Hubbard's Marina Fishing Report 9-8-2018 | Hubbard's Marina | Deep Sea Fishing | Dolphin Watching Tours

Fishing report

Inshore– We are still red tide free inside John’s Pass and along the beaches of our area, however, it is hanging out in spotty locations off our coast but doesn’t seem to be affecting our fishing. We are still seeing lots of triple tail around the dock lights of Johns Pass eating on live shrimp. The triple tail action is mostly at night. Robert Bogacki from Gulfport, who is the fishing manager at the Tampa bass pro shops has been tearing up the triple tail around Johns pass along with a few nice trout too. We are still seeing plenty of snook around Johns Pass too. Capt Frank Bacheler, our half day and all-day party boat captain, got a few nice big snook this past week using a large piece of dead bait weighted to bottom right around the docks of John’s Pass. They seem to be extra lazy lately with the warmer waters. We are seeing the mangrove snapper action continue throughout the pass along the structure. Plus, the structure of Johns Pass is starting to hold the higher numbers of Sheepshead too as the water cools those sheepshead will become more and more prolific and larger and larger in size. The fall and winter are a great time for sheepshead fishing around our area. We love to use 15-20lb fluorocarbon leaders with 2ot hooks and super light weight or none at all with a barnacle, piece of shrimp or a fiddler crab for bait to target these great eating, hard fighting and fun to catch sheepshead around Johns Pass Madeira beach.

Near shore– The red tide fish kill is hanging off our coast 2-3 miles from shore and extending out to 8-10 miles from shore so this 5-8 mile stretch reaches from Egmont key channel up to nearly clearwater pass area, but it gets thicker south of Johns Pass and thinner up north of us. We are still catching plenty of great fish beyond this area and were catch plenty of mackerel and bait fish inside of this area. Plus, were able to get our live baits through it in our live wells without killing the bait so it seems very spotty and not too concentrated. Also, when you drive through it you can see clean water behind the boat telling us it’s not too deep in the water column. We are hoping this clears up quickly but for now were just bouncing around outside this ‘line’ of dirty water and fish kill and doing well! The hogfish bite is fairly steady when you can find em chewing, some days they are while other days its slow on the hogs. However, as the water cools there’s going to be more and more days where they are chewing well for us. The triple tail are also thick near shore as well, we even caught one this past week of a dead fish as we traversed the fish kill zone along our coast. The mackerel are still thick near shore as well outside the dirty water and right along its edges chasing big bait balls around the near shore waters. The kingfish haven’t made their way near shore quite yet, but we are seeing more and more offshore.

Offshore – This past weekend’s 39 hour trip did well, but they had to fight an extremely strong current and somewhat bumpy conditions to grind out a decent catch. It was a knock down drag out fill the boxes trip but after a long stretch of sticking and moving Capt Garett was finding them enough fish to have a good time. It’s not that we weren’t on the fish, it was just tough getting baits down and feeling the bite when the current was running well over a knot, and the three to four foot seas added even more difficulty in feeling the bite for the anglers on board. However, we got some nice big amberjack, nice pile of good eating mangrove snapper, some yellowtail, porgies, vermillion, red grouper, gag grouper and even some kingfish while trolling to make it an all around good trip. The 12 hour extreme trips aboard the Flying HUB 2 and it’s long range fishing charters have been doing very well out there on big amberjack, red grouper and gag grouper too! The 12 hour extreme trip has super light loads over the next month and it’s a great option to fish the 39 hour area in a single day trip!

Want to watch Capt Dylan Hubbard’s Daily video reports? Check out the Hubbard’s Marina YouTube channel and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE! – Hubbard’s Marina daily fishing & boating report

Captain Jack’s dolphin corner

Red tide is not in the pass or along the beaches of our area, however, we do have a stretch of it off the coast. Again, this isn’t a super thick choking kill everything red tide. It’s only very light or mild right now with very sporadic small amounts of dead fish around tidal rips where the wind and currents accumulate the dead small bait fish that are super susceptible to even the lightest red tide presence. So this is not affecting our cruises or back bay dolphin tours, or even the sunset cruise isn’t really seeing any fish or effect from the red tide.

However, due in part to the strong ride to our south I feel this has ‘pushed’ manatees up our way more and were spotting tons of them lately around Johns Pass and Upper Boca Ceiga bay. This has really been a unique sight to see manatees so frequently as of late. Were just hoping they don’t get caught in any more red tide but as long as they stay to its north side they will be fine.

Along the same lines as the plentiful manatees we still have tons of playful dolphins around the area, and many are willing to come along the side of the boat to show off to our guests and play along side the ‘big blue boat’.

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

Despite the spotty dead fish areas and very mild red tide around the area, we are still able to spend the day at the island or along the islands. Plus, we are still able to snorkel most days around Egmont key thanks to that area getting plenty of fresh water pushed around with no thick areas of dead fish around the island. There’s some times see more than other days, so it’s more of a wait and see experience when it comes to our ability to snorkel or not but the island shelling is still going very well and the island is a great time right now since the crowds are gone and the island is free of people going to take the shells before you can get out there.

Unfortunately, we do have some bad news to report however. Due to the City of Madeira beach new city government voting to defund the Madeira beach water taxi we are being forced to shut down the Madeira beach water taxi operations as of September 30th. If you would like to ride the Madeira beach water taxi before the city shuts it down, there’s still plenty of time to join us! This is a great way to get to Johns Pass, sea the area, go for a pub crawl, or just hangout on a gorgeous water taxi as it takes guests, locals, and tourists alike around our beautiful local area. Check out this link for our Madeira beach water taxi schedule by Tampa bay ferry – http://tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-water-taxi/route-and-schedule/

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/

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!

Egmont Key Ferry from Fort Desoto Park

Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina

Dry dock is in full swing, the Florida fisherman 2 is out of the water on the rails in Tarpon springs where our captains and crew will be hard at work making It even better for future guests. This will be around 5-6 weeks and were expecting to have it back in operation around October 16th just in time for that weekend’s long-range fishing adventures!

Due to dry dock, we have SPECIAL TRIPS going on right now! SPECIAL PRIVATE CHARTER EXPERIENCES for the price of the party boat trips! This is a 10 hour all day option aboard the HUB, one of our private fishing charter boats at Hubbard’s marina and it is only offered starting Sept 9th through October 16th. Basically, instead of our normal 10 hour all day on the party boat, we are running that same trip aboard the HUB. You can get a split charter experience for the price of the party boat trip. However, aboard the HUB you can go a little further a little faster. All the same species will be targeted but aboard the HUB with less lines in the water and more one on one help, you have a much greater shot at catching hogfish, grouper and more! Plus, this boat will take you out around 5-10 miles an hour faster than the party boat, so you get a little more fishing time, or you get to fish a little further from shore than at typical 10hr all day on the party boat. PLUS, on the HUB you can bring your own beer since it doesn’t have an alcohol license like the party boat. The HUB does have a restroom and a covered sitting area and cabin, but it does not have the air-conditioned cabin like the party boat. This trip will only allow up to 14 anglers on board so BOOK YOUR TRIP TODAY as these will fill up very quickly as many people love the private charter experience but can’t typically afford one all by themselves, so this is a great option to experience it for the same price as the 10-hour party boat trip. Here’s all the 10 hour all day info, again all the tackle recommendations and catches stay the same there’s just a change in the meal packages since we don’t have a galley they are pre-made deli style sandwiches and you can bring your own beer on board – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/10-hour-all-day-fishing-charters/
**Due to only allowing 14 passengers on board, and being private charter experience THERE ARE NO DISCOUNTS on this trip so no birthday discounts, no regular’s club discounts, no child discounts or any type of discounted trip fare permitted on this special trip**

Want a HALF PRICE FISHING TRIP, ISLAND TRIP OR DOLPHIN CRUISE? Check the email newsletter coupon below for a SUPER SPECIAL very limited time offer from Hubbard’s Marina! This is only going to be offered through the end of September and is only good on trips during September and not valid on Saturdays. Please make sure to read the coupon thoroughly and make sure you know the policies, you cannot stack discounts on top of this half price option and you must make advanced reservations. The coupon code is simply ‘EC18’ and you can redeem that coupon code during the online reservations check out process here – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/reservations/ (but be sure to only pick a 5 hour half day, dolphin cruise at 1 or 3pm or the shell key ferry as it will not give you half price on any other trip and it will not be valid on Saturdays)

Red tide is NOT affecting our fishing near shore! We are still catching plenty of great eating non-affected fish around Hubbard’s marina! Come join us for some ‘reel’ fishing fun during September and enjoy the SUPER LIGHT LOADS on most of our trips like the 12-hour extreme is often only taking 8-9 people offshore, the 12 hour night trips only have 18-24 people and the ten hour trips aboard the HUB only allow up to 14 people! The dolphin trips are super light, the island trips are nearly vacant, our beach cabanas are wide open and MORE! Come visit the beautiful gulf beaches uninterrupted by other guests or large crowds.

We will NOT have any 39-hour trips during dry dock, so the next long-range party boat trip isn’t until after mid-October. However, the 12-hour extreme trip will get you to the 39 and 44-hour areas and have you back in time for dinner! Plus, the 12-hour night snapper trip is a great option to go out and target mangrove snapper Friday nights!

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/

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
[email protected]