on the money [...]
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St. Petersburg Reds
Florida Sportsman member: GEO
The redfish action continues to be strong with slot to oversized fish being caught around the Tampa Bay area. They are being caught on everything from top water lures, jigs, spoons, live bait and cut bait. If you can get upwind from them and drift in and set up this will leave them comfortable and willing to feed. With the wind at your back you will be able to make longer casts so that you can stay further away from the fish and catch more of them [...]
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Bishop's Harbor- Tampa Bay Gem
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Launched out of Bishop's Harbor with Dave (stormy) at 6:45am on Saturday. I had been there before with Hondo and Secret Spot and thought I would give it a try with Dave. The water temp was right at 80 degrees. The tide was incoming for a few hours, then kind of flat with a strong outgoing later. We eased out towards the mouth and the mullet were everywhere. We came up on a point with mullet jumping all around it. On my second cast with the Spook Jr in bone, my lure got crushed [...]
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Snook on Fire
Florida Sportsman member: flatsjunkie88
My buddy josh and I launched at Cockroach Bay at 5:15 A.M. We didn't want to mess around looking for bait and it was still dark so we decided to run to the Skyway. We loaded both wells with whitebait and took off. We eased off the throttle as we hit the no wake zone as the sun was coming up. We anchor up along the mangroves and sling out some chummers [...]
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Peace River Catchin'
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assasin
Launched at Harbour Heights boat ramp at 6:30am yesterday with Dave (stormy). We were going to target boat docks again to see if we could duplicate our efforts from our last trip there. The fog was as thick as pea soup on the river. We went over to work the grassy area and island adjacent to the ramp. The water temp was 80 degrees and the tide was outgoing.
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Night Time is the Right Time
Florida Sportsman member: Trophy-Trips
Few pics from the other night. Basically how the last month has been. Snook bite has been solid day or night, and talk about quality fish this year. Bull reds hit or miss, tide and moon dependant. Few studs the other night but wasnt an all out blitz. As far as snook we still have a few good groups inside, but most have made their way out to the beaches and are chewing rather well on the right tides. Grunts, pins, cut lady, greenies and a few select other baits have been hard to beat. Should only get better over the next month.
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Peace River Dockin'
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Dave (Stormy) was going through snook withdrawal so I thought I might be able to put him on some snook if we took a bit of a drive. We headed down to the Peace River to work some docks. We launched at Harbour Heights boat ramp around 7am. The water temp was about 80 degrees with a high of 85 in areas. It was to be a slow incoming tide all day. We worked the mouth of Whidden Bay and the nearby island with no luck. We headed down river to a cut into the Shell Creek area [...]
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Beach Fishing Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: PONCE
Spent a week down near IRB for my daughters wedding and a little RR with some beach fishing to boot. Kinda' slow on the beach, only saw a handful of snook and a little bait was cruising around. We ended up fishing some causeways, inlets and beaches. Caught sharks, ladyfish, trout, snook and jacks as well as the usual beach-time residents. Thanks to the guys at DogFish for telling me where the trout and snook were hiding.
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Shallow Water Slam
Florida Sportsman member: CodyS
After a long week of testing at school all I wanted to do was get outside and on the water. Came home around 2:30pm, called up a fishing buddy, and were off. It was the end of the outgoing tide and middle of the afternoon.... not too great for fishing but we have a spot for that type of situation. Nearly dry flat with a sandbar and drop-off near a main channel [...]
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Windy Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: mojotarpon
Yesterday me and my dad hit the bay early, and the wind was blowing hard out of the North. Water temp around Gandy was a little above 74, and we had the 2 tide day with a tide slowly coming in all day. I had 4 blue crabs so we hit the Gandy Bridge first thing. It was pretty dang rough under that bridge with the wind and the smoke coming from up North made it more of a crazy morning. My dad made the first cast and was hooked up within seconds and the fight was on. After a a nice fight the big Black Drum was in the boat [...]
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Hooked into some Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Frogman
Hit the kings about 5 to 7 miles off, early in the morning got hits on blue runners and greenies. A lot of Spanish Mackerel floated one out for bait on a balloon but no takers. Wind picked up and then headed in back to the flats to hook into some reds. Caught some great size reds. Overall great day.
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Big Drum in the Bay
Florida Sportsman member: CodyS
Hit the bay early today around 6:30 a.m. and I was on my way to my first spot. Paddled out to a mudflat near some spoil islands and started throwing a topwater, first cast I get a huge blowup but whatever it was missed. After that all I was doing was atrracting a bunch of pesky ladyfish...those things seem to be everywhere. I moved out more to a grass bed in some deep water and started to drift, again the ladyfish are bashing my lure every cast but when it did make it to the bottom I hooked up with a nice trout, nothing big just 15-16 inch fish [...]
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Inshore Slayin'
Florida Sportsman member: inshoreslayer
My buddy and I hit the skyway early to load up on bait this am. Bait was everywhere, and there were tarpon under just about every light lurking around. First we waded docks in the river and scored a few trout 18-24 and I got a flounder around 15 ish. We picked a few snooklets up then we relocated to Palma Sola where we each scored a decent redfish. I also picked up my personal best trout that went 29 inches [...]
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March Double Grand Slam
Florida Sportsman member: mojotarpon
Today was another amazing day on Tampa Bay. Bait is really thick now, just about all the flats I checked today are loaded. After loading up on White Bait my son and I hit a couple spots just south of Gandy and we had a awesome bite. The Trout bite was sick, all fish were were just fat pigs in the 18" to a nice 23" Gator that my son "HRM" caught. We both hit a couple nice reds and we just need a couple snook for the slam [...]
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Peace River Trip
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Got up early Friday morning to drive to the Peace River. Got to the Harbour Heights Boat Ramp around 7am, which was just over 90 miles from the house. This ramp was very easy to find and within a couple of miles of I-75. Great ramp for small to mid-size boats. Normally you pay per hour for parking there at $.75 per hour. The machine wasn't working and had a plastic bag around it so didn't have to pay. Sweet! [...]
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Simply, Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: mojotarpon
Today we went out for a few hours. Bait is so thick and easy right now, I love White Bait! We nailed some nice over slot Reds pushing the 29" mark, and a couple Snook ate. Not bad for a afternoon trip [...]
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Snook are Chewing
Florida Sportsman member: mojotarpon
Now that bait is showing up we hit a couple spots for snook and nailed a couple nice fish on Tampa Bay. Thats my grandad , my dad, and my son. I nailed a nice fat pig and she put up a great fight. It was great having 4 generations on the boat. I love white bait!
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Still Chasing Sheep
Florida Sportsman member: Inshoreslayer
I went out and found the oldest sailboat I could find this morning covered in barnacles, tossed some crabs at em and they were hungry. Didnt get weights on em but yeilded some nice fillets. Once again free lined oyster crabs did the trick.[...]
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Plenty of Tampa Bay Trout
Florida Sportsman member: onthemarkcharters
Somebody pinch me! My calendar says its mid winter but it feels more like spring! Temperatures in the low 80's with barely any wind is making for true Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce weather. With afternoon water temperatures at 67 degrees on lower Tampa Bay the flats continue alive with action. My clients today Garry aka Larry and his wife Rosalyn from Alabama were treated to some amazing sights [...]
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