Inshore Fishing Report
redfish action has been stellar around the pass with some nice fish being caught along the beaches, around the bridge and from the jetty areas. We are seeing them in the back bays pretty heavily too. However, most of the fish being caught are in the slot to under slot size. Bigger redfish are caught occasionally around the pass and beaches as we are seeing bigger concentrations moving through and around the area to do their breeding thing near shore.
Snook action has been steady around the pass, with a good amount of activity around the pass at night and early morning. During the day a few are still being caught around the docks on live pinfish. However, they have been a bit picky more during the day light hours compared to early morning prior to sunrise.
Sheepshead are picking up around the docks, bridge and rock piles. We are seeing more and more being caught and some bigger sizes too. As more cold fronts roll through the area, we should only see sheepshead activity increase.
Black drum are still active with some good eating sized fish caught lately around the flats and mangrove shorelines. We see some bigger ones, but mostly in the bay around the bigger bridges.
Mackerel are around the jetties right now with some good numbers being caught early morning around the flushing bait schools. If you see the birds and bait often you can catch lots of mackerel with fast moving more flashy lures.
Fishing Tips
- Snook: Use live baits like greenbacks, threadfins, and shrimp, or try flair hawks and soft plastics at night.
- Redfish: Look for them around mangroves, oyster bars, and flats, and use dead baits during higher tides.
- Trout: Target them with soft plastics, white bait, and shrimp around deeper flats and potholes.
- Tarpon: Target them during the full moon with crab flushes, making it an ideal time to target them.
- Flounder: Find them near sandy bottoms and structures, biting on bottom baits.
- Pompano: Be prepared to move frequently to stay on their bite.
- Sharks: Use big dead baits in areas with moving water.
NEarshore Fishing Report
Hogfish are biting well for us when we stay more shallow on ten hour all day trips and were seeing a few on the 5 hour half days too. However, if we go deeper we get tons of lanes and the bite has been so good its been hard to get to the hogfish. We are seeing most of the hogfish around the 40ft mark but once much deeper than 50ft its hard to get past the super active lane snapper. For the hogfish, and the lanes too, the shrimp work really well. Using around a 4000 series spinning reel with around 20-30lb braid and about 30lb floro is a good idea. We recommend around 2oz weights and 3-4ot hooks.
Lanes are biting super well around 50-80ft of water and when we are out in this range the lane snapper have been super thick! We are seeing them on squid, cut threadfins and shrimp too. Virtually anything you put down the lane snapper have been super aggressive and ready to eat.
Mackerel are thick nearshore and we are catching quite a few while trolling out on our 5 hour half days. We are even seeing some bigger ones flat lining threadfin while fishing on our near shore trips too. No kingfish near shore yet, but still hoping they show up eventually.
Help spread the word about what to do if you hook or entangle a bird. Never cut the line; instead, reel in the bird carefully to dehook and release it. If you accidentally hook a dock, break the line at the hook to avoid leaving any line in the water. Seabirds with fishing lines hanging from them are becoming more common, and this could lead to the closure of fishing areas.
Rising concerns about bird entanglements might result in closing fishing spots, impacting the few available locations around Tampa Bay from shorelines, docks, bridges, or piers. Learn more in our recent podcast with Salt Strong: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/shutting-down-fishing-at-busy-pier/.
Fishing Tips
- Red Grouper: Target the deepest near shore waters with big dead baits or solid live baits. Use 60 lb test and 7/0 hooks for best results.
- Red Snapper: Use big dead baits like whole squid and bonita strips with heavy tackle to focus on larger fish. Prime trips include the 12-hour extreme, 39-hour, and 44-hour trips.
- Scamp Grouper: Use small to medium pinfish and cut threadfin, especially while targeting mangrove snapper.
- Mangrove Snapper: Near shore, use live shrimp and small chunks of threadfin on 30-40 lb test with 3-4/0 hooks. Offshore, use bigger chunks of cut threadfin or medium pinfish on 40-60 lb test with 5-7/0 hooks.
- Vermillion Snapper: Start around 100 feet of water using cut squid or threadfin. These fish are aggressive and not leader-shy.
- Yellowtail Snapper: Use shrimp, cut squid, and threadfin.
- Pelagic Species: Keep flat lines and pitch rods ready for sailfish, kingfish, wahoo, tuna, and mahi mahi.
Offshore Fishing Report
RED SNAPPER SEASON IS RE OPENING for us at Hubbard’s Marina and we are PUMPED to once again get to go out and keep red snapper. Starting sometime later November they will re open for us until the end of the year or dec 31st 2024. We are adding a ton of 39 hour and 12 hour extreme trips starting December 1st as we are positive they will be open by then and there’s TONS of room to book these newly added trips for now… book NOW and book often to get plenty of red snapper, mangroves, triggerfish, scamp, yellowtail snapper and many more like vermillion and almaco jacks too!
Mangrove snapper fishing has been super good to us offshore too! We are getting a lot of them on cut threadfin using the cut threadfin and double snell rigs. We are getting some nice ones over 6lbs on live pinfish.
Yellowtail snapper fishing has also been super good to us as well! We are getting tons of them on the long range fishing trips using cut threadfins or cut squid.
Triggerfish are still open through the rest of the year too. We are seeing plenty of these great eating fish too. Great time to go get some on cut squid or bonita offshore right now. They like something around 2 inches long and about a quarter inch wide and tall like a little rectangular strip that is inviting to their smaller mouths.
Scamp grouper are coming up quite a bit on threadfin and live pinfish. While we aren’t seeing tons they are definitely being caught and are such great eating grouper to target.
Pelagic wise, we are seeing quite a few big blackfin tuna and the occasional nice big kingfish. Great time to join us for some offshore trolling or flat line fishing fun while offshore!
Seasonal Openings:
- Red grouper: Open until the end of June
- Triggerfish: Open all year except June & July
- Amberjack: Open May, September & October
- Red snapper: (CURRENTLY) Open June 1st – August 27th (close August 28th at 12:01am)
- Gags: Will open September 1st until September 15 (close September 16th at 12:01am)
- All other species: Open all year
Remember that when fishing in deeper nearshore and offshore federal waters, the Descend Act requires you to have a descending device or venting tool “rigged and ready.” If you know how to use a venting tool, keep it prepared. If not, here’s some helpful advice: https://bit.ly/3L5HTnv. Using a descending device is straightforward and doesn’t require as much precision or practice as venting. You can even get over $100 worth of descending device gear for free by taking a short course on barotrauma mitigation, which helps more fish survive. The course only takes about 10-15 minutes, and you can learn valuable techniques to protect our offshore fishery. Spread the word by visiting: https://returnemright.org/.
TERMS OF REFERENCE-
Inshore: This covers the areas from the inner bays, through the bridges, and right up to the beaches.
Near Shore: This includes the coastal waters from the beaches up to twenty miles offshore, or up to a depth of 100 feet.
Offshore: This extends from twenty miles offshore or from a depth of 100 feet and beyond.
For more fishing reports, photos, videos, and other content, check out Hubbard’s Marina on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, or Snapchat by searching for @HubbardsMarina. Remember our family motto: “If you’re too busy to go fishing, you’re just too busy!” Thank you for reading our report.
Capt. Dylan Hubbard, Hubbard’s Marina
Phone or text: (727) 393-1947
Website: Hubbard’s Marina
