Fishing report
Inshore- This past week has been some unstable weather, it was really turbulent at the beginning of the week with a late season unpredictable front making the sheepshead fishing great. Then as the weather relaxed behind the front and the waters cleared and pressures stabilized the fishing was back to normal quickly. Later this week we have been seeing snook, big trout and pompano coming off the beaches. Jim steeves, from NY, came into the shop looking to target pompano we showed him the Nekid Ball Jigz and how they worked and explained why pompano will ambush them, and later that same day he came back to ask if our mates would help him fillet his family’s catch of pompano.
Near shore- The fishing has been great the past two days after that front pushed through earlier in the week. We have another front coming through Saturday night or early Sunday so if you want to hit the fishing while its at it’s best join us today or tomorrow before the weather picks up. Red grouper bit still a little slow in the near shore waters, they seem to be stuck offshore in the deeper waters for the most part but we can find a few shallower than 110 foot you just got to work for them. The hogfish are still around just not seemingly as aggressive, but were still catching monster hogs on the live shrimp.
Offshore- Our last 39 hour did very well on lots of snapper action and a few fat red grouper. The big feeders of the trip were the huge vermillion we were catching on dead bait with some monster porgies mixed it. The mangrove bite was steady but you had to weed through the prolific vermillion and porgies first. A great way to do this is using smaller sized pinfish that allow you to target the mangrove snapper while avoiding the porgies and vermillion. During the day the big red grouper action started with some near the 20lb range caught on monster live bait. We also had plenty of tuna action at night and into the morning plus one nice big kingfish while trolling between spots.
Want to read the past reports? Check out this link: https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/hubbards-marina-fishing-reports/
Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi news
This weekend is King of the Beach, it’s a great time to utilize the water taxi service to avoid the chaotic parking and traffic around this years great event. The Old Salts have even chartered one of our ferry boats to allow people to park at a satellite lot and use the boat to get to the tournament which on the fields by city hall.
The water taxi is a great way to get your pets around the area with you, we do allow friendly pets on board along with your coolers and even bicycles! We want to ensure you’re able to take what you want or need with you while exploring our beautiful local waters.
The Madeira beach water taxi is still running five days a week Wednesday until Sunday 10am-10pm and we have updated our website, check out the new look: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
There’s tons of stuff to do while catching a ride with the Madeira beach water taxi, check out all the things to do: http://www.tampabayferry.com/things-to-do/
Spring break has sprung, definitely a great time to utilize the water taxi and avoid the chaotic beachside traffic jams and struggle of finding and baying for beachside parking. If you park at stop number seven called Jungle Prada you can get free parking and it’s easy to access from Park Street. Then you can hop on the ferry and water taxi and enjoy your ride to the beaches instead of fighting the traffic. Also, stop number four Madeira beach Municipal marina also offers free parking and that stop is well away from beach traffic on Gulf Boulevard. For more info on these stops like their address, check this link: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
Ca
ptain Jack’s dolphin corner
Manatees are back in the area, were starting to see the first groups of manatees returning from the northern springs. Great to see the water has warmed enough to allow these beautiful marine mammals to return home to our Boca Ceiga bay waters. They feed in the back bays on our plentiful and healthy turtle grass beds.
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.
Great time of year to visit Egmont key! The weather isn’t too hot quite yet, plus during spring break the Egmont key alliance has been opening the island’s guard house to the public and it acts as a museum. This is a great additional value to any island visitors that want to learn more about this pristine nature preserve and historic island paradise.
Dog Leg key, our local island Rookery, has plenty of baby seabirds on the island right now. The most visible ones are the baby pelicans they are all white with brown feathers along their backs. Also, we have lots of baby egrets on the island too. The Roseate spoonbills have nested and eggs have hatched but they roost so deep in the island you won’t spot their juveniles until they start leaving the nests. All this to say it’s a great time to join Hubbard’s Marina for a dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour to spot all the baby birds at the nesting island.
The gopher tortoise population at Egmont key has been very active lately and it’s great to see them all over the beautiful island. They are very populated now around Egmont key and you can spot them sunning themselves all over the island.
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 up at Hubbard’s Marina
We have two seminars coming up this week in the south shore area, the first is Tuesday night with the Castaway Anglers club that meets at the Elks lodge in Ruskin this one starts at 7pm. The Thursday night we have a second seminar at the Sunset Grill in little harbor with the South shore anglers. Both seminars will be near shore and offshore fishing focused and we will talk about whatever you want to hear. Hope you see you all there!
May 5th Friday 39 hour has tons of room on board, with only 15 people booked right now there’s tons of great real estate left for you and your friends. These light loads give a great opportunity for plenty of fishing area and more one on one help from the captain and crew. Call us to book a spot, (727)393-1947 or reserve online: http://HubbardsMarina.com/reservations
The Tampa bay ferry and water taxi service has expanded to 5 days a week! It’s a great way to see the area and get to the beaches while avoiding traffic and beach parking chaos. For more info about the routes, stops and schedule check out this link: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
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
Hope you all can join us for our April 22nd two pm seminar at the Tampa bass pro shops! We will be giving away a free 10 hr. all day to one lucky attendee and we will be talking offshore fishing. Please bring your friends and questions and hopefully Capt. Dylan Hubbard can help teach you a little something to add to your fishing tips and tricks. Don’t forget to wear your Hubbard’s Marina gear too!
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]
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