Hubbard's Marina Fishing Report 02/17/17 | Hubbard's Marina | Deep Sea Fishing | Dolphin Watching Tours

Fishing Report

Inshore Fishing Report – It was another beautiful week of sheepshead fishing inside Johns Pass the weak front we had mid-week had the sheepshead fired up. The Black drum made a comeback as well with the muddy waters they were taking large live shrimp along the docks and bridges of the pass. Snook were a little harder to get chewing but they were hitting small pinfish, large live shrimp and buck tail jigs like the Glad Snooker jigs. The flounder bite was going well in the early part of the week before the front came to stir things up.

Near shore Fishing Report – When we could make it out this past week fishing was great, but then when the front rolled through mid-week we couldn’t get out there to the fish for two days. The hogfish bite was great before the front though as if they knew it was going to get rough the Tuesday trips caught tons of hogs. The red grouper bite is steady but not on fire quite yet, finding most of them in the 70-100 foot range making it hard to find in the near shore waters. Mangrove snapper are fairly spread out and fewer and further between as the water is still fairly cold offshore.

Offshore Fishing Report – The 44 hour full moon trip this past weekend at Hubbard’s Marina did very well! The Cobia were there waiting for us when we started fishing and we caught them through the night and day as well. Tuna bite dropped off a bit from the last trip but we still managed a few. Big jacks were ready to fill the gap though as we landed just over two dozen nice sized amberjack. Also, fat red grouper were ready to fire up for us as we came inside the 20 fathom mark after fishing for jacks beyond it in the deep waters. The snapper bite offshore is much better than inshore big fat mangroves, yellowtail, huge vermillion and more were all ready to chew for us on this recent 44 hour full moon adventure at Hubbard’s Marina. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns: https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina/videos

Want to read the past reports? Check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/hubbards-marina-fishing-reports/

Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi News

You can catch the ferry to many local restaurants, city centers, shopping areas, local beaches, and much more! It’s a great way to see the area and get to where you’re going without worrying about beach traffic or parking. To see all the special stops and the things to do at each stop visit this page on our new Tampa Bay Ferry and taxi website: http://www.tampabayferry.com/things-to-do/

As a reminder, parking is free at our Madeira Beach Marina and Jungle Prada stops. We look forward to seeing you! To see the schedule, map, and the stops with addresses check out this info on our website: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/

Keep in mind that the ferry does allow alcohol, pets, and anything you need for the beach so pack a cooler and come catch a cruise.

Did you know that Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi offers a private taxi service, if you’re having a dinner party and want our boat to come pick you and your guests off to take you to your favorite waterfront bar or restaurant simply contact us and we can set you up this private taxi service!

Don’t drink and drive, drink and let us take you on the boat! The water taxi by Hubbard’s Marina is the coolest way to get home after some time at the beach bars.

Captain Jack’s Dolphin Corner

The Dolphins have been super easy to spot in large numbers lately around Boca Ceiga bay and the entrance to Tampa Bay. They are playful and ready to hunt the large schools of mullet. As the water warms during the spring they will only become more and more playful and easy to spot.

The bird nesting island in Boca Ceiga bay is coming alive with hatchlings and roosting seabirds. It is a great time to join us for a dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour at Hubbard’s Marina to share this special sights and sounds with family and friends.

The local bald eagle that seems to be roosting atop a cell tower along the route of the dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour boat here inside Johns pass is getting fat with the many mullet we have spotted him swooping up along the back bay waters.

Our local seabirds are not only roosting and nesting on dog leg key, our local hatchery, they are also dawning their mating plumage which makes them very colorful and robust. For example, the Roseate spoonbills are getting easier and easier to spot with their pinkish feathery appearance.

Want to learn more about dolphins this winter? Check out the new great Johns Pass dolphin facts series on our Hubbard’s Marina YouTube channel to check out to see them all watch our dolphin playlist here: https://goo.gl/2mYjX2

Upcoming At Hubbard’s Marina

We have two Bass Pro Shops Tampa seminars coming up February 18th at 3pm and a second March 5th at 2pm. Hope you get a chance to join us in their beautiful shop for some great seminar fun. Plus, during our Bass Pro seminars we always raffle off a FREE ten hour all day fishing trip to one lucky seminar attendee.

We have a light 39 hour fishing trip coming up next Friday February 24th at 3pm! This would be a great time to join us for some amberjack, tuna, red grouper, mangroves and more the fishing has been great lately.

The 12 hour extreme trips right now are limiting out on big jacks and catching monster red grouper and the Wednesday trips are consistently super light! Join us for some ‘reel’ offshore fishing fun at Hubbard’s Marina aboard the New and one of a kind Flying HUB 2.

Well were already hearing rumors that Amberjack may be a short season this year, it could be as short as 4-5 months for 2017! If this is true jacks could close April or May, so if you want to go catch some jacks let’s get you offshore on a 39,44 hour 12 hour extreme here asap since jacks opened January first and we may not have very long to continue keeping them before NOAA’s National Marine fisheries gulf council decides to close them early. Remember, we don’t get much advanced notice of this so stay tuned to our email newsletters and social media for more updates.

To book trips on our site, check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/reservations/

Want to stay up to date with the latest catches, reports and more from Hubbard’s Marina? Follow the new live video segments that Hubbard’s Marina is posting daily to Facebook! Also, more Instagram photos and videos are popping up too! Plus, were on the FishBrain app now too and they were nice enough to add Hubbard’s Marina as a fishing location so now on your future trips you can upload your catch to our location. If you have questions or want more info about all this message Dylan Hubbard on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook page or shoot him an email: [email protected]

Regular’s Club

Thank you all for renewing for 2017, we appreciate your continued interest and patronage of Hubbard’s Marina. It was great seeing you all for the Regular’s club Christmas party, and we hope to see you plenty during the coming year.  If you have not renewed yet for 2017, please do so before booking your 2017 trips and you definitely want to get it done before January first. If you do not, we will be changing you to the FREE Johns Pass club which does not give you benefits you’re used to. Once in this club, you can always upgrade again to a paid club but if you book using your number while it’s a FREE Johns Pass membership you will not have your discount tied properly to your trips so get renewed before you book!
Captains Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Regular’s club manager Hubbard’s Marina  (727)393-1947 ext 306
[email protected]