Fishing report
Inshore-
Snook are still around the passes but getting fewer and further between while most have moved further up into the bays hiding around the mouth of the bayous, rivers, and under residential docks. They are trying to stay in the warmer areas and regulate their body temps as best they can while the local waters cool down! The snook bite has been really good around the flats and mangrove shore lines in the back bay waters especially in the mid to late afternoon once the morning sun has had a chance to warm things up a bit.
Trout action going very well around the area on the flats and edges of the flats once things warm up a bit later morning to the early night time period. They can be found in good numbers at night around the residential dock lights or bridge lights of the area too. They get super frisky and in good numbers this time of year with the cooler local waters.
Redfish like the snook are further up in the bays right now doing the same thing, just trying to stay warm and they are definitely biting best once the waters warm up in the mid to late afternoon. Work the mangrove shorelines and the flats and residential docks for the best redfish action this time of year. They seem to be biting a little slower this week compared to the snook and trout.
Sheepshead and blackdrum are biting well around our local bridges, docks, piers and jetties hitting shrimp, cut crabs, fiddler crabs or cut oysters around the structures. It’s a great time of year to hit the structures of the area for these good eating and unique looking fish. They are bonier fish and hard to fillet but worth the extra work. In my opinion, sheepshead are the much better eating fish but often people will eat the smaller black drum too. The larger drum in the 10+lb range I wouldn’t recommend eating as they can often be pretty worm filled after they get larger sized.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish are pretty thick around the area right now we are seeing them around the piers, passes and mouth of the bay hitting greenbacks or live shrimp or the fast moving flashy artificial baits. These guys both have very sharp teeth and are known for cutting leaders with ease. Heavier floro leader like 20-30lb or some light 30lb wire is a good idea when targeting these guys specifically. The Spanish mackerel are definitely more prolific in our area than the bluefish but this past week we have seen lots of bluefish caught as well around the same areas you would find the mackerel!
Triple tail have been thick around the beaches, bays and intercostal hiding under the crab trap buoys or around the floating debris. Even off the beach a few miles you can find these guys under almost any floating structure. However, they can be a little finicky from time to time. It’s a numbers game targeting triple tail. You want to keep moving from buoy to buoy or marker to marker or debris to debris and you will eventually spot one or a few and find one ready to eat. You really have to work for them some days while other days they are fired up ready to eat whatever you throw. They love the free lined live shrimp the most it seems, but presenting that bait to them in a natural way accurately can be a challenge sometimes. If you need, you can add a popping cork to give you some more casting distance and weight for accuracy but you want overcast them as to ensure you don’t spook the fish.
Near shore-
The hogfish bite is going very well near shore right now! We are seeing lots of nice hogfish on our 10hour all day and a few on our 5 hour half day. The bite seems best around 40-70ft of water on the live shrimp. The Nekid ball jigz we have in our shop seem to get them fired up, or the knocker rig style set up, or the jig head set up too! They love the smaller ledges, rock piles or flat hard bottom with the sea fans. However, they can be tricky because they are very leader shy and very unaggressive. Typically the last fish to bite in the area. This makes them tougher because you have to weed through the other more aggressive species before the hogfish start to fire up. Plus, often once they do start to fire up they will stop very soon after they start so you have to capitalize while you can!
The red grouper bite near shore right now is going very well, almost better than the gag grouper action to our west. Way up north we are seeing more gags than red grouper, but that is quite a run for our 10 hour trips. Our private charters are getting up there but the party boat 10hr is more hogfish focused right now with some red grouper mixed in.
We are seeing some nice mackerel near shore from the beach out to around 60ft of water especially around areas holding bait like artificial reefs. The kingfish are finally biting pretty good this week we saw some good kingfish action mixed around the mackerel this past week as the water temps finally got right near shore to get them fired up.
Offshore-
The gag grouper bite offshore right now is going VERY well. Our last 39 hour had a pile of gags fishing right ahead of a front and we have another 39hour trip leaving today with nearly the same variables at play so were hoping for similar results this weekend. They have really liked the larger and more frisky live baits this time of year as the water cools but its not too cold yet. Big tackle is key to landing one of these 15-25lb monster gag grouper in the deeper waters. The big dead bait has worked, but this past week it seemed they wanted the live bait most. The 12 hour extreme trips have also been landing some big ole gag grouper too on the Flying HUB 2 racing out there offshore to grab some gags before heading back home.
The red grouper bite has been going well too, this past week we had a Flying HUB 2 private fishing charter hitting some potholes around 140-180 and they had some great luck limiting the boat out with some fat red grouper. They had one that was over 20lbs and was a true fire truck. The red grouper were cooperating better than the gags on the dead bait but the live bait was working well for them too. Red grouper won’t rock you up quite as badly as a gag would so you can back down your tackle if you know your only seeing the red grouper. However, I like to start heavier and if the fish are biting on the heavy tackle you mine as well stick to it right?
The mangrove snapper are doing very well out there too we are seeing some very healthy sized mangrove snapper biting well on the smaller live pinfish and the threadfin plugs. I personally use the double snell rig for mangrove snapper even when using live bait which goes against what we normally would do. However, they really bite fast so that extra hook works well to guarantee you don’t miss them. We have been seeing some great action on the mangrove snapper as of late!
The blackfin tuna have been thicker offshore right now too we are starting to see them in pretty good numbers out there past 120ft of water. Plus, there’s still plenty of kingfish out there too while trolling or flat line fishing.
Great time to get offshore for snapper or grouper fishing as long as you can time your trip around the weather and get out there when its not so bumpy!
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
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
2020 Specialty trip schedule coming December 2nd at 11am! Make sure to give us a call or book online for 2020 12,39 or 44 hour trips starting December 2nd at 11am. That is this coming Monday… book then and book often!
BLACK FRIDAY DEALS HAVE BEGUN, GRAB THEM WHILE THEY ARE HOT… tackle, lures, Hubbard’s gear and other products deals will run for a few days but the deal is over when the products get sold! Plus, we have the gift certificates on sale on our site for 20% off too and those are unlimited until the deal stops… so get these deals FAST before they are gone! Here’s more info below too:
1. 20% OFF GIFT CERTIFICATES, you can redeem these for future trips!
**KEEP IN MIND, for the 20% off gift certificate specials you HAVE TO USE THE COUPON CODE ‘blackfriday’
2. Daiwa Saltist 2sp- $275 + tax
3. Daiwa Saltiga 2sp- $380 + tax
4. Killer Stix Rods- 20% off
5. Hubbards Hats- $5/each
6. Spro Jigs- 50% off
7. Hubbard’s Winter wear- 30% off
8. Daiwa Jigs- 25% off
9. Venting tools- 30% off
10. Ahi Deception Jigs- 40% off
**THESE DISCOUNTS CANNOT BE COMBINED with other discounts, so no additional discounts can be added on top of any black friday deals. These are rock bottom prices and can’t be beat!**
20% OFF GIFT CERTIFICATES IF YOU USE COUPON CODE ‘blackfriday’ but here’s the gift certificate policies, PLEASE READ IN FULL BEFORE PURCHASE… Here’s the link to buy them NOW -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/gift-certificates/
– Gift certificates are only good for up to a year from purchase date, if you buy one december first its good until the following december first
-Expiration dates on the gift certificates are very strict, they cannot be extended for ANY reason please be aware of this when planning your trips if you book right before it expires and something comes up like weather you could be risking your gift certificate balance
– Good towards any trip’s fare – not usable on tackle, parking fees, souvenirs, memberships or anything other than trip fare only
– Cannot be redeemed same day as purchase – must purchase in advance
-strongly recommend you put all your balance on one gift certificate if you don’t want one of the preset amounts click ‘other’ and type in the amount you want to purchase. Buying multiple $25 or $100 cards gives you lots of gift certificate numbers and makes it difficult
– Maximum gift card purchase amount is $1000
**Keep in mind, when booking trips or buying gift certificates online there is a 6% convenience fee
Don’t forget about our brand new system that allows you to now TEXT OUR OFFICE if you’d rather not call us! Now you can call or text us at (727)393-1947 so for quick questions or updates or anything you can reach out even easier. PLUS, we have completely re designed our website too, make sure to check out the new site and let us know how we did. Any issues, comments, feedback or anything in relation to the website redesign please email me at [email protected] and remember if you have visited our site often you may have to clear your cache before getting the full new site to show up. You can do this easily via computer by hitting CTRL and then F5 while holding the control key, once the cache clears the site will refresh with all the new updates!
Join us for one of our special live stream fishing shows Sunday nights at 8:30pm! We will be giving away tons of fishing tips, tricks, techniques and will be answering your questions LIVE during the show! Plus, there’s plenty of FREE FISHING TRIPS to win as well! The shows last for about an hour, and you can find them on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook page or the Hubbard’s Marina YouTube page. We recommend following the Facebook event link for show info including what’s being discussed, who the guests are, and any changes! Check out the past shows on this page, and find the Facebook event link on this page too -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/live-q-and-a-fishing-shows/
Fox 13’s Good Day Tampa Bay show has picked up a fishing segment with Capt Dylan Hubbard Scheduled for every Friday morning starting around 8:15am! These segments will have tons of fishing tips, tricks, updates and more. Please tune into Fox 13 on Friday mornings to watch the show and if you are not local, you can watch it LIVE on their website -> http://www.fox13news.com/live
Enjoy learning more about fishing? Attended a seminar or watched our LIVE Q&A show Sunday nights but want to see the tips and tricks in action on the boat? We have filmed a mangrove snapper, grouper and red snapper mastery course with Salt Strong and they built me my own private page to give my fishing friends steep discounts on these crazy cool courses… PLUS, you also have the opportunity to become an insider member and join the community with great giveaways, raffles, the strike score tool, spot dissections, tons of free fishing videos and tips for inshore, near shore and offshore and MORE this is a super cool family of anglers and the positivity and openness of anglers is wild in this group… in the community people share what they caught, when the caught it, what tide they caught it, what bait or lure they caught it one and often WHERE they caught it too… you HAVE to check this out if you like fishing: https://SaltStrong.com/Hubbard
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
Great time to join us for some relaxing time on the water during our Dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour at Hubbard’s Marina inside Johns Pass aboard our big blue boat closest to the Johns Pass bridge! The mullet are flushing out of the back bays slowly and that’s causing our local dolphins to group up into large groups to feed on these unsuspecting fish as they swim into the passes to stage up for their near shore spawn. Plus, when these large groups get together typically they tend to really show off to each other and work together to school up these fish. These large actively feeding pods are tons of fun to watch and spot while on our cruises.
Also, due to the awesome temps its nice and cool and not so hot on the water. However, for us Floridians it maybe a little chilly so make sure to have a light jacket if you are a local with friends attending our on the water adventures!
Lots of seabird activity at our local bird nesting islands. Lots of Juvenile birds have become young adults and they are still goofy and uncoordinated so its fun to cruise by the island and watch their antics as they play together and learn their socialization skills.
We have a good number of bald eagles returning to the area from up north to stay warm for the winter. Great time to spot lots of these majestic large birds of prey while on the water with us at Hubbard’s Marina!
This time of year is our favorite time of year for amazing sunsets unlike any other! Great time to join us for one of our sunset cruises at Hubbard’s Marian because the weather is making some outstanding colorful views for the lucky visitors and locals who join us for our daily sunset cruise that offers FREE beer and wine every night around 7pm.
Call us today to book your dolphin tour at (727)393-1947 and get more information on this trip at our website here -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/dolphin-watching-cruises/
Tampa bay ferry News
Great time to head out to the islands with us at Tampa bay ferry by Hubbard’s Marina from Fort De Soto Park! We have two ferry options right now, the Egmont key ferry from the fort De Soto bay pier then also the shell key ferry from the fort De Soto boat ramp.
The shark’s teeth have been the highlight lately out at the islands with some very large teeth found out at Egmont key and a few at shell key recently. Behind the cold fronts the islands get fresh rounds of great shells and a few of these sharks’ teeth too!
We are seeing lots of active seabirds around the islands with the cooler temps some of our norther friends like bald eagles come down to join us on our beautiful beaches as well!
Plus, the dolphins have been very active as of late adding a special bonus to our ferry guests as they ride from Fort De Soto out to Egmont key or Shell Key islands!
The Egmont key ferry from Fort De Soto offers 11am ferry rides to the island Tuesday- Sunday this time of year out to Egmont Key Island! 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 a great way to spend the day and offer more flexible schedules compared to the rigid Egmont key schedule! We offer these trips Firday through Monday until the end of November 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 our regular’s club renewals for 2020. We have officially called and emailed all the guests who were active members this year to see if they are ready to renew. If you are an active member and have not renewed, there is no big rush but it helps a lot to get resigned up for next year sooner than later.
If you are not an active member, but you’d like to be we are doing our NEW member sign ups. Give me a call or email and we can talk about the clubs and get you signed up ASAP. Once you sign up your discount becomes active and stays active until December 31st, 2019!
Remember, you can now call or TEXT our main office line – (727)393-1947
Captain Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Co-Owner
(727)393-1947 ext. 306
[email protected]
