Inshore Fishing Report
Fishing inshore lately has been going well, but around the pass the focus is definitely snook at night and early morning then during the day focus shifts to the pompano, mackerel or sheepshead depending on where your fishing. We are seeing the snook definitely more active at night around the bridge lights or dock lights. During the day, you can get em to chew but only around those solunar major or minors do you have a decent chance. We are finding them on the pigfish or grunts or the bigger shrimp too. Mirror lure mirrordines are a favorite option of mine too!
Pompano are around the beaches, pass and jetty but they are very hit and miss around the area. You have to really stick and move to find them and one day they will be there and the next they have moved quite a bit. They can be frustrating in this aspect, but great fun to target on the pompano jigs or the live shrimp.
Redfish are super active around the area, we are finding a few around the docks and bridge too. However, a majority of them are grouped up in the back bay area flats, mangrove shorelines and oyster bars. Great time to get out and find some nice concentrations.
Trout action is surprisingly going well despite the warmer waters. We are seeing the trout even move a bit shallower too behind that little cold spell they pushed shallow again chasing soft plastics, but as things warm they push back down into deeper water.
Sheepshead are still persisting around the docks, piers, bridges and jetties. Desptie moving into our spring patterns these more wintertime fish are still holding out. We are seeing some real fat sheepies hanging on the pilings around the pass. While concentrations have dwindled, we are still seeing some big boys ready to bite some shrimp, crabs, or barnacles
Mangrove snapper are starting to get more active, while they are much smaller than their near shore or offshore friends we are starting to see them show back up around the pass structures. They are tons of fun on lighter tackle as they are quick biting and fun to target.
Mackerel are thick around the jetties, bridge and sometimes the beaches. Especially in the early morning when the tides push out the white bait from the pass we will find bit schools of mackerel crashing baits easily accessible from the bridge, jetty or beaches with a fast moving flashy artificial bait.
REMEMBER, please help spread the word and knowledge on what to do if you hook or entangle a bird. NEVER CUT THE LINE, stay calm and reel in the bird and get all your line back and dehook them and release. Never leave any line in the water, if you accidentally hook a dock make sure to break the line off at the hook never cut your line. Seabirds in the area are more and more often showing up with line hanging off them and we are in danger of losing access to fishing areas due to this. While anytime a bird is in danger or having issues is concerning too, but a wave of support of closing areas to fishing due to negative bird interactions is extremely concerning to an already dwindling number of areas you can fish around Tampa Bay from a shoreline, dock, bridge or pier! Check out the NEW podcast we did with salt strong on this issue – https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/shutting-down-fishing-at-busy-pier/
NEarshore Fishing Report
The red grouper bite has been pretty good lately near shore and has really helped to fill the gaps left by the slowing hogfish action. We are starting to see more and more of the red grouper lately on the big dad baits and live pinfish. They are definitely better towards our deeper near shore waters closer to that 100ft mark. However, we are finding them in a bit shallower too, but mostly targeting them around 70-100ft near shore and beyond. They are seemingly picking up and were hoping that trend continues.
Hogfish action has slowed down considerably, but we are still picking a few up here and there. They have really spread out and become a bit more tricky to target with hook and line. However, we still see them and catch a few on our ten hour all day and a few here and there on our 5 hour half day.
Mackerel are super thick near shore with tons of them being caught while trolling and even a few while bottom fishing they are so thick. The kingfish are mixed in and this past week really fired up. We were catching quite a few on the trollers and even more while flat line fishing during our 5 and 10 hours and private fishing charters too!
Lane snapper and mangrove snapper are pretty consistent near shore too. Especially when fishing a bit deeper near shore we see more mangroves. However, the lanes are more steady throughout the near shore depth range. They are both biting well on shrimp and cut threadfins, but you can get the lanes on squid sometimes too.
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 the hogfish -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/fishing-tips/
Offshore Fishing Report
Red grouper action is a focus right now offshore, and we are seeing nice mangroves too. Plus, the big triggerfish are around and plentiful heads and tails. The scamp are hit and miss but you got a good shot at them too. Yellowtail snapper are surprisingly consistent offshore right now with good numbers being caught on a variety of offshore adventures. We are seeing lots of opportunities for good eating fish when the weather allows us to get out there to them.
Pelagic wise we are seeing tons of action too. It’s a great time to get some kingfish offshore and you have a chance for a wahoo too. The last 39 hour had a HUGE wahoo circling the boat, but they couldn’t get a bait to it quickly enough before it took off.
For the latest fishing reports, captivating photos, engaging videos, and much more, explore Hubbard’s Marina across all our social media platforms. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, or Snapchat – simply search @HubbardsMarina. And always remember our family motto: “If You’re too busy to go fishing, You’re just too busy!” Thank you for your interest and for taking the time to view our report. Feel free to reach out to me, Capt Dylan Hubbard, at any time by calling or texting (727) 393-1947, or visit our website at https://HubbardsMarina.com.
