Inshore Fishing Report
Lots of rain last weekend into the start of this week caused water temps to dip a bit, and water clarity to go down a lot. However, we did see an active week of inshore action. Lots of snook out on the beaches and around the passes, and even a few around the mouth of the bays and outter bay areas. Fish the deeper structures where water is flowing to find them during the day, early morning and dusk action has been good on the beaches and around the pass. Redfish action has been solid in the bay and around the inshore side of things. We are just on the doorstep of peak redfish time in September and October where they get the thickest and most active in our area. Trout have been steady despite higher water temps, this little cool down helped too. They are most frequently caught around the deeper flats during the day, and around dock lights and bridge lights at night. Few tarpon still hanging, especially the smaller fish back up in the upper bay areas. Sharks have been thick inshore lately with bonnet heads, black tips, bulls and others.
Fishing Tips
- Snook: Use live baits like greenbacks, threadfins, and shrimp, or try flair hawks and soft plastics at night.
- Redfish: Look for them around mangroves, oyster bars, and flats, and use dead baits during higher tides.
- Trout: Target them with soft plastics, white bait, and shrimp around deeper flats and potholes.
- Tarpon: Target them during the full moon with crab flushes, making it an ideal time to target them.
- Flounder: Find them near sandy bottoms and structures, biting on bottom baits.
- Pompano: Be prepared to move frequently to stay on their bite.
- Sharks: Use big dead baits in areas with moving water.
Help spread the word about what to do if you hook or entangle a bird. Never cut the line; instead, reel in the bird carefully to dehook and release it. If you accidentally hook a dock, break the line at the hook to avoid leaving any line in the water. Seabirds with fishing lines hanging from them are becoming more common, and this could lead to the closure of fishing areas.
Rising concerns about bird entanglements might result in closing fishing spots, impacting the few available locations around Tampa Bay from shorelines, docks, bridges, or piers. Learn more in our recent podcast with Salt Strong: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/shutting-down-fishing-at-busy-pier/.
NEarshore Fishing Report
Hogfish action has picked up a tiny bit, nothing crazy but its cool to see a few more than we have over summer. We are not too far away from hogfishing really picking up as water temps cool and cold fronts concentrate the fish around the smallest ledges and hard bottom areas near shore. Lanes have been solid around 70-100ft of water and even a little inside and beyond that too. We are seeing them mostly on squid and cut threadfins but the big ones love live shrimp. Mangroves are coming up sometimes too especially deeper near shore as we approach closer to 100ft of water. We are seeing them mostly on the cut threadfin, smaller live pinfish and big live shrimp. Red grouper are around near shore too, we aren’t seeing tons of them but we are catching a few here and there on our ten hour all day trips!
Fishing Tips
- Red Grouper: Target the deepest near shore waters with big dead baits or solid live baits. Use 60 lb test and 7/0 hooks for best results.
- Red Snapper: Use big dead baits like whole squid and bonita strips with heavy tackle to focus on larger fish. Prime trips include the 12-hour extreme, 39-hour, and 44-hour trips.
- Scamp Grouper: Use small to medium pinfish and cut threadfin, especially while targeting mangrove snapper.
- Mangrove Snapper: Near shore, use live shrimp and small chunks of threadfin on 30-40 lb test with 3-4/0 hooks. Offshore, use bigger chunks of cut threadfin or medium pinfish on 40-60 lb test with 5-7/0 hooks.
- Vermillion Snapper: Start around 100 feet of water using cut squid or threadfin. These fish are aggressive and not leader-shy.
- Yellowtail Snapper: Use shrimp, cut squid, and threadfin.
- Pelagic Species: Keep flat lines and pitch rods ready for sailfish, kingfish, wahoo, tuna, and mahi mahi.
Offshore Fishing Report
We are looking to gag grouper season kicking off September 1st until end of day September 14th. Amberjacks are apparently going to open up too since we haven’t seen a closure notice. However, according to the NOAA updates there shouldn’t be a season and they have even applied for a closure with NOAA HQ but since they haven’t responded and okayed the notice of closure, that means the season will open September and October until HQ clears that notice of closure. This is super odd to see, but this could be a benefit today but hurt tomorrow. As we are already supposed to be having a ‘payback’ for a rec quota overrun in 2024, if any season happens this year it will overrun the quota more, likely causing no season in 2026 and perhaps even 2027 too so go out there and get your jacks as much as you can this year as early as you can because the season could close at any time and likely not open again for a long time! WE are seeing some solid red grouper action and getting them on big dead baits or solid live baits too. The red snapper remain solid and we have them open until end of day sept 15th giving us a solid two more weeks to capitalize on them too! Great time to go out and get any fish you want the first two weeks of September while everything is open for harvest for this short time. Yellowtail have been solid, a few muttons coming up, plenty of vermillion, steady mangroves, big porgies and more too! Plus, pelagic action has been steady with a few blackfin tuna, a couple wahoo, few kingfish and the occasional sailfish spotted!
Don’t forget, that we have some great videos on our fishing tips and tricks page here to show you how to target and rig for almost any species-> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/fishing-tips/
Remember that when fishing in deeper nearshore and offshore federal waters, the Descend Act requires you to have a descending device or venting tool “rigged and ready.” If you know how to use a venting tool, keep it prepared. If not, here’s some helpful advice: https://bit.ly/3L5HTnv. Using a descending device is straightforward and doesn’t require as much precision or practice as venting. Return em’ Right has a training course only takes about 10-15 minutes, and you can learn valuable techniques to protect our offshore fishery. Spread the word by visiting: https://returnemright.org/.
TERMS OF REFERENCE-
Inshore: This covers the areas from the inner bays, through the bridges, and right up to the beaches.
Near Shore: This includes the coastal waters from the beaches up to twenty miles offshore, or up to a depth of 100 feet.
Offshore: This extends from twenty miles offshore or from a depth of 100 feet and beyond.
For more fishing reports, photos, videos, and other content, check out Hubbard’s Marina on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, or Snapchat by searching for @HubbardsMarina. Remember our family motto: “If you’re too busy to go fishing, you’re just too busy!” Thank you for reading our report.
Capt. Dylan Hubbard, Hubbard’s Marina
Phone or text: (727) 393-1947
Website: Hubbard’s Marina
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