Fishing report
Inshore- The beginning of this week was looking a lot like spring we had warming water temps nearly to the low 70’s and the water was super clear and ready to pop with spring time action. We had pompano moving in, snook starting to move onto beaches very early and the trout bite was super-hot on the shallow water flats, and large schools of redfish were being found in the back bays, passes and along the coast. Plus, the white bait is thick around the bridges and passes reports Brian Harris our bait catching extraordinaire and local avid angler who’s on the water daily catching bait for us and fishing the pass. However, this mid-week cold front we had may shake those things up but were hoping it warms up as quickly as its forecasted and my mid-week next week the low 80’s were seeing forecasted should get those water temps back to the low 70’s quickly, this front was pretty weak and it’s not going to stay cold long so it shouldn’t have too severe an impact on our inshore fishery and water temps. The sheepshead and black drum should be fired up behind this front as were still seeing tons of those fish around the structures of the passes and bridges. Those sheepshead love the barnacles, cut oysters, fiddler crabs, and pieces of shrimp!
Near shore- The fishing this past weakened and the start of this week was good near shore we were doing very well on mangrove snapper with the occasional hogfish mixed in as well. Plus, the sheepshead are still scattered in our near shore waters too. Hogfish seem to be hanging shallower primarily around 30-70 foot of water, while the mangroves are out deeper in 70-90 foot of water. Hogfish love the live shrimp or fiddlers while the mangroves like big shrimp or small pinfish or cut threadfins. I prefer the double snell rig for mangrove snapper with 4-5ot hooks and 40lb floro. For hogfish, I like a knocker set up with a single 4ot hook and 30lb floro carbon and the lightest possible weight that is going to allow me to feel the bite effectively. Lane snapper have also been biting well near shore from 60-100 foot of water on shrimp or pieces of squid and occasionally that cut dead bait, we often catch these as bycatch while targeting the hogfish or mangroves using the techniques above!
Offshore – This past weekend’s 39 hour trip much better than the previous weekend’s trip but it was still a little slower than we would have liked. We’re hoping today’s 39 hour has much better luck with the bottom fishing since we have perfect weather for it and premium conditions since the Wednesday front got things moving for us. However, last weekend turned out pretty decent after we put together a good catch after grinding for them. We saw some big mangrove snapper in the 7-9lb range but unfortunately they were not really feeding too well but we were able to scoop up a decent catch in the box by the end of the trip. The lane snapper, vermillion snapper, and porgies were present for us as well. We caught a kingfish or two and tuna too for the pelagic fishing. The 12 hour extreme trips have been doing well on the nice red grouper, our most recent trip had a total of 20 keeper red grouper!
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Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
We have entered our busy spring break season here at Hubbard’s Marina. Due to that, we want to encourage all our guests to make sure you book your trips ahead of time and arrive a little earlier for your trips. Especially if you have a trip leaving between 11am-7pm since the traffic and parking all takes a little longer this time of year. When your leaving after your morning trips you will have to deal with this type of traffic congestion on you way home too. Please be advised our beaches are filling up due to the gorgeous weather and all the fun in the sun options we have around Johns Pass, Madeira Beach here at Hubbard’s Marina.
Lots of new trips have been added back into our schedule for our upcoming spring and summer season. Starting March first we have added back in our 3 hour shelling trips, daily Egmont key ferry trips, daily sunset cruises, 12 hour night snapper trips starting, 5 hour trophy shark trips start at the end of this month and lots more expanded hours and offerings at Hubbard’s Marina! Plus, we have gorgeous weather this weekend and into early next week, great time to come out and join us for some fishing, cruising, shelling, or sunset touring at Hubbard’s Marina! Keep in mind we are coming into our spring break time of year so trips are filling very fast and we highly recommend advanced reservations and always give yourself some extra time when you plan to arrive if you’re coming for an afternoon trip! Book your trip today at our website – https://HubbardsMarina.com or call us at (727)393-1947
Our 12 hour night snapper trips started up, and the next one is March 15th if you want a chance to join us for some night time snapper fishing action for mangrove snapper, vermillion snapper, lane snapper, porgies and more! These are great trips with plenty of night fishing time 25-35 miles from Johns Pass for around 7-8 hours fishing time and only for $129 but book now because these trips do fill fast especially around the full moon. We only offer them on the quarter and full moon phases Friday nights from 7p to 7a Saturday! Here’s all the information on these special night time snapper fishing trips – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/12hr-night-fishing-trip/
We have another great Bass Pro Shops seminar coming up Saturday March 16th at 2pm if you want to join Capt Dylan for a chance to win FREE FISHING TRIPS! The fishing seminar or fishing conversation will be about an hour long of fishing conversation, tips, tricks and more! Plus, at the end of each seminar Capt Dylan gives away a FREE 10 hour all day for two guests and a FREE 5 hour half day for two guests to two lucky winners of the FREE raffle. To be entered in the raffle you just have to show up around 2:30 pm and stay for the hour seminar. Check out the Facebook event for this upcoming seminar here – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/bass-pro-fishing-seminars/ You can also view all the past bass pro shops seminars at this page too!
Want to learn more about fishing locally and WIN FREE FISHING TRIPS without leaving your house? Don’t forget we have the Weekly fishing conversation or seminar by Capt Dylan Hubbard LIVE on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook & YouTube page if you don’t want to leave your house to catch a seminar! 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! Here’s the page to find the Facebook event link, and view all the past LIVE Q&A fishing shows – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/past-qanda-live-streams/
2019 TRIPS FILLING FAST Book your 2019 10,12, 39 or 44 hour trip TODAY while there’s still tons of open room, these trips will fill quickly so book NOW. Last year red snapper trips were filled up by end of January, so don’t miss your chance at securing your favorite trip TODAY. Here’s the link for all your 2019 12,39 and 44 hour trips – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/specialty-fishing-trip/
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
Water is super clear right now in our back bay waters thanks to the super nice and calm weather we have been having and light winds. The water is not stirred up in the slightest and the cooler temps keeps the algae down which allows for some of the clearest water conditions of the year in our ‘spring time’ when water temps are in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s and the weather is nice this time of year it gets crystal clear in the bays and along the passes and on the beaches making it a great time to do a dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour with us or our famous sunset cruise that offers FREE beer and wine!
The dolphins are in very large pods right now hunting the plentiful sheepshead, black drum and mullet so it’s a great time to catch a relaxing cruise and enjoy the playful groups of dolphins and super clear back bay waters around Johns Pass at Hubbard’s Marina. Here’s all the information on our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/dolphin-watching-cruises/
Along with the playful large groups of dolphins, we have our local bird nesting island called dog leg key which we cruise past during our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour is a beautiful sight this time of year as our local seabird population starts to dawn their mating plumage. As the local seabirds prepare for mating season they get very colorful and decorative plumage or feathers and it makes for a super special viewing experience this time of year aboard our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour!
Our sunset cruise is starting to ramp up in its availability! We normally run our sunset cruise on weekends only in our ‘winter’ season but now as we approach the spring the weather is so nice, the sunsets are so colorful and the people are starting to show up so we are starting to offer the sunset cruise more regularly so call us today to book a relaxing hour and a half sunset cruise with Hubbard’s Marina! It’s a bit more of a party atmosphere compared to our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour, and it doesn’t offer the full narration like the dolphin tour but there’s great music and some great jokes. Plus, the sunset cruise takes you down the beautiful gulf beaches at the golden hour with the sunset to your left and the beautiful beaches to your right. Plus, we often spot pods of the dolphins cruising the beaches too while enjoying the free beer and wine offered aboard our sunset cruise at Hubbard’s Marina inside Johns Pass Madeira Beach. To learn more about the fun filled sunset cruise with free beer and wine check out this link – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/sunset-cruise/
Hubbard’s Marina Sea Adventures and Tampa Bay ferry are both 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
Spring is coming! Snorkeling is about to start back up after a long winter break, and the waters are gorgeous around Egmont key right now! The Tampa bay ferry by Hubbard’s Marina offers 10am and 11am ferry rides to the island daily this time of year. You get three hours on the island after around a 20-30 minute ride out and back to the island. Plus, we often see dolphins, seabirds and sometimes even sea turtles on the ride out and back thus the ride time can fluctuate a bit depending on what we spot during the cruise out to your island oasis! For more info on the Egmont key ferry, visit this page of the Hubbard’s Marina website – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/egmont-key-ferry-cruise/
Our Shell key ferry trips are starting back up today! We offer these trips DAILY from the boat ramp at Fort De Soto County Park and they run at 10am, noon and 2pm and the final return time is 4pm! You have much more flexibility during the shell key trips compared to our Egmont key ferry because you get to choose the time you return to fort de Soto from Shell key! If you’re looking for plenty of time on the island and great shelling opportunities then the shell key ferry trip is your best bet! Check out all the information on this special ferry ride at this link – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/shell-key-ferry/
Regular’s club
We have finished 2019 regular’s club renewals and we are starting on signing up NEW MEMBERS, if you are interested in becoming a 2019 regular’s club loyalty program member please reach out to Capt. Dylan Hubbard by sending him your name and cell number via email to [email protected]. He will be in touch in the coming few weeks about the loyalty program that offers discounted trips if you fish more than 10,15 or 20 times a year with us at Hubbard’s Marina. It also comes with some free gifts and other benefits too besides discounted trips, but it’s NOT simply a discount program. It’s a loyalty program and it requires fishing often and being a model Hubbard’s Marina guest and showing the passion shared by all of us at Hubbard’s Marina for fishing and our fellow anglers.
PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS: be sure to renew your membership before 2018 ends!
Captain Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Co-Owner
(727)393-1947 ext. 306
UPDATED Coupon information
NEW Bull Bay and Hubbard’s Marina Custom rod and reels 10% off when you buy a reel to match them!
Penn rod and reel combos and select Penn reels 50% off when you talk with Amanda Rain bolt 10a-4p any day except Tuesday or Wednesday!
Policies –
Expires 3/15/19
Discounts cannot be combined
While supplies last
Preferred partner spotlight
The Friendly Fisherman has updated their menu for spring! You have to try some of their NEW menu items listed below:
P.E.I. Mussels $10.79
Steamed in butter, white wine, lemon and garlic. Served with grilled Tandori bread.
Salmon Rockefeller $17.99
A fresh Salmon fillet broiled and topped with our own spinach mixture and hollandaise sauce.
