Fishing Report
Inshore– Jacob ‘Smokey’ Grant, our first mate on the half days, was nailing monster snook in crystal clear water along the docks at Hubbard’s Marina using a hand line and a live pigfish or grunt for bait. The big snook love the pigfish due to their grunting noises they emit, seems to really make the snook react more than a pinfish does. Susan Mongan, from North Redinton, was at it again on the north jetty of Johns Pass catching nice pompano and really large whiting on dead shrimp. She reported her most action was when she tore off the heads of the shrimp and threaded her J hook down the body of the shrimp to make it almost like a soft plastic lure she could drag back slowly along the bottom, this seemed to get the whiting and pompano to strike more often she claimed. Joe Cardon, from largo, didn’t have the same luck Susan did but he did report the whiting were biting everyone’s line. The crystal clear waters did make it tough for most anglers along the jetty but using lighter line helped Susan and her friends to get the pompano in their coolers. Don’s dock reported the mangrove snapper and sheepshead were biting well but again the light line was a necessity to keep the action going, the water is truly crystal clear inside Johns Pass!
Near shore– Not only is the water clear inside the pass, but we have nearly top to bottom visibility in the near shore waters. This has helped the trolling for mackerel to become even more action packed since they can see our flashy lures from quite a distance. Also, the snapper bite is really heating up the grey snapper, porgies and even the seabass have really been biting very well this past week as the weather has finally stabilized for us. Today’s half day had huge stringers of fish with some hogfish peppered into the mix. Mangrove snapper are tearing up just about anything deeper than around seventy foot of water. The shallower waters have been tough to find mangroves that will bite due to the clear water they are too leader shy to bite any kind of heavy leaders. Keep your eyes peeled while fishing near shore the whale sharks have been around quite frequently the past few weeks we spotted two this week during private charters on the Flying HUB 1.
Offshore– Here’s the latest report from our 44 hour full moon trip courtesy of our newest addition to the team, John Martin, who is now the fishing coach for our long range party boat guests! The trolling was good from the start with Spanish coming in as soon as we cleared the bridge. Just before sun down the trolling got even hotter with several smoker Kings coming in with a couple over 20 LBS. The mangrove snapper bite would not quit during the night from start to finish, we only had to move twice and they were only short moves and anyone who was able to last through the fish catching marathon limited out on their two day bag limit before sunrise! As soon as you hit the bottom the mangroves were tearing up your baits. The only thing that surprised us, was the fact that there was no Tuna action at sun rise. The last several trips there has been hot flat line action on Tuna and Kings just before sunrise, but not on this trip. Perhaps the Goozers were so thick everything else was watching the show. One of the few draw backs to full moon fishing is the day bite often is slow as the fish have been feeding all night. When combined with no wind for an anchor heading the bulk of the day was picking at best, but we did pick up some nice red grouper, porgies, scamp and big Amberjack. Later in the day the wind picked up enough to allow us a strong anchor heading that allowed us to target two nice wrecks that were loaded with even bigger amberjack in the 50-70lb range and the big gag grouper also were biting well too between the jacks and starting June first we will be able to get them in the box finally. Overall it was a killer trip with tons of mangroves, nice grouper, monster jacks and a few big smoker kingfish.
Want to read the past reports? Check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/hubbards-marina-fishing-reports/
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
We have five baby dolphins around Hubbard’s Marina right now! This is the most we have had in the area all at once in many years. For the first time in Captain Jack’s 25 year career running these eco tours he witnessed two baby dolphins both less than 12 hours old in the same group learning how to breathe and play with their family group. We are not sure if they were born as twins but Captain Jack thinks they were just born very close together by two mothers that are in the same group. If you’re ready for a fun filled guaranteed dolphin sightings cruise with the original? Check out this link for more info on the Hubbard’s Marina Johns Pass dolphin cruise: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/dolphin-watching-cruises/
The waters around Boca Ceiga bay, shell key and Egmont key are absolutely crystal clear right now especially on the incoming tides that have been lasting all morning long lately. These beautiful waters have really added to the excitement beauty and experience for all our tours at Hubbard’s Marina especially our Egmont Key ferry from Fort Desoto’s bay pier and our three hour shelling cruise from Hubbard’s Marina.
Thanks to the crystal clear waters, snorkeling out at Egmont key is crazy fun right now we have such clear waters it’s the perfect time to join Hubbard’s Marina for some snorkeling fun at the island. To find out more about it, check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/snorkeling-tours-tampabay/
Tarpon have been spotted very frequently out at Egmont Key while our ferry takes guests from Fort Desoto out to the pristine island paradise that is Egmont key. These large schools of monster silver kings make for a very cool show for our ferry guests especially when the water is so clear like it’s been lately. If you’re ready for a ferry ride to Egmont key with us at Hubbard’s Marina, check out this link for more info on the great family fun tour: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/egmont-key-ferry-cruise/
Manatees have been prolific inside Boca Ceiga bay and around Egmont key so no matter what relaxing cruise you take with Hubbard’s Marina this time of year whether it’s our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour or our three hour shelling cruise to shell key or the super fun Egmont key ferry from Fort Desoto county park you have a great shot at spotting some beautiful marine mammals.
The rays have been thick everywhere lately and thanks to super clear waters we have been able to take our guests right over top of these large school of eagle, bat and cow nosed rays as they move in large groups to find a suitable spawning and egg laying location nearshore. This time of year it’s important to remember to shuffle your feet whenever wading along our beautiful gulf beaches.
Recently a baby osprey was born out at Egmont key and it’s sitting in a nest atop a channel marker just off the Coast of Egmont Key Island our ferry boat gets to cruise by it daily after it’s done on the daily snorkeling trip offered at Mid-day at Egmont Key Island.
We have been spotting sea turtles often around the gorgeous island paradise called Egmont, the loggerhead and even green sea turtles are really starting to become a common occurrence as we cruise between Fort Desoto and Egmont Key with our excited guests.
The nesting birds are all around Egmont key and our local rookery Dog leg key the babies are starting to be more like juveniles as they are growing rapidly but at Egmont Key we have nesting skimmers and on Dog Leg the baby pelicans are roosting still.
Our sunset cruise with free beer and wine is now a daily cruise once again as the weather gets nicer! Join us sometime soon for a fun filled trip and a beautiful view of the sunset. It’s the best bar on the water guaranteed! For more info on the sunset cruise, visit this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/sunset-cruise/
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
RED SNAPPER SEASON IS ALMOST HERE AND HUBBARD’S MARINA HAS 46 DAYS! You read that right red snapper season starts June first and runs until July 17th at 12:01am. This means you have 46 days to join us for a 12 hour day trip, 39 hour or the special 44 hour to target red snapper! We also have TONS of private charter options and the Flying HUB 1 will be ready for action! Don’t forget the Flying HUB 2 is on its way expected early June. Also, the HUB can do red snapper too at the lowest price but it just takes more time to get out there leaving you with less fishing time than if you were to book the Flying HUB 1. Also, we always have the Mrs. HUB if you wanted to fish for red snapper in high class! All our boats have special federal permits allowing us this longer 46 day season!
Check out our UPDATED specialty schedule to see the BRAND NEW 12 and 39 hour trips we have added to make more room for more interested guests to fish for red snapper: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/specialty-fishing-trip-schedule/
Saturday May 25th at 1pm Captain Mark Hubbard and Dylan Hubbard will be offering a FREE seminar on Gag grouper and red snapper fishing at the Tampa Bass Pro shops! Join them at 1pm to learn the best techniques to ensure you come home with a limit of these great eating and limited time snapper. They will not only be covering gag grouper and red snapper techniques but also much more, and if you would like to come with questions they will cater their seminar to what you want to hear! Plus, they will be doing a FREE raffle and if you attend the entire seminar you will have the chance to win a free 10 hour all day fishing trip if you win the raffle! Don’t forget to check out the Tampa Bass pro shops Facebook page and give them a like from all of us at Hubbard’s Marina since they were nice enough to add us to their pro staff team!
Don’t forget that Hubbard’s Marina offers a very wide variety of private charters along with our party boat options. Many people don’t realize how many different boats and options we offer for these private excursions. At Hubbard’s Marina we have 4 smaller fishing vessels for charter than can take 1-6, 7-14 or 14-24 plus we have two large party boats that can allow 17-110 so no matter what your groups size and no matter where or how they want to fish or cruise we have the perfect charter options for you and your group no matter your size! Check out the options at this link, and fill out the form to get your very own detailed quote based on exactly what you’d like included and what you’d like to target: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/private-charters/
We have one last 39 hour overnight trip in the month of May and this will be the FIRST trip for red snapper and gags, don’t miss your shot at 20 hours of bottom fishing time a 100 miles from shore! May 31st we have these special long range party boat trips they are very fun and unique hope you get a shot to get ‘hooked’ on deep water fishing at Hubbard’s Marina! To learn more about the trip, check out the updated site: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/39hr-overnight-fishing-trip/
The next 63 hour deep drop pelagic trip at Hubbard’s Marina is coming up on August 11th, if you want a shot to join us book now. We are going to be heading out 150 miles from Johns Pass but never more than 100 miles from shore. The targeted depth to start is 300 foot for mutton snapper, mangroves, red grouper and black grouper. Then we will be working out to around 700-800 foot for snowy grouper, yellowedge grouper, tilefish, deep water snapper and more unique deep water species before trolling back north to hit more deep water wrecks. To see more about these trips, check out the video on our new 63 hour deep drop pelagic trip page on the brand new website here’s the link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/63hr-pelagicdeep-drop-fishing-trip/
Regular’s club
Regular’s club signups are coming to an end. If you fish more than 5, 10, 15 times a year or know someone who does let’s talk about getting you or your friends into the club before we close the ranks until 2017 club signups. Typically we do this around May each year so if you want to get someone signed up for discounts on the trips and other great benefits for fishing multiples times throughout the year then call Dylan Hubbard or email him today!
Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Regular’s club manager Hubbard’s Marina
(727)393-1947 ext 306
[email protected]
