Fishing report
Inshore- Mangrove snapper are starting to pick up around the bridge and jetties of Johns Pass, especially along the deeper southern side of Johns Pass around the rocks under the bridge we are seeing lots of the mangrove snapper being caught on pieces of fresh shrimp using super light tackle around the beginning or end of the tide as the water slows down. You can chum for the mangroves a bit at the end of the slack tide, especially right before the outgoing and then once the waters start moving you can typically have an endless supply of fun before the tide starts moving too much to successfully target them. Free lined baits work best, but once the water starts to move you can use ultra-light knocker rig style set ups. If it appears un-natural you won’t get the bites so only 15-20lb floro and super light weights or no weight at all is best. Around a 1ot hook is all you need for these fast biting fun to catch fish. The snook bite has also been going well especially around the start of the incoming tide, but on this upcoming full moon that will likely change to the start of the outgoing. We are seeing some big snook caught lately on the pass crabs as they float through the passes. Brian Harris and Eric Whitted were smashing some monster snook free-lining pass crabs in the local passes. Also, the flair hawk style jigs are working well too! John Sasser and Angelo Rivero were both at it again this week catching plenty of nice snook around Johns Pass at night and in the wee hours of the morning before sunrise using the flair hawk jigs worked slowly just above the bottom of the passes. The tarpon have pretty much dissipated this past week due to the persistent west winds. The popular belief is that they ‘swim into the wind’ so when we have west winds for a long period of time most of the tarpon that were hanging around the bays and passes and beaches disappear offshore. However, this weekend’s full moon and the fact that the winds are dying down should help entice the tarpon back to the passes for another round of fun. They love ambushing the crabs, bait, ladyfish and mullet getting ‘flushed’ out of the passes on the full moon ‘hill’ tides which is simply a very strong and fast moving outgoing tide around the full or new moons.
Near shore- We haven’t been doing too much near shore fishing this week due mostly to weather but also because of the red snapper season being so short 99% of our longer trips are passing the near shore waters to head out deep for a shot at these red snapper and possible gag grouper. However, the near shore waters are holding plenty of big lane snapper, porgies the occasional hogfish and pretty decent action on the red grouper. From the local fleet, the hot zone is still around 70-100 foot of water for these species and it’s a great time to get out there and do some snapper and grouper fishing fun if you don’t want to make the run 50+ miles to get to the red snapper or gag grouper fishing areas.
Offshore – The red snapper bite is going well out in deep water when we can get out there to them. This week has been very tough weather-wise but luckily it looks like we will have a reprieve from this chaotic weather pattern in the coming week. It seems like the bulk of the red snapper are hiding out past 150ft of water and that is the area where we are seeing consistent keeper sized fish but closer to 190-200ft is the mother load of nice cooperative red snapper. We are catching most of them on the dead threadfins with the tail cut off or the strips of bonita or squid wings, but live bait is working well too. Around 60lb test is the minimum sized leader for red snapper with around a 6-7ot hook but around 80-100lb with big 8-10ot hooks will help you avoid the smaller fish and be sure to be able to land the monsters when they bite. Also, for the biggest red snapper big strips of bonita, cut chunks of mackerel, or octopus are the best options for these heavier tackle setups for a trophy sized red snapper or gag grouper in the 200 plus foot of water areas. Gag grouper have been a little tougher than the red snapper but we are catching some big boys out there in the deeper waters around 180-200 foot of water or more with some big dead baits or large live baits. Around 80lb is minimum, but I wouldn’t start with less than 100lb test targeting gags with about a 8-10ot hook but up to 12-14ot hooks and 125-150lb test isn’t out of the realm of good choices when targeting big gags out in the deep waters. Scamp grouper also bite well out here in the deeper waters and you can pick them up with small pinfish or the dead threadfins using the 60-80lb test and 7ot hooks. Mangrove snapper have been biting well at night and this time of year we recommend using the heavier tackle for them in case you do luck into a gag grouper or red snapper around 60lb test and 6ot double snell rigs with threadfin ‘plugs’ would be my recommended snapper set up this time of year while the gag grouper are open fishing for mangroves out deep.
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Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
LIVE SHOW THIS SUNADY! Just two days until the June 16th Sunday night live show at 8:30pm! Join us if you want to learn more about fishing locally and WIN FREE FISHING TRIPS without leaving your house! Don’t forget we have the Weekly fishing conversation or seminar by Capt Dylan Hubbard LIVE on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook & YouTube page if you don’t want to leave your house to catch a seminar! This is weekly on Sunday nights from 8:30pm until 9:30pm, check out the event page and PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE the event if you have a Facebook page, and invite your friends as well! Here’s the Facebook event page please check it out and click ‘going’ or ‘Interested’ to get reminders and stay tuned for updates, plus it helps us spread the word! https://www.facebook.com/events/303974027187430/
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 to 8:30am! 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
Red snapper season is in full swing and we still have spots left on our Tuesday and Sunday 39 hours in June with the occasional spot open on the Friday adventures too! The 12 hour extreme trips are more full since they only take up to 16 people but there’s still trips in June with availability and July has lots of trips with room for you and your group! If you want to hop on one of these trips BOOK NOW spots are filling fast and June is nearly full, still some room in July but it will not last long! Call us at (727)393-1947 or book online at -> https://HubbardsMarina.com
PRIVATE CHARTERS CATCHING TONS OF RED SNAPPER! The Flying HUB 2 is booked up every day in June for private fishing charters but there’s some room left in July. The Flying HUB 1 which is just as fast just a little smaller of a boat that can only do up to six passengers is open most of June just the weekends are booked up while July is still fairly wide open including some weekend bookings too! Keep in mind you can get red snapper even on a 8-10 hour private fishing charter on these fast boats, but the best route is looking at booking a 12 hour trip to fish the same areas as our 12 hour extreme and 39 hour trips!
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
Along with the big herds of manatees we have been spotting, the new baby dolphins and the occasional sea turtle we are noticing some new white egret nests around the bird nesting island hanging out in their nests!
We have two new baby dolphins in our area making it a great time to come join Capt Jack and Capt Dave for a relaxing dolphin watching nature cruise and Eco tour through the back protected bay waters behind Johns Pass from Madeira Beach! The big Blue boat has been spotting these two newborn dolphins with their mothers in a large playful group of local dolphins and they have been coming right up to the boat to play along side and show off their newly learn skills to our guests! Our 175 local dolphins are growing in number and this summer looks like that number will continue to swell. We have named the two new dolphins Daniel and Rudy after passengers aboard the boat when we spotted them the first time, come for a ride for a chance to have a newborn named after you!
The warmer waters have the local manatees out in good numbers cruising the back bay grass flats chomping down on their favorite food, our local turtle grass. This makes it easy to spot these unique creatures. Typically they are hard to spot only sticking their snout out of the water for a few seconds and then diving down deep for up to 8-10 minutes before poking their small nose out again. Right now, along the shallow grass flats its easy to spot them and they seem to chill out giving our passengers great opportunities for plenty of photos from the big blue boat, our dolphin cruise boat at Hubbard’s Marina inside Johns Pass!
It maybe very late in the season but our local bird nesting island or rookery named Dog Leg Key has plenty of baby birds left in their nests and the juvenile birds born further back are starting to hop around the branches and learning to fly making it a great time to Join us at Hubbard’s Marina for one of these relaxing, fun for the whole family, dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour aboard our big blue boat departing Johns Pass daily at 1,3 and 5pm!
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
The warm summertime weather is here making it a great time to escape to the islands with us aboard the Tampa Bay Ferry by Hubbard’s Marina. Walking the beaches in the morning looking for the sharks teeth and shells and then spend the day time swimming or snorkeling is a great family fun escape from the tourist filled beaches on the mainland. Also, we are seeing tons of local marine life traveling to and from Egmont Key and Shell Key islands! For more info on our cruises check out all the options on our website -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/sunset-dolphin-cruises-gulf-beaches-florida/
The warmer weather has the local tortoises out to play at Egmont key island, great time to visit the island to see plenty of these slow moving tortoise sunning themselves and enjoying some rays during the day!
We have been spotting lots of manatees around the Egmont Key and Shell Key Islands lately, come join us for a day of fun in the in the sun at the island aboard the Tampa Bay Ferry by Hubbard’s Marina.
We also have tons of sea turtle nests at both Egmont Key and Shell Key islands and it’s the peak of sea turtle nesting season! Great opportunity to see some nests and maybe spot some sea turtles cruising the water ways. However, its important to remember and remind your friends, family and children to fill in any holes you dig while enjoying the beaches as the sea turtles that come ashore to lay eggs and make nests can become trapped or disorientated by holes left by beach goers.
Right now they are doing beach re-nourishment on the west side of Egmont Key Island right now which inhibits exploring the full north end of the island like normal. However, that does make it a killer time for sharks teeth finds as the sand they bring up to the beaches and set down on the existing sand is ripe with great fresh shells, fossils and huge sharks teeth even the big pristine megladon teeth that people find as trophies during their visits to Egmont Key island!
If you enjoy snorkeling NOW is the time to get out to Egmont Key Island for some snorkeling fun. The waters are super clear right now especially on the incoming tides, but once the water continues to warm and the summer time afternoon rain storms become normal occurrences daily then the local waters lose their super clear appearance. Come join us asap for a day of island fun with a side of snorkeling adventure aboard the Tampa Bay Ferry from the Bay pier at Fort De Soto park to Egmont Key Island.
Our Shell Key ferry ride aboard the Tampa Bay Ferry from Fort De Soto’s boat ramp to Shell Key Island is spotting tons of manatees right now along their route to their island. It’s a great time to visit that island too for great shells, crystal clear waters on the west side of the island and great exploring on the west side of the island.
The Egmont key ferry from Fort De Soto offers 10am and 11am ferry rides to the island daily this time of year, plus on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we offer a 2pm ferry ride from Fort De Soto out to Egmont Key Island! You get three hours on the island after around a 20-30 minute ride out and back to the island. 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/
Our Shell key ferry trips are a great way to spend the day and offer more flexible schedules compared to the rigid Egmont key schedule! We offer these trips DAILY from the boat ramp at Fort De Soto County Park and they run at 10am, noon and 2pm and the final return time is 4pm! You have much more flexibility during the shell key trips compared to our Egmont key ferry because you get to choose the time you return to fort de Soto from Shell key! If you’re looking for plenty of time on the island and great shelling opportunities then the shell key ferry trip is your best bet! Check out all the information on this special ferry ride at this link – https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/shell-key-ferry/
Regular’s club
We have finished 2019 regular’s club renewals and we are starting on signing up NEW MEMBERS, if you are interested in becoming a 2019 regular’s club loyalty program member please reach out to Capt. Dylan Hubbard by sending him your name and cell number via email to CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com. He will be in touch in the coming few weeks about the loyalty program that offers discounted trips if you fish more than 10,15 or 20 times a year with us at Hubbard’s Marina. It also comes with some free gifts and other benefits too besides discounted trips, but it’s NOT simply a discount program. It’s a loyalty program and it requires fishing often and being a model Hubbard’s Marina guest and showing the passion shared by all of us at Hubbard’s Marina for fishing and our fellow anglers.
PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS: be sure to renew your membership before 2018 ends!
Captain Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Co-Owner
(727)393-1947 ext. 306
CaptHubbard@HubbardsMarina.com
UPDATED Coupon information
Hubbard’s Marina sweatshirts only $20 while supplies last!
We have a variety of sizes and colors and styles, get em’ while they last!
Expiration – when they are gone!
Preferred partner spotlight
Try one of our new menu items at the Friendly Fisherman like the super amazing Fresh Grouper Tacos!
Two tortillas with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo,
cheddar cheese, chipotle mayonnaise and sour cream.
For only $17.45
