Hubbard’s Marina Fishing Report 8/3/18

Fishing report

Inshore- The weather has been much better this past week but still awfully rainy around the area. However, this hasn’t affected the bite as much as the rough weather did last week. We are seeing some big tarpon rolling through the pass and even some caught and released by some skillful anglers. Luke and Jess from Canada caught and released a huge 150lb+ tarpon the other night on a live ladyfish. We are also seeing plenty of snook moving through the pass and on the beaches, they are loving the free lined live baits or bucktail jigs. The mangrove snapper action is fairly steady lately around the pass too on pieces of shrimp. Also, unique to the time of year we are seeing large amount of triple tail along the dock lights of Johns Pass area at night but only where the water is moving. Robert Bogacki, the fishing manager at the Tampa bass pro shops, has been plucking huge triple tail off the dock lights on fly fishing set ups and custom flies he hand ties.

Near shore- The hogfish are the new concentration for us since the red snapper season has ended this allows our ten hour all days to begin once again and were on the hunt for plenty of the good eating hogfish, the occasional red grouper, some shallow water mangroves, and plenty of the lane snapper, grey snapper or white grunts, porgies and occasional nice seabass. The fishing is very steady as of late, and the overcast conditions has helped the day time bite remain fairly consistent even through the day time full moon period. The mackerel and kingfish fall run should be kicking off soon as the weather cools back down a little, so be on the lookout for the return of that action.

Offshore – Amberjack season has opened up, we are very excited for our first Jack trips this weekend! They love the huge live bait or large vertical jigs and they are found on the offshore wrecks, springs and huge structure. Typically you have to be 120ft or more to find consistent number of keeper sized Amberjack. This past weekend, we had a 44 hour full moon trip that did very well. The night bite on this trip was steady and we picked mangrove snapper and big yellowtail snapper consistently through the night with some big gag grouper and the occasional kingfish mixed in. The day time bite was a little slower in the 120-140ft waters we were fishing but once late afternoon hit the snapper species kicked back up and the bite got hot once again. Keep in mind on the full moon the day time bite can get very slow typically. The big gag grouper bite was decent through the trip and it’s great to see them starting to move in a little more shallow, they have been 150ft or more consistently now we saw them 100-140ft through this trip and caught over two dozen thick gags. Pelagic bite around this depth has however been fairly mediocre at best with the occasional night time kingfish bite, but not much else other than bonita. Out deeper, around 160ft or more there’s plenty of big wahoo but they haven’t been too consistent as of late either. Lots of big sharks out there now though, were seeing tons of aggressive bull sharks and catching and releasing them often.

 

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Captain Jack’s dolphin corner

We are seeing lots of birds at the bird nesting island in the late evening, during the day the island is pretty sparse since the baby birds are now mostly juveniles who are leaving the nests. However, in the afternoon or late evening we are still spotting the mother birds feeding some of the younger Juvenile birds.

 

Plenty of manatees have been spotted lately around Johns Pass aboard the Hubbard’s Marina Johns pass dolphin tour. The sea grass beds in our back bay waters are super healthy and they are holding lots of manatees lately feeding on the turtle grass beds inside Johns Pass.

 

Dolphins have been grouped up and very playful lately as they socialize the five local baby dolphins that have been born over the past four months. With all the local babies there’s large pods of dolphins to be spotted and they have been very active to say the least making it a great time to get out on the water.

 

We are also seeing lots of sea turtles as of late especially on the higher tides after a long incoming tide the bigger sea turtles who are coming inshore to lay eggs on the beach are getting pushed into the passes with the strong incoming currents, and make it very special to spot these unique animals!

 

On top of all the other local wildlife we are seeing lots of spotted eagle rays and bat rays as of late jumping around the local back bay waters aboard our dolphin tours, sunset cruise and three hour shelling cruise at Hubbard’s Marina inside Johns Pass.

 

Right now, is an awesome time to experience some great times on the water at Hubbard’s Marina while cruising the back-bay waters of upper Boca Ceiga bay aboard the big blue dolphin boat out of Johns Pass Madeira beach. Our hour and a half dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour with guaranteed dolphin sightings has been spotting large pods of dolphin and it’s been super nice weather for us too. Plus, our entire cruise is narrated so the captain will tell you all about the local area and local wildlife as well. If you want to learn more about the relaxing, fun and family friendly Johns Pass dolphin watching tour with us at Hubbard’s Marina check out this page – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/dolphin-watching-cruises/

 

The shelling lately has been phenomenal around shell key and our three-hour shelling trip Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am until noon is a great way to spend an hour on the island hunting for tons of great local shells. Plus, you have an hour ride down to the island through the beautiful intercoastal waterways and then you have a relaxing hour ride back from the island along our gorgeous gulf beaches. What a great way to spend the morning with your family, friends or whoever you want to show off our gorgeous local islands too and share some awesome shelling opportunities with. For more information on the fun filled three-hour shelling adventure with us at Hubbard’s Marina check out this page – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/florida-shelling-cruise/

Baby face our local famous dolphin that was hit by a boat’s propeller has made a miraculous recovery and just recently had a baby of its own! This is great to see this dolphin doing so well after such a traumatic injury and her and her newborn are doing well and can be spotted easily aboard our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour or the Madeira beach water taxi service!

 

The waters in the back bays has been gorgeous lately! The weather has been great for dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tours because the dolphins are playful, birds are roosting, and waters are super clear making dolphin watching easy and fun! Plus, lots of manatees and sea turtles are around right now too. For more info on our guaranteed dolphin sightings tour check out this informational link with some great Madeira beach dolphin tours info – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/dolphin-watching-cruises/

 

Hubbard’s Marina Sea Adventures, Tampa bay ferry and taxi, and the Madeira beach water taxi are all now proudly power by Honda Marine! If you come visit us for a dolphin tour, sunset cruise, Egmont key island trip, snorkeling, shelling, water taxi ride or any type of ferry or pleasure cruise trip then you will be riding a boat powered by Honda Marine! These new motors look great, are super quiet and are great on fuel economy! It was tough to get four boats re-powered with new engines but it was well worth the change and were very happy! Hope you get a chance to see these brand new super cool engines at work on board one of our pleasure cruise and ferry boats! To learn more about Honda Marine engines for your boat, check out their website: https://marine.honda.com/ they have the best warranty in the industry right now, you get a full 5 years and you just can’t beat that!

 

 

Tampa bay ferry News

 

The shelling right now aboard the Shell key ferry and Egmont key ferry is some of the best shelling we have had locally in the past five years says our first mate extraordinaire Lani. She has been working these tours for many many years so when she said this I was very impressed to hear. They are spotting some very special shells, sharks teeth and more!

 

Also, just like the back bay waters we are spotting tons of manatees around Shell key and Egmont key island as well. So cool to see these huge groups of manatees moving along the beautiful beaches of shell key and Egmont key islands while aboard the Tampa Bay Ferry boats by Hubbard’s Marina.

 

There’s tons of sea turtle nests around the local area and our barrier island beaches so make sure while searching for the great shells and enjoying our gorgeous beaches you are careful to avoid the marked off sea turtle nests.

 

The shell key ferry has been spotting lots of manatees around shell key and bunces pass lately while cruising to and from the island. This island ferry ride is a great way to experience shell key and offers tons of flexibility on how long or how short you want to spend time on the island shelling, swimming and exploring this pristine island paradise! For more info on how you can join us for a ride to shell key aboard the shell key ferry by Tampa bay ferry and Hubbard’s Marina check out this page – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/shell-key-ferry/

 

Ready for a great way to see the area and relax on the water? You would LOVE the Tampa bay ferry by Hubbard’s Marina we have the Madeira beach water taxi service, a shell key island ferry, Egmont key island ferry and MORE to come as well! You don’t want to miss a great day of fun in the sun shelling, snorkeling, or cruising the bay bays in style with us at Tampa Bay ferry.

 

The Madeira beach water taxi by Tampa bay ferry & Hubbard’s marina is currently running 7 days a week and we have tons of pick up and drop off locations around Madeira beach, Treasure Island and western St Pete. If you want a way to avoid the beach traffic and parking Fees Park FREE at ABC marina and catch the ferry or Jungle Prada and hop on the ferry, there. Check out this like for our Madeira beach water taxi schedule by Tampa bay ferry – http://tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-water-taxi/route-and-schedule/

 

Don’t forget to check out the BRAND NEW shell key ferry from Fort De Soto County Park out to the beautiful shell key preserve! This is a great way to see the island, go shelling and enjoy a day on the water with a flexible schedule. For more info on this new ferry route check out this link to the Tampa bay ferry shell key page – http://tampabayferry.com/shell-key-ferry/route-and-schedule/

 

The Egmont key ferry is running daily as well with multiple rides out to the island from Fort De Soto’s bay pier. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday there’s an afternoon ferry option too instead of just mid-morning. Check out the website for ferry prices and times. Plus, while on the island they offer a snorkeling trip too!
https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/egmont-key-ferry-cruise/

 

 

Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina

 

Amberjack season is HERE! Plus, Gray triggerfish are open again! It’s a great time to book your long range fishing trip aboard our party boats or a special long range private charter trip with us at Hubbard’s Marina!

 

We have a super light load coming up on our Tuesday August 7th 39 hour less than two dozen anglers are booked currently for 20 hours of fishing time and a two day bag limit of jacks, triggers, yellowtail snapper, mangroves and MORE!

 

We also have a fairly light load on the Friday August 10th 39 hour deep sea fishing trip too! If you’re ready for some deep water fishing, time to book one of these lighter long range trips TODAY!

 

Keep in mind, we also have 12 hour extreme trip options for Jacks and triggerfish too!

 

Also, we have a 63 hour deep drop pelagic trip coming up August 16th which also has a super light load but we plan to go no matter what and were looking forward to plenty of tilefish, deep water grouper, queen snapper and more. Plus, hopefully plenty of wahoo, tuna and maybe some billfish on the trollers too!

 

Want to learn more about fishing locally? Don’t forget we have the Weekly fishing conversation or seminar by Capt Dylan Hubbard LIVE on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook page if you don’t want to leave your house to catch a seminar! We also then upload this video to the Hubbard’s Marina YouTube page shortly after the live video is over. This is weekly on Sunday nights from 8:30pm until 9:30pm, check out the event page and PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE the event if you have a Facebook page, and invite your friends as well! https://www.facebook.com/events/249881722421418/

Want to win some FREE fishing trips with us at Hubbard’s Marina? Join Capt Dylan Hubbard at Bass Pro Shops Tampa at 2pp, Saturday August 25th for a chance to win a free 5-hour half day for two guests or a FREE 10 hour all day fishing trip for two guests. All you must do is attend this free seminar and get a free raffle ticket just before the seminar begins and at the end, Capt Dylan Hubbard will draw the two lucky winners plus during the hour-long seminar he will give away whatever tips, tricks and techniques you want to learn about. Plus, this is held at the wonder Tampa bass pro shops location where there’s so much to do, see and learn about. Also, next door is a new Dave and busters arcade and top golf is across the street as well so it’s a great place to spend a Saturday. After the seminar you can join Capt Dylan Hubbard for a drink and gator bites at the Islamorada fish company right inside the bass pro shops, it’s one of his favorite restaurants and a great way to spend more time with him before he runs back to Hubbard’s Marina. For more info on the event, check out the event page on Facebook, and PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE the event to all your friends – https://www.facebook.com/events/463373337511901/

 

ACTION ALERT: We need YOU and all your friends to check out the following TWO links to easily get informed on two very important issues that face our fishery. Your action on both these links would tremendously help improve our fishery and it only takes a few moments.

 

First issue, is the Okeechobee outflow problems where tons of infected fresh water is being discharged out either side of South Florida creating a green algae disaster. This could spread north into our area, and down south where it’s located it’s causing lots of fish to die and really hurting the fishery and the future of the fishery down there could severely be affected. Take 30 seconds to fill out this form letter at this link, ESPECIALLY if you don’t live in Florida your help is severely needed to get our senate and congress to take action on this issue: https://captainsforcleanwater.org/take-action/eaa-reservoir/

 

Second Issue, is the Modern fisheries act that is being pushed into the senate now after passing the House of Representatives. This will severely help improve recreational fishery access and will ‘modernize’ the approaches fishery managers can use to govern our recreational fishery nationwide. Again, this will only take a few moments to fill out a form letter to show your support for this bill. The link also includes all the information you will need to get educated on the subject if you would like to read up before filling out the letter: https://www.votervoice.net/NMMA/campaigns/60049/respond

 

 

Regular’s club

 

Our regular’s club loyalty program is now closed for 2018, if you would like info on joining for 2019 you can email Capt Dylan Hubbard anytime and he can send you the info and get you on the list for a 2019 membership!

Captains Mark and Dylan Hubbard

Vice president and Regular’s club manager Hubbard’s Marina
(727)393-1947 ext. 306

CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com

 

 

 

Preferred partner spotlight

 

Slyce Pizza bar – late night specials Sunday-Thursday 8pm until close! Enjoy half off select menu items while hanging with your favorite Slyce bartenders! For more info check out http://Slycepizza.com