Fishing report
Inshore- Pompano and Sheepshead are the big news this week inside Johns pass! The clearer waters have returned thanks to the period of cooling waters and calm weather. This has allowed the pompano to feed more aggressively along the sandy pass and beautiful beaches ambushing the sand fleas along the bottom or lures made to mimic them like the Doc’s jigs or Nekid Ball Jigz. Also, the sheepshead are starting to fill the structures around the pass and the clear water makes them super obvious. However, it does make them a little bit more leader shy and picky but some light floro and pieces of shrimp or cut oysters get them feeding. I always enjoyed chipping off some barnacles to get them attracted to the area before dropping my bait down the pilings. Snook bite continues at night and seeing a few during the day but lately all the talk has been pompano and sheepshead. Trout are more active this time of year in the back bays, and as the waters continue to cool they will push further in the bays on the shallower flats to keep warm.
Near shore- Cobia and gags are thick nearshore right now around Johns Pass and Hubbard’s Marina. The private charters are doing well on fat cobia by sight casting them when we spot them swimming by us bottom fishing. The big gags are firing especially around sunrise or sunset on the nearshore ledges and rock piles. Were still picking them during the day too, but you got to be ready with big tackle, big baits, and plenty of big patience. They are very smart and in most cases very cautious before slamming your bait. Still seeing nice triple tail along the near shore crab trap buoys. Also, hogfish bite still going well near shore too while using the lighter tackle and live shrimp.
Offshore- The 12 hour extreme is doing great on huge gag grouper especially around sunrise! This past weekend we even boated one that was nearly 40lbs along with another nearly two dozen other keeper grouper. The following trip we had 30 keeper grouper with nearly 80% of the people limited out. The fishing is HOT on the 12 hour extreme and the loads are light, remember gags close at the end of December until June 2018 so book some extreme trips on Wednesday and Sunday before gag season ends! The 39 hour is doing very well on gags too and during the day the scamp and red grouper bite has been fairly steady too. At night the mangrove bite is going well too, it’s a great time of year to enjoy the great bite offshore as long as the weather is good. It can be dangerous to run offshore in small boats this time of year as weather can change very suddenly!
Want to read the past reports? Check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/hubbards-marina-fishing-reports/
Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi news
The weather is perfect this weekend for a ride on the Madeira beach water taxi with us at Hubbard’s Marina! Also, you get a chance to ride the entire second day free with a ticket purchase. Our water taxi is a great way to ride the beautiful back bay and enjoy the scenery and local hot spots without worrying about transportation or parking!
Madeira beach Water taxi is running Friday-Sunday 10am-10pm right now and now that the weather has cooled down it’s a great time to enjoy a relaxing boat ride around the bay!
There’s tons of stuff to do while catching a ride with the Madeira beach water taxi, check out all the things to do: http://www.tampabayferry.com/things-to-do/
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
The waters around Johns pass have cleared up considerably, it’s an awesome time of year to enjoy a relaxing dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour with us at Hubbard’s Marina! You can see the oyster beds, grass flats, dolphins and mullet schools easier than ever before.
The mullet are starting to move a little and the dolphins love to follow in large groups! They are super playful and plenty visible in the clear waters of Johns Pass.
We have been spotting the big peacocks along the park street mansions more and more often along the water’s edge making the dolphin cruises even more enjoyable.
Plenty of action and life at the bird nesting islands insides Johns Pass this time of year, and it’s a great time to join Capt Jack or Capt Dave for a relaxing dolphin tour with us at Hubbard’s Marina.
Want to learn more about dolphins this winter? Check out the new great Johns Pass dolphin facts series on our Hubbard’s Marina YouTube channel to check out to see them all watch our dolphin playlist here: https://goo.gl/2mYjX2
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
2018 specialty trip schedule coming live December 11th at 9am! You ready to book some amberjack trips for 2018? Maybe you want some red snapper action in the coming year? Get ready to book early and often starting Monday December 11th at 9am! The schedule will be posted to our website at this time, and we will turn on the online reservation system at that time, and the phone lines will be open and ready to blow up with you 2018 adventures with us at Hubbard’s Marina!
Want to get 20% off a gift card for Hubbard’s Marina? You can use this anytime from the date you buy it until the end of 2018! It will be good towards any trip or souvenir or tackle in our shop, same as cash. To get one, simply visit: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/gift-certificates/ and use the coupon code ‘blackfriday’ at check out to get the 20% deal! Limit is $1,000 per person, and we recommend putting it all on one card because our new system allows you to use the card multiple times unlike our old system. This deal ends next weekend so make sure to get your deal before it ends! Also, please share with your friends and let them know there’s not much time to claim this awesome deal from us at Hubbard’s Marina.
Also, we have a special seminar this weekend at Bass Pro Shops Tampa! It’s an hour long FREE seminar from 2pm until 3pm and anyone who arrives on time will receive a free raffle ticket. At the end of the seminar, I will pull winners and give away a FREE 10 hour all day, FREE 5 hour half day, and a few more smaller prizes. During the seminar we will go over near shore and offshore fishing tips and tricks and bring your questions so we can chat about what you want to hear! This is again, this Saturday, December 2nd at 2pm at the Tampa bass pro. Here’s the link to the Facebook event, please click ‘going’ or ‘interested’ and SHARE with your friends even if you don’t plan to go it will help us spread the word: https://www.facebook.com/events/549248855410279/ directions to bass pro are part of the event page, its only around 45 minutes from the marina door to door in south tampa/brandon.
We have changed around a lot of stuff on our website, you should check out the added material on our FAQs page to further explain bait options, best spots on the boat, rod rental options and lots more helpful information to hopefully help first time anglers with us have a more quality experience. To see the changes, check out the FAQs: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/faqs/
Gag grouper also open up June first and remain open until the end of 2017 so get ready for some big grouper fishing action with us at Hubbard’s Marina.
Regular’s club
2018 club signups are in full swing, by the time you are reading this Capt. Dylan Hubbard has emailed every 2017 club member for a chance to sign up for 2018 clubs early! Starting next week we will move onto signing up the new members for our 2018 clubs. Then finally starting Monday December 2018 the specialty schedule will go live on our site for bookings at 9am! If you want to sign up for the 2018 clubs early, check your email and sign up today if you’ve gotten the email.
Captains Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Regular’s club manager Hubbard’s Marina
(727)393-1947 ext 306
CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com
