This week the inshore fishing has been pretty darn good with some very active and hungry snook, redfish, trout, and some tarpon around the area day and night. The passes have seen the same species very active at night before sunrise. The mouth of Tampa bay has held some very prolific and aggressive mangrove snapper and those can be found during the day time in most passes too around the structure. The bay’s mitigation sites and rock piles and the ledges adjacent to the shipping channel has produced some nice gag grouper. Plus, mackerel are all over the beaches, local piers, passes, the skyway and all around the mouth of Tampa Bay!
The live bait has been very prolific around the area on the flats, on the bridges, in the passes and on the beaches too. We are seeing some nice sized green backs, plenty of glass minnows and some big threadfins on the beaches. These big schools of bait are holding plenty of predatory fish and making fishing more like catching if you can find them when the tide is moving and the fish are feeding. If the school of bait isn’t excited up on the surface that is a good sign the fish aren’t feeding underneath them. Typically when predators are feeding actively around a school of bait they will be in a tight quickly moving formation right up on the surface or against structure or a shoreline. They will be ‘showering’ which resembles heavy rain on the surface of the water, this is a very clear sign that the bigger fish are going after them under the surface of the water. Keep an eye out for this around the bay, on the flats, or on the beaches this time of year for lots of fun filled fishing action.
If you are looking for something to take home and eat the mackerel and mangrove snapper are your best bet since the snook, redfish and trout are all catch and release only until end of May 2020. Plus, they are lots of fun to catch with the whole family on lighter tackle.
Mangrove Snapper
Mangrove snapper are typically around the bridges, piers, jetties or rock piles in the bay. They love shrimp, greenbacks or pieces of clam. You can use cut shrimp or greenbacks too for these aggressive quick biting snapper. They are great eating too, but they are very smart. Due to this, they are a little tricky to get dialed in on as they are a little leader shy and if it’s not looking natural they will not cooperate. This is why lightest possible tackle is always best for these mangrove snapper. I like around 15-20lb floro to start with a 2ot hook and if you struggle to get them going you can even go lighter on the leader and a little smaller on the hook. The best method is free line fishing for these guys as they often will eat your bait as it makes its way to bottom, but if the current is strong sometimes it requires a split shot or super light egg sinker. I like to target these guys at the start or end of the outgoing or incoming when the water is moving but it’s not quite cranking yet because once it’s cranking you can still catch them but it’s much more difficult to present naturally and also tougher to feel the bite as well.
Spanish Mackerel
Mackerel are all over the passes, piers, beaches, and mouth of the Bay. They love the free lined greenbacks or the fast moving flashy lures like a Gotcha plug which is my favorite or a casting spoon with a casting weight in line ahead of the lighter spoon. The trick with these guys is covering a large area with a longer rod for big long casts. Let your lure sink deeply before starting a very quick retrieve. We often catch these guys at 7-9kts or around 8-10mph trolling near shore and along the beaches so when fishing for them around the local area you can’t really retrieve too quickly unless you’re pulling your lure out of the water and skipping it on the surface. These guys hang from the bottom up to the surface, but I find often the bigger ones are a little deeper just like their big cousins the king mackerel. This is why a heavier 7/8th oz or 1oz gotcha is my favorite and why I cast it out and let it sink nearly to the bottom before starting my retrieve.
Snook
Snook have been very active around the area both day and night, but typically snook are even more cooperative at night and that has held true again this past week. We saw them stacked up in the mornings around Johns Pass and most local passes have reported the same. Plus, the docks with lights around the passes that have plenty of water moving past them have held plentiful snook too. During the day, we are still seeing some smaller male snook out on the beaches in the 18-25 inch range. The bigger female snook can be found around the deeper areas of the passes during the day looking for opportunistic dead chunk baits on the bottom. Were also seeing some great snook action around the flats and mangrove shore lines around the bays and intercostal. Typically, by this time of year the snook start making their way back into the bays and around the mouth of the rivers to hide out for the winter. However, this year we haven’t had our first real big cold snap. In my opinion, this is why we are still seeing plenty of fish around the beaches and passes still. IN the coming weeks these fish will start heading further up into the bays and finally into the rivers and bayous for the winter where temps are more regulated.
Redfish
Redfish have been just as active if not a little more active this past week compared to our local snook population. At night, were seeing them around the passes hanging on the bottom feeding around the edges of the dock light lines. Also, around the sandy bottom of the bridges on the light line is a great place to find them. Lots of local anglers have been successful on these guys bouncing a soft plastic paddletail with a weighted jig head along the sandy bottom adjacent to our local bridges for these redfish. In Johns Pass, we have seen the north side of the bridge on the west side holding plenty of redfish on the outgoing tide through the night time period, but dusk has been the prime time just after sunset. During the day, redfish are typically found around oyster bars and mangrove shore lines or the grass flats too. However, this time of year typically during the day you can find large schools of these guys moving together around the flats or out along the beaches or even just near shore for their spawning time. When you are lucky enough to happen upon a school take care not to spook them with your motor! If you don’t have a trolling motor I like to coast up ahead and try and predict where they school will be and shut off the motor and catch them while you’re in position. Once they start moving away let the school move well past you and then you can start your motor and give them a very extra wide birth around them before trying to set up for another hit on the school before they pass you again. This leap frog technique will prevent you from chasing them and spooking the fish and shutting down the bite.
Spotted Seatrout
The trout have been a little tougher but you can find them during the day on the flats, I like to target the sandy patches around the flats they seem to hug the edges of those sandy patches. Also, often when you find a trout there’s typically a handful more in the exact same area. If you hook a trout on the flats and you want another I always cast nearly in the same exact spot and try to replicate my previous action of the lure or the same live bait. At night, were seeing these guys around the lights of the bridges and dock lights around the passes too. They love live shrimp or the green backs free lined out or the DOA shrimp lures work well.
Tarpon
Tarpon are still around the area too, this warmer October has held them around our area much later than normal. We spot a huge number of tarpon around the Johns Pass bridge nearly every morning hanging fender lights right in the middle of the pass. Clearwater pass has had the same large number of tarpon feeding around the bridge lights once the water gets moving. The Dick Misner bridge and also the Skyway are also holding plenty of these large fun fighting fish! However, if you want a shot a nice tarpon the time to go try is now. I like a small ladyfish, big finger mullet, pass crab or large threadfin for the live bait when targeting the tarpon. However, if you want to use a lure the flairhawks have worked for some of the pass fisherman and also lures like the rapala xrap or bomber windcheater.
