Today was nothing short of a blast. The water is heating up fast, reaching 78 degrees, which means some fish like sheepshead are slowing down, but the snook are heating up. One of the hottest bites going on right now is Spanish mackerel, which I will be getting into in today’s report.
Caladesi – Honeymoon Island – Anclote Island
Caladesi: Off the beach of Caladesi Island, there have been a lot of 20-inch and above sea trout. I have been having my best luck with cut bait for them. The really big ones have been lazy, but when they are eating well, they will smack swim baits. So keep this in mind. While the backside of the island has been seeing good amounts of redfish in the mangroves and on the flats. Some days have been hit and miss with them since the water is really heating up. They have been ignoring the cut bait but eating very lively pinfish and greenbacks. Also on the beaches, the snook have been moving in, and they are very active and ready to eat whatever you’ve got.
Honeymoon Island: The snook have not been as hot on this island as Caladesi, but there have been big schools of black drum pushing up and down the beaches. They are eating live shrimp only, so this could be an awesome bite to get on. There are also some big trout cruising around the jetties of this island right now, and they are hungry. Redfish have not been running the beaches heavily, but they are in mangroves and flats on the backside of the island. Pompano have not shown up heavily yet, but they are close by, so stay tuned for that!
Honeymoon Causeway has had some good amounts of snapper and small gag grouper being caught on both bridges. Also, on a good incoming tide, there has been a decent amount of Spanish mackerel showing up. Also, if you need threadfin for bait, this is the place to go. Trout have been on the flat around the bridges, but the redfish have been very slow.
Anclote Island: This island has been pretty much the same as Honeymoon Island with a little bit more snook showing up on the beaches. Overall, I have not heard much from this area, which means it’s worth investigating.
Intracoastal Anclote to Indian Rocks:
A lot has been going on here, and the first thing we are going to break down are the spoil islands because they have been red hot!
Spoil islands have been incredible as of late! Almost all of them are holding big trout around them. We pulled one that was about 24 inches on one of my charters on cut pinfish. It seems like the really big trout have been lazy and wanting to eat stuff off the bottom, while the smaller fish are eating the swim bait well. While the redfish have been smaller on these spoil islands, they’re ready to eat either cut pinfish or live greenbacks, but most are under the slot size. While there are also a few massive snooks hanging around these islands, which I have been seeing, especially between Honeymoon and Clearwater.
The flats have also been a great place to get on a great trout bite as of late. While the bigger redfish have been sighted on most flats, I was flats fishing with a charter today, and we saw some mega redfish, but it was only slot fish that wanted to bite. So the flats have been a good place to look.
Clearwater Beach: About one mile to 5 miles offshore, if you fish any stone crab trap buoy line and bump troll, you will catch some amazing Spanish mackerel. Reports are in, and they are biting well, some even up to 22 inches.
Sand Key Bridge: Some decent-sized mangrove snapper have been moving into this bridge if you can weed through all the baby gag grouper. From shore, there have been lots of trout on the night bite and also snook. The pompano has been moving through this area, but it has been hit or miss from what I’m hearing.
Tampa Bay:
Tampa Bay just keeps getting better day by day, so let’s get into it!
Upper Tampa Bay:
Courtney Campbell has been a hot spot for a lot of action lately. Lots of bait is around this area, which means there are also a lot of predators following it around. Starting with decent-sized jacks and Spanish mackerel, so this makes for a fun time fishing. Also, the snook have been hunting around this bridge a lot. If you can make threadfin, you will catch them. Cut ladyfish has also been working. Around the flats there, the redfish have been hit and miss.
Gandy Bridge: The bridge itself has been quiet. I know you can catch a lot of snook there right now from the ramp, so I will be heading there tomorrow to investigate and bring you a fresh report.
Lower Tampa Bay:
This is where all the action is happening; most of the mangroves are insane right now, small snook are everywhere, people have been having days of 50 plus snook, all on white bait, but you have the chum!
Skyway Pier: The bait is loaded at this pier with tons of threadfins and pilchards. The Spanish mackerel bite has been nothing short of insane and wide open. While there have also been quite a few bonito being caught in the mix. Not only that, but the kingfish have been biting on both the north and south pier. So if you’re gonna fish the Skyway, go NOW!
Skyway Bridge: Snapper are in, but the dolphins have gotten worse this year. So if they’re around, don’t even bother targeting them. Tarpon are starting to show up more and more, but the dolphins keep eating people’s chum slicks and eating your white bait off the hook. So the Skyway Bridge has sadly been a drag. As I have just received this report and will be checking this out for myself soon.
Fort Desoto Pier: This pier has been nothing short of amazing also lots bonito, Spanish mackerel, and seatrout. So if you have the time, this pier is worth it with lots of fish biting and lots of bait. While there have also been insane pompano schools running through which makes for an awesome bite. Pompano jigs have been working the best!
Also, if you are on a boat and want to catch kingfish, the Tampa Bay shipping channel has been pretty good. Bait of choice would be a blue runner; they are key to targeting bigger kingfish. When you bump troll white bait, you will mostly catch Spanish mackerel. So get that big bait and get yourself a kingfish.
That’s all for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Also, don’t forget to come book a charter at 714-661-6550. If you have a report, submit it right here!
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