Inshore Fishing Report
The snook are on the beaches, around the passes and really thick throughout the area of Johns pass specifically. We are seeing them biting best from around dusk till about just after dawn. During the day, it’s a bit more tricky but early in the day out on the beaches you still have a shot. During peak heat of the day catching them is tricky, but deeper areas or up under docks you may still get lucky around the pass. Fishing at night around the bridge lights or dock lights is definitely best!
Redfish action is happening around the islands of the pass, we are seeing quite a few being caught around the mangrove islands and shorlines of upper boca ciega bay. They are starting to key into the cut threads or pinfish or mullet along the edges of the mangroves, but we are seeing them still chase the live white bait too especially at higher tides when cooler water is flushing into the mangroves giving them a bit of a boost or early morning low light time frames when water temps are more bearable for them.
Trout action is going well around the johns pass bridge and jetties, especially over night around the lights. During the day, we are finding them on the beaches but mostly deeper flats inside the pass.
Tarpon are rolling around the bridge and schools moving in and out of the pass. You can find a few along the beaches too during early morning before groups get too thick out there!
Sharks are super prolific around the pass and area. We are seeing plenty of action along the beaches, jetties and bridge. Great time to soak a big bait with some good tackle and wrestle up a nice shark. Just keep in mind doing so overnight or into early morning is best. Once folks start showing up it becomes very tricky to navigate without issue.
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/.
Nearshore Fishing Report
Lots of bait around near shore and surprising we were able to troll up some decent mackerel and even a nice kingfish this past week around those beachside bait schools! Great time to get out there and go looking around the beaches for some drag pulling fun on these fast, fun fighting and good eating fish. Using flashy fast moving lures works well, or throwing some white bait chum to get them fired up and a few hooked baits in the mix.
Lane snapper action is going well for us near shore too. We are seeing good numbers of big lanes on our ten hour trips fishing around 60-100ft of water. They are taking just about any baits, but the big ones love live shrimp or cut threadfins.
Mangrove snapper have been active lately and we are seeing more around the deeper near shore waters on big cut threadfin or live pinfish. They are even more common for us during the day around these new moons when they can’t feed as heavily at night like normal.
Red grouper action has been steady near shore with many ten hour trips getting 10-15 or sometimes more! They are mostly big live baits or big dead baits lately.
Offshore Fishing Report
Red snapper is our focus offshore right now but we have seen a huge uptick in the number of scamp grouper we are seeing lately. They are really biting well on cut threadfins or small to medium pinfish. We often get them while targeting mangrove snapper or when going after red snapper with some of the smaller baits.
Red grouper is also something we are seeing offshore well too. They are coming up on the live pinfish and also nice dead baits. However, it seems the live bait has been the go to lately for the red grouper.
Red snapper bite just about anything you put down, but we are encouraging our folks to consider selectivity while going after the red snapper. This means using heavier leaders, bigger hooks, and bigger baits to try and target the bigger red snapper while avoiding the smaller red snapper many are tempted to catch and release in hopes of getting a larger fish. This method of releasing a legal fish in hopes of catching another larger one is called ‘high grading’ and isn’t ethical or right. The fish we encounter offshore have a certain percentage of mortality upon release even when handled perfectly so we want to keep fish that are legal sized and in season and fill up our quotas then move on to targeting other species when and wherever possible.
Mangrove snapper action is also going well offshore with some big boys coming up on the pinfish and plenty being caught with the cut threadfin plugs. It’s a great time to get out there and crush some mangroves at night before we target our red snapper bounty!
Red grouper are open until end of June
Triggerfish are open all year EXCEPT June & July
amberjack are open May, September & October
Red snapper are open June 1st – August 27th (close august 28th at 12:01am)
Gags will open September first for 1,2 or maybe 3 wks (we will know end of June)
**all other species are 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
