Inshore Fishing Report
Snook action is hot around the area and this little warming trend has pushed even more into our passes. Plus, we are seeing quite a few more pushing onto the beaches too. We are seeing some tanks around the docks with tons of smaller fish mixed in as well! Great time to target the snook is right before and around sunrise or earlier morning. As the heat of the day sets in, they get a bit deeper and harder to target.
Redfish action is best in the back bay waters, we are seeing a few around the docks but most are being caught in the back bay around the flats and mangroves. We are seeing most of them on the soft plastics or white baits, but they will take some swim baits and hard baits too. Pinfish are even a good idea, and as water starts to warm the cut threads, pinfish or ladyfish become a staple.
Trout action still going well and surprisingly still some nice sized fish around too. They were up in the shallows again last week on those cooler mornings warming up in the early day sun, but now with the heat staying high they are pushing a bit deeper once again. Live white bait or small pinfish are a great idea if you don’t have the soft plastics or imitation shrimp ready to roll.
Sheepshead action is also surprisingly going well, they are seemingly loaded down at some of our bigger dock structures. However, as this water continues to warm we typically see the sheepshead thin out and give way to more and more mangrove snapper, but it doesn’t seem to be happening at any pace. We are seeing them caught on the barnacles, crabs and small pieces of cut clams or oysters.
Mangrove snapper have shown back up heavily around the docks, not really large right yet but some good numbers of hungry fish. Great time to take the kids down to the dock with small chunks of shrimp to target the mangrove snapper and perhaps catch some nice spadefish too.
Pompano action is spotty but happening around the beaches. We are seeing quite a few on the pompano jigs and even some on live shrimp at the bottom too! Great time to hit the beaches, passes and local bridges to target these great eating fish.
Mackerel are super thick around local fishing piers, docks, bridges, and passes. They are found chasing the white bait and flashy lures around the local area. They can typically be targeted with 20-30lb leader with a 1-2ot long shank J hook and a smaller white bait like a green back. You can also throw lures like a gotcha plug with great success on mackerel too!
Tarpon action is starting up more and more around local area bridges, passes and some along the beaches. However, it seems around the skyway and some local larger bridges at night is more common for now, as its still pretty early to have large numbers of tarpon around.
Sharks are more and more common around the area as the water warms. We typically see many local species start giving birth this time of year. We even saw some shark eggs being hatched recently too around the pass. Due to this, we see a lot of those smaller pups to even more larger sharks hanging around the passes.
Nearshore Fishing Report
Snook action is hot around the area and this little warming trend has pushed even more into our passes. Plus, we are seeing quite a few more pushing onto the beaches too. We are seeing some tanks around the docks with tons of smaller fish mixed in as well! Great time to target the snook is right before and around sunrise or earlier morning. As the heat of the day sets in, they get a bit deeper and harder to target.
Redfish action is best in the back bay waters, we are seeing a few around the docks but most are being caught in the back bay around the flats and mangroves. We are seeing most of them on the soft plastics or white baits, but they will take some swim baits and hard baits too. Pinfish are even a good idea, and as water starts to warm the cut threads, pinfish or ladyfish become a staple.
Trout action still going well and surprisingly still some nice sized fish around too. They were up in the shallows again last week on those cooler mornings warming up in the early day sun, but now with the heat staying high they are pushing a bit deeper once again. Live white bait or small pinfish are a great idea if you don’t have the soft plastics or imitation shrimp ready to roll.
Sheepshead action is also surprisingly going well, they are seemingly loaded down at some of our bigger dock structures. However, as this water continues to warm we typically see the sheepshead thin out and give way to more and more mangrove snapper, but it doesn’t seem to be happening at any pace. We are seeing them caught on the barnacles, crabs and small pieces of cut clams or oysters.
Mangrove snapper have shown back up heavily around the docks, not really large right yet but some good numbers of hungry fish. Great time to take the kids down to the dock with small chunks of shrimp to target the mangrove snapper and perhaps catch some nice spadefish too.
Pompano action is spotty but happening around the beaches. We are seeing quite a few on the pompano jigs and even some on live shrimp at the bottom too! Great time to hit the beaches, passes and local bridges to target these great eating fish.
Mackerel are super thick around local fishing piers, docks, bridges, and passes. They are found chasing the white bait and flashy lures around the local area. They can typically be targeted with 20-30lb leader with a 1-2ot long shank J hook and a smaller white bait like a green back. You can also throw lures like a gotcha plug with great success on mackerel too!
Tarpon action is starting up more and more around local area bridges, passes and some along the beaches. However, it seems around the skyway and some local larger bridges at night is more common for now, as its still pretty early to have large numbers of tarpon around.
Sharks are more and more common around the area as the water warms. We typically see many local species start giving birth this time of year. We even saw some shark eggs being hatched recently too around the pass. Due to this, we see a lot of those smaller pups to even more larger sharks hanging around the passes.
Offshore Fishing Report
Wahoo action is notable offshore right now and I am hoping our 44 hour that left this morning will come back Sunday with a pile topped off with a load of wahoo! We had four hooked on the last 39 hour and I saw a bunch of experienced trolling guys equipped with the right gear, lures and tackle leaving on this 44 hour so I have high hopes. We typically hook the wahoo on the lipped plugs like the nomad dtx or the rapala xrap magnums. We also should be seeing a big pile of blackfin tuna soon as well as I have heard from a few folks there are big piles of them being found offshore in concentrated pockets. Also, pelagic wise this is that time of year we often encounter some big smoker kingfish offshore too!
We randomly heard we have a month to fish for amberjack coming up in May too, so were pumped to start to target them coming up in a week or so offshore. We will have the best shot for amberjack on our 12 hour extreme, 39 hour or the 44 hour trips. They will be open for the month of may and then again in September and October.
Red grouper action is going pretty well offshore too, and we are seeing some fat ones in good numbers. They are coming up on the live pinfish and the big dead baits like their near shore counterparts in smaller sizes. We are seeing them well on our 39 and 44 hour trips, but the 12 hour extreme has a great shot at them too.
Mangrove snapper action is going well around the offshore waters. We are seeing good numbers of yellowtail and nice vermillion and porgies mixed in too! Great time to capitalize on the great bite offshore and the stellar weather forecasts coming up too!
