Fishing report
Inshore-
The snook bite this past week has been pretty darn good, the recent warm up helped them pick up a bit over the week. We are seeing snook from the passes to the back bays and the warmer weather seemed to spur more action through the areas that have seen less snook as of late. However, we have a very cool week coming so they will likely be on the move further up into the bay this coming week with the cooling trend on it’s way again.
The sheepshead are thick still throughout the bays, passes and intercostal. Especially around the bridges, piers, docks and jetties. Even with the warmer clearer waters this week the sheepshead seemed to still be biting well. The positive news with the adverse weather coming this upcoming week is that the sheepshead will get very active and should feed even better through the cooler muddier waters. Just make sure to bundle up because mid week will be definitely chilly but the sheepshead bite should be HOT.
Trout are really biting well around the edges of the flats and in the potholes of the flats. These guys move around a bit with the weather but they stay pretty consistent through out this time of year biting well. Soft plastic lures moving slowly just above the grass has been a great way to catch plenty of trout as of late. Especially the white, gold and silver colors.
Redfish are around the oyster bars, shallow mangrove shore lines and the residential docks. We have seen pretty decent redfish action around the area but the best action seems to be working the residential dock lines during the day time with soft plastic lures on the light jig heads. These guys are baking themselves around that dark bay mud underneath the residential docks in the mouths of the local canals. Small pinfish do work very well for the redfish too, or greenbacks if you can’t find the small pinfish.
Near Shore –
The hogfish bite is off the chain right now from around 40ft to around 70ft we are seeing those hogfish biting very well. We love to use live shrimp, but you can also use fiddler crabs, rock shrimp, or sand fleas. They will even take the special Nekid Ball jigz lures too, but most people will use those in conjunction with live shrimp. We are seeing some good size the hogfish too, but there will be some smaller ones mixed in and they are very difficult to get back down healthy if you delay at all. They must be fourteen inches to the inside fork or middle of their tail to the tip of their closed mouth so nearly 16-17” total length which is a pretty decent size already. Whenever we are targeting hogfish, we have rulers ready and we stand by to quickly unhook and release any undersized fish as quickly as humanly possible. The shorter time they are at the surface and out of the water exponentially increases the possibility of these guys surviving and being able to swim back down to bottom to get bigger and legal sized the next time you land them. Still using that 30lb floro leader with around 1oz egg sinker and a 3-4ot hook for the best shot at catching lots of those hogfish.
Apart from the hogfish, we are also seeing lots of the lane snapper too around the 60-100ft areas we are seeing good amounts of lane snapper action. Plus, along with the lane snapper we are seeing some nice mangrove snapper come up too. Mangroves are great eating fish and so are lane snapper. They will eat the live shrimp your using for the hogfish, but both will take cut threadfin plugs on the double snell rig. Lane snapper will even take cut squid too. When targeting lanes specifically I would suggest cut squid, but for targeting mangroves I prefer the double snell rig and the cut thread fin. However, for both species around a 4ot hook and 30-40lb test is what I would be using near shore in these depths this time of year.
Offshore-
Right now the offshore bite is very hot especially out deep. We had a 39 hour trip come in yesterday morning with a huge pile of fish. I was lucky enough to get out on this trip to do some fun fishing myself with my cousin, Capt Garett Hubbard, behind the wheel running the trip. We were able to get some great action on the snapper species through the night time periods. They seemed extra willing to cooperate, likely due to the backside of the full moon. We caught mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, lane snapper, silk snapper, and even some mutton snapper. Plus, a few kingfish joined the night time activity as well. During the day we went out even deeper and hit areas for red grouper, scamp grouper, and more snapper. We noticed that the mangroves are biting much better in deeper waters closer to 200ft instead of closer to 120ft where we had been doing well through the fall. Also, the red grouper are definitely moving out deeper in greater numbers likely gearing up for their spawn. Great time to get them the next few weeks before that Deepwater closure goes into effect for red grouper only.
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
WIN FREE FISHING TRIPS at our next Bass Pro Shops seminar event coming up TOMORROW Saturday January 18th at 2pm! Hope you can join us for another great fishing conversation and event at the Tampa Bass Pro Shops located on Palm River road in Tampa/Brandon area. Here’s more information on the event, please check it out and click ‘going’ or ‘interested’ to help us spread the word: https://www.facebook.com/events/2551787704940547/
DON’T FORGET, YOU CAN ALSO WIN FREE FISHING TRIPS if you 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/
2020 Specialty trip spots are filling FAST! Make sure to give us a call or book online for 2020 12, 39 or 44 hour trips sooner than later for 2020 as those trips will fill quickly! Especially our 2020 red snapper season trips they will fill quickly so book your trips early and book often. However, keep in mind the cancelation policies which are located in your confirmation emails. The 2020 fishing year will have strictly enforced policies due to issues we have seen as of late with last minute or nearly last minute cancelations.
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 CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com 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!
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
Our local bird nesting island called Dog Leg Key is getting very active this time of year as the temperatures cool our local seabirds are starting to show winter plumage. This shows they are getting ready to nest at the island to have the next generation of local seabirds coming soon! You can view all the nest and most of the birds during our daily dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour aboard our big blue boat at Hubbard’s Marina inside Johns Pass, Madeira beach.
Due to this, and the earlier sunset time it’s a great time for bird watching on our sunset cruise this time of year since we are able to cruise by Dog Leg Key just as the sun is getting ready to set which is when most of our local seabirds return home to the island for the night!
Also, the mullet are heading out of the back bay waters to spawn near shore with these cold fronts so due to this we have huge schools of fish moving together which causes large pods of dolphins to aggregate and actively feed heavily on these moving schools. This creates a great show for our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour guests and our sunset cruise guests alike when we are able to come across these actively feeding and aggressive pods!
Due to the wintertime weather up north many of the bald Eagles head south for the winter to stay warm. We have a huge number of bald eagles hanging around area now and the last few days we have had a few relaxing on the sand bars at low tide to sun themselves and rest up for more fishing fun as the water starts to flood back into the bays with the incoming tides.
White pelicans showing back up to our area for their wintertime retreat, great time to go cruising our local back bay waters to spot these beautiful and unique birds while they are in town for a short time!
Due to this, and the earlier sunset time it’s a great time for bird watching on our sunset cruise this time of year since we are able to cruise by Dog Leg Key just as the sun is getting ready to set which is when most of our local seabirds return home to the island for the night!
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!
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
Right now with the barrage of the cold fronts makes shelling out of this world out at Egmont key with us aboard our Egmont key ferry boat ride from Fort De Soto’s county park. We have 11am tours leaving Wednesday-Sunday this time of year that offer 2 hours out on the island after a 30 minute ride out and 30 minute ride back. 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/
While out on the island, you can go shelling around the permiter or trek through the interior of the island to the western side where the shelling is even better! Plus, you have a great shot at sharks teeth and more. Plus, this time of year is awesome for exploring the island’s interior a bit more on your way to the gulf side of the island. There’s cooler temps and hardly any bugs after the cooler weather sets in on the island.
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!
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
CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com
