St Petersburg Fishing Report

April 7, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Despite the wind anglers are still able to make it on the water during weather windows this week. Redfish and Trout are the usual contenders making an appearance for anglers so far. Reds are schooled up, especially towards Sarasota, but are becoming more scattered once we reach Tampa. Searching shallower water will be the key to finding them. The Trout on the other hand seem to be just about everywhere and ready to take a live Shrimp or an artificial such as MirrOlure. Snook are consistent into this week. Passes and beaches are holding the best sizes. There are a few Pompano that may be caught as bycatches on the beaches. They aren’t picky in terms of what they are eating, so anglers heading out shouldn’t have a problem loading up. Structure is holding the typical Snapper and Sheepshead up to 15 miles out. This comes as no surprise to most anglers. Beyond this Kings are beginning to make their way in close and should progress on this trail throughout the season.

OFFSHORE – The weather has made fishing tough into this week however when anglers are able to make it offshore they are finding a decent bite of typical, seasonal fish. The bottom bite is producing Grouper (don’t forget to check your Pro Angler App for updated regulations) and Snapper beginning in 30 feet of water. There hasn’t been many anglers heading farther offshore however Kings, Spanish and Cobia are a bit more accessible for anglers this week. Searching the causeway and trolling live bait has been the ticket to hook Kings up to 20 pounds out of Clearwater. The farther out you can go the better the sizes will be however there are a few smokers mixed in the bunch. You’ll find the Spanish are schooled up so when you find one you’ll likely find many. If you find anglers are chumming, they are likely targeting Cobia in areas like Sarasota. A bit of chum and some live bait is a killer combination to land them from the reefs. We hope to see these fish fire up once conditions are improved.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Discount Tackle Outlet, Capt. Greg of Abbott’s Family Charters, Gandy’s Bait & Tackle, Hubbard’s Marina, Barracuda Bob’s Bait & Tackle, Tarpon Fishing Outfitters, and Pete’s Pier Inc! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!





Pro Angler Team

This Feature Report has been brought to you from the Clearwater Region. View your local report, loads of Hot Spots and other great features when you subscribe to the Pro Angler App on your iOS or Android device!

INSHORE – The bite is fairly typical for this time of year. On the flats we are seeing some Cobia. They have been caught around Anclote. Small Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are swimming with few keepers. Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) are on the flats. Snook (Snook, Common) and Redfish (Drum, Red) are inshore.

OFFSHORE – There is still some decent action offshore this week. Grunts (Grunt, White) and Sea Bass (Sea Bass, Black) are swimming near shore. Farther out the Ajs (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and keeper Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) have been caught. Sharks are beginning to move in.

BAIT REPORT – There is plenty of Whitebait around.


Tarpon Trading Company
727-937-1488
www.tarpontradingcompany.com

March 24, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Pompano bite is really hot right now along the jetties of John’s Pass and the beaches however it is a bit scattered towards Sarasota and thicker towards Clearwater. These Pompano are great eating too, and bite best in the early morning or just before dark. The Snook action has been hit and miss, they really fire up but then as quickly as they start it ends. We’ve seen some monsters caught inside the passes along the beaches. The Mackerel have made their way into the bay and around bridges.
Trout, Snook, Tarpon and Redfish are beginning to get fat again. Reds can be found chasing bait around mouths of rivers and particularly in Longboat taking Shrimp. Trout are more preferring artificials such as MirrOdines, Vudu Shrimp and DOA Shrimp. Sheepshead and Drum have been caught on structure taking Fiddler Crabs or Shrimp on a knocker rig.

OFFSHORE – There is something to catch just about everywhere offshore this week. From 50-70 feet offshore there have been great catches of both Kings and Cobia. We are seeing them consistently caught from Sarasota to Homosassa.
On the bottom, the Grouper and Snapper are doing extremely well, although keep in mind what regulations are in place for them. Grouper can be targeted with Shrimp or Squid while Snapper prefer Sardines or Whitebait while chumming heavy. Ajs are providing a great catch and release bite for anglers out for some fun.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Capt. Greg of Abbott’s Family Charters, Gandy Bait & Tackle, Hubbard’s Marina, Barracuda Bob’s Bait & Tackle, Tarpon Fishing Outfitters, and Pete’s Pier Inc! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!





Pro Angler Team

March 17, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Nothing is out of the ordinary so far this week. Although the bite is typical we can’t argue with how good it’s been. As Snook are swimming the rivers anglers are targeting them under the lights and also around passes. Keep an eye out as they will make their way to the beaches very soon in the Clearwater area.
Redfish and Trout are almost a never-fail catch. Slot Reds are loving areas such as Terra Ceia or around spoil islands. Trout are opposingly in deeper waters around edges of the grass flats, spoil islands and occasionally running flats on the beach for warm water pockets. The occasional Pompano and Spanish Mackerel are also on the beaches.

OFFSHORE – The variety of fish is improving this week. Anglers are finding fish nearshore, offshore on the bottom, just about everywhere! If you can find a weather window to head farther offshore the Tuna bite is turning on. Blackfin can be found roughly 30 miles out of Sarasota while if we look to St. Petersburg the Yellowfin are active farther on the long range overnight trips. Moving closer in, the Kings are biting well. A few of them can be caught mixed in with offshore Tuna however most of them are more towards the shipping channel areas chasing live bait. Of course, Cobia aren’t far behind as they are even closer holding up on nearshore wrecks and reefs.
The typical bottom bite is nothing new for anglers in the area. Snapper are beginning to gear up for an aggressive feeding coming very soon. The sizes are expected to be great. Grouper and Hogfish are consistently turning up while specifically targeting them, especially in the Clearwater area. Scattered Sea Bass and Grunts may be caught as well.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Discount Tackle Outlet, Hubbard’s Marina, Angler 360, and Blue Water Bait & Tackle, ! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!





Pro Angler Team

March 10, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Snook have a been a little difficult to find in keeper sizes. There has been a lot of catch and release angling from Sarasota up in to Tampa. Try to find moving water and fish to structure just before high or low tide as they move out to feed. Bluefish, Ladyfish and Jacks have been a common bycatch out of the Sarasota area. Trout fishing has been just ok. If you were to pick only one place to Trout fish this week, you might best head to Sarasota where you will also have the opportunity to hook some Flounder while fishing with MirrOlures oddly enough. Redfish have been steady across Florida’s Central West coast. They are especially moving well down the river with Snook near Clearwater and caught or the oyster bars up in Homosassa. Tarpon have been heating up in Tampa Bay. Cobia anglers out of Hudson have been catching fish on the Flats.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Economy Tackle Paddlesports, Gandy Bait & Tackle, Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House Tarpon Trading Company, J & J Provisions Inc, Pete’s Pier Inc! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!


OFFSHORE – We’re still waiting for King Mackerel to show up here. There is a decent Grouper and Snapper bite on the days you can get out around 10 miles. Best baits to take this week are Sardines and Squid. The Grouper off of Clearwater have been particular to Pinfish. There is also a worthwhile amount of Amberjack on structure off of Hudson.




Pro Angler Team

March 3, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Snook bite has been HOT HOT HOT just about everywhere through Florida’s Central-West coast. Tide direction hasn’t affected the bite, just as long as there’s moving water. There will also be Redfish mixed in with the Snook. Redfish have been a little sporadic to the south, they improve around the west side of Tampa on Greenbacks or cut bait such as Pinfish. You can find them schooled up on both low tide and high tide. Trout fishing has been fairly decent through the day. There has even been a lot of Trout taken on Rapala Topwaters. Pompano anglers have been finding most of their action coming from sandbars in Tampa Bay while throwing jigs.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Abbott’s Family Charters, Capt. Justin Lofaro of All American Fishing Charters, Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House, Barracuda Bob’s, Tarpon Fishing Outfitters & Blue Water Bait & Tackle! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!


OFFSHORE – You will have to head pretty deep to find any sizeable Red Grouper right now, starting in at least 150 feet of water. Amberjack have been hauled off of bottom structure much closer in while Sheepshead have been on the nearshore structures. There has been a lot of Kingfish around St. Petersburg, we expect this to pick up as the warmer weather comes.




Pro Angler Team

February 24, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Despite the weather it seems we can almost always hook a few nice Redfish and Trout. The Redfish are still a bit scattered at this point but if you put some time in anglers should be able to find a few decent fish. Live bait has been the ticket to catch them, with a select few artificials including Spoons and soft plastics in Shrimp patterns working well. Trout can be found in any of the shallower areas from Sarasota all the way down to Homosassa.
Snook are fairly consistent this week as well. They seem to be taking just about everything, however live bait at night is producing well. Sheepshead are beginning to really fire up on structure as usual. In St. Petersburg there are a few reports of Flounder mixed in. They are preferring live bait.
On the surf anglers are finding Pompano here and there.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Discount Tackle Outlet,, Hubbard’s Marina, Gandy Bait & Tackle, Armed Anglers, Thunder Party Boat and Pete’s Pier! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!


OFFSHORE – Everything is in close this week. Blackfin Tuna are holding up in the deeper Springs this week and can be caught trolling with artificials. On the bottom the Amberjack and Grouper are biting in the same depths. Ajs have had the most consistent bite down the coast this week. As usual, structure is the best place to search for them.
A bit closer in we are finding a productive bite of Snapper, Hogfish and Grunts. The variety of Snapper include Muttons, Lanes and Mangroves. The numbers were great prior to the recent weather and we expect they should pick back up. When anglers can make it farther offshore the bite of Vermilion and Yellowtail Snapper are putting up a good fight.




Pro Angler Team

February 17, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – From inside Tampa Bay out to John’s Pass there is a good Sheepshead bite. Trout are found near inshore troughs during low tides on Shrimp or Greenbacks fished under a popping cork. The best reports on Snook have come from Sarasota over to St. Petersburg. Live baits such as Pinfish or Shrimp will work well to hook them. Inshore anglers targeting Redfish have had the most success off of docks in the rivers, oyster beds throughout intracoastal waterways. The flats around New Port Richey as well as up near Homosassa will provide anglers with a decent Redfish bite on cut bait and Pinfish.
It’s worth making the trip to Sarasota as the Skyway bridge has been offering up some Cobia.


OFFSHORE – The gulf of Mexico has been kind to offshore boats this week. Amberjack have been fishing well on wrecks for anyone using Sardines. If you are headed out of St. Pete’s, target wrecks in 100 ft of water. Out of New Port Richey you will want to be fishing in 50-80 ft. There will also be an assortment of Grouper and Snapper here as well. Yellowtail Snapper have been biting well on structure in the 30 mile range.
From 7-15 miles, anglers in this region can expect to find Hogfish as well as some small Grouper and Snapper. Triggerfish are spread out on reefs and wrecks as you fish your way into the gulf. Keep in mind that they are catch and release at this time. Nearshore trolling with soft plastics has been productive for King Mackerel.

For more fish slamming info download the Pro Angler App for hundreds of locations that provide you with more of thousands of GPS Hot Spots, local Pro Reports, What’s Biting, Tide & Weather data along with many more amazing Pro Angler features.

A big THANK YOU to this week’s Pro Report contributors – Discount Tackle Outlet, Capt. Justin Lofaro of All American Charters, Hubbard’s Marina, Bait Bucket, Barracuda Bob’s Bait & Tackle, Tarpon Fishing Outfitters, and Bluewater Bait & Tackle! Find their contact information on the Pro Angler App!




Pro Angler Team

February 9, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Sheepshead right now are the best thing going inshore. They are biting very well on small pieces of Shrimp or cut Oysters. Snook (Snook, Common) are still being caught during the day just this week Will McClure our first mate caught nearly a dozen one day after cleaning the boats after a trip. The Snook action seems best at the tail end of an outgoing tide during the day and anytime the water is moving at night. The Pompano (Pompano, Florida) bite is going well along the beaches. The typically like a piece of Shrimp or Sand Flea weighted to bottom. If you’re an artificial lure guy the best ones are a doc’s jig or light Nekid ball jig I like the white jigs the best for the Pompano. For these fish just retrieve the lure slowly along the bottom, crank 2-3 times slowly let it fall to bottom, twitch then let it fall, crank two more times and let it fall to bottom again and then double twitch and let it return to bottom and repeat until it’s back. This approach mimics a live Sand Flea being spooked along the bottom and they typically hit on the drop. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!

OFFSHORE – The fishing this past week near shore has been great! The water was clear and beautiful and seas calm allowing us to catch plenty of big Hogfish on live Shrimp. We also caught plenty of big Black Sea Bass (Sea Bass, Black), Porgies (Scup) and Grey Snapper (Snapper, Gray). The nearshore pelagics don’t seem to be around now, but Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin) are pushing shallower with cooling waters and spring is around the corner when the Kings (Mackerel, King) will return to our near shore waters. The Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite in the deeper nearshore waters hasn’t been stellar but were finding them along the edge the near shore waters. The recent 39 hour at Hubbard’s Marina smacked some monster 60-80 Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and plenty of them! The recent 12 hour extreme aboard the Flying HUB 2 limited out on Amberjack so they are biting well to the say the least. The Red Grouper are still biting well but they have a deep water closure right now so you can’t keep Red Grouper beyond 120 foot or 20 fathoms but inside of that depth you can keep them. We are still catching and keeping plenty but we have to play the game where we go deep for Jacks then come inshore and get the Red Grouper. The 39 hour caught tons of tuna as well the cooler waters have them thick in the offshore waters. We had over two dozen keepers on this recent trip and if we were targeting them we would have had 100 or more said Captain Garett Hubbard. The Mangrove Snapper bite was a little soft during the trip but the huge Vermilion and Yellowtail Snapper (Snapper, Vermillion & Snapper, Yellowtail) replaced the hole left by the Mangrove Snapper. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns. Stop in to Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House, fully redone, updated and fresh!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

February 9, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – There are a lot of Sheepshead swimming just about everywhere there is structure this week. Small Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) are holding up on the bridges. The Snook bite is off the charts! Redfish (Drum, Red) are scattered but they are around if you out some time in. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) seem to be hit or miss. A handful of Cobia have been caught as well. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!

OFFSHORE – There have been a few Kingfish (Mackerel, King) being taken in this week. Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) are plentiful. Sheepshead offshore are up to 6 lbs and numbers are good. Mangrove Snapper anglers (Snapper, Gray) are limiting out in the pass while using half to three quarter ounce jigs tipped with Shrimp. Plenty of Grunts (Grunt, White) and Hogfish are around. Farther out anglers are loading up on catch and release American Reds (Snapper, Red). Stop in to Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House, fully redone, updated and fresh!

BAIT REPORT – Mullet are scarce.


Bait Bucket
727-864-2108

February 3, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Snook (Snook, Common) action is plentiful right now inside the passes. They are being caught on the tail end of the outgoing or incoming tides mostly on live Shrimp. Sheepshead and Drum (Drum, Black) still very aggressive and plentiful as well loving cut oysters or small pieces of Shrimp free lined to bottom. If the current is strong you can use some weight but you want the minimal amount to ensure your piece of bait is floating down the pilings of the local bridges and docks naturally ensuring your best bites from the local Sheepshead. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) action at night is still very active, you got to find them along the light lines or dock lights of the passes or back bays. During the day you can find them on the shallower flats but when the water is cool you got to remember to work your baits slowly.

OFFSHORE – Finally the near shore fishing has recovered from that super strong cold front, were starting to see the waters clear and the bite return. The end of this past week were starting to see the catches from our 5 hour half days return to normal. Looking forward to seeing the Hogfish start biting well again too. The ten hour all day Thursday crushed the fish with monster Lane Snapper (Snapper, Lane), big Red Grouper (Grouper, Red), some nice Hogfish, a few nice Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) and then tons of the Grey Snapper, Porgies (Scup) and Sea Bass (Sea Bass, Black). They were able to find cleaner waters out near the edges of the near shore waters that helped them find very cooperative numbers of local fish. The Flying HUB 2 twelve hour extreme this past weekend demolished the fish with a limit of Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and nearly a boat limit of red grouper as well! The deep water closure stopped us from keeping some monster Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) on the deeper Amberjack stops but we were able to come inside 120 foot and still do very well on the Red Grouper. This past weekend we did not have a 39 hour due to Gasparilla Charters so the 12 hour extreme was our only offshore trip lately. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

February 2, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Redfish (Drum, Red) are beginning to turn on, especially during the slack low to incoming tide. They are biting throughout the day. They are a bit more active in the morning. Sitting low and moving slow. Before Peak low we are seeing a better bite. A majority of fish have been caught on the incoming tide. Brown colors are working well on the fly. Generally live Shrimp or similar artificials will work. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!






Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

February 2, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Redfish (Drum, Red) are beginning to turn on, especially during the slack low to incoming tide. They are biting throughout the day. They are a bit more active in the morning. Sitting low and moving slow. Before Peak low we are seeing a better bite. A majority of fish have been caught on the incoming tide. Brown colors are working well on the fly. Generally live Shrimp or similar artificials will work. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!






Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

January 26, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Sheepshead and Black Drum (Drum, Black) love this milky water that we’ve had this past week behind that super strong cold front. These fish seem to thrive in that muddy, chilled, and turbulent water as it flows in or out of the passes. Cut Oysters are still our favorite bait, but barnacles, fiddlers and small pieces of Shrimp work too for the Sheeps. For the big Drum, our favorite bait is a small Crab and often dead seem to work best sitting still and stinking on the bottom. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) action is still focused at night along the dock lights or street lights of the bridge and the live Shrimp are the best bait choice there unless you like to throw artificial then it’s a DOA Shrimp or Mirror Lure mirror dean. Snook (Snook, Common) are a little more sporadic due to the dirtier than normal water but Christian Piccon found some using his Glad Snooker Jigs or Gsj’s that are basically a modified large buck tail lure bounced along the bottom.

OFFSHORE – The bite behind this front has gone to complete crap near shore. These cold fronts get the fish excited as they sweep down and across the gulf but once through the wind, waves, and temps all go nuts. This stirs up the waters and gets fishing moving, but the muddy waters left in its wake takes time to clear up, pressures take time to stabilize and fish take time to get used to the new temps. Unfortunately when we get strong fronts it can day 3-5 days or more to settle out. Well this past week’s strong front we had 20 plus foot waves and the water is taking its time recovering and then we get another front? The fishing will not recover till the chocolate milk colored water dissipates, hopefully early or mid-week next week! Basically this week’s near shore fishing report is one word, JUNK! We haven’t been offshore since our 39 hour last weekend since the Flying HUB 2 is out of the water getting new jack plates, bottom paint and more adjustments. However, this past weekend’s 39 hour went very well. It was a little bumpy ahead of that super strong front but we beat most of the weather and still caught a nice pile of fish. It wasn’t like our 44 hour when we filled all the boxes but it was a steady bite and the more experienced anglers on board had no problem filling their Snapper (Snapper, Vermillion & Snapper, Gray & Snapper, Yellowtail) and Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) limits. Even the beginning 39 hour anglers had a great catch with Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), Red Grouper (Grouper, Red), Kingfish (Mackerel, King), Mangroves, Vermillion, Yellowtail, and some big Amberjack. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

January 26, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Prior to the weather conditions the fishing was on fire however recently things are fairly shut down. We expect another week or so before things calm down. We are seeing a few weather windows however it is still difficult to get out. We were seeing nice Grouper (Grouper, Red & Grouper, Gag) from 150-175 ft. Big Reds were mixed with Gags. Big Ajs (Jack, Amberjack Greater) are in full swing from 10-100 miles out. Red Snapper (Snapper, Red) are everywhere from 25 ft. Stop in to Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House, fully redone, updated and fresh!






Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House
727-391-7380
fishermansidealsupplyhouse@gmail.com www.fishsaltwatertackle.com

January 19, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Jake Seib and John Stephany both from Largo were catching Sheepshead on barnacles off the docks at Hubbard’s Marina this past week. Also, Sebastian Leonard one of our first mates at the marina caught a nearly 45 inch huge Redfish (Drum, Red) under the docks using a live Pinfish while fishing from the beach. The big Drum (Drum, Black) are still hanging out around the pass too, love the Crabs along the bottom for bait or big live Shrimp. Snook (Snook, Common) still biting well on moving water, especially around the western set of poles of the end of the dock on outgoing tide while fishing from the beach. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!

OFFSHORE – Nearshore the Hogfish bite has continued going very well and we expect it to be stellar early in the weekend ahead of Sunday’s approaching front. They really are loving the long fluorocarbon topshots with the lightest possible weights allowing the live shrimp to flutter to the bottom looking natural and enticing. The Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite has finally improved a bit last Sunday’s ten hour all day with captain Bobby had a huge pile of nice fat Red Grouper in the 90-110 foot range and hopefully today’s all day will be similar as the front approaches all the fish should be more excited and aggressive. Well this past weekend’s 44 hour full moon trip was the best fishing we have seen in months maybe even years. We caught one of every species in the gulf it seemed and tons of the Grouper, Snapper (Snapper, Gray), Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater), Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin) and Kingfish (Mackerel, King). We even had 80-90lb Jacks (Jack, Crevalle), 10-11lb Mangrove Snapper and big Kingfish tipping the 30-40lb range. Plus, there were more than just a few big fish too! Big Muttons (Snapper, Mutton) were caught, Rainbow Runners, Almaco Jacks (Jack, Almaco), Vermillion, Yellowtail, and many more (Snapper, Vermillion & Snapper, Yellowtail). We caught so many fish during that trip we filled every fish box on the boat and started stuffing fish into any box or cooler that would hold ice. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

January 11, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Hey anglers! In order to bring you valuable, up to date content such as regulations, GPS Hotspots, and BRAND NEW features the Pro Angler App Pro Reports will be returning the week of January 16, 2017. Please feel free to take a look at last week’s reports for an idea of what’s biting or give your favorite local bait shop a shout! The Pro Angler App looks forward to bringing you lots of exciting changes as we kick off 2017!






Pro Angler Team

January 5, 2017

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Sheepshead are increasing in size. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are consistent. Snook are decent. Redfish (Drum, Red) are hit or miss. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) are fairly steady. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below to reveal tons of information and tips to catch!

OFFSHORE – Ajs (Jack, Amberjack Greater) up to 50 lbs were caught in 40 ft of water. A lot of Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) are biting this week. The numbers are great and the sizes are around 14-15 inches. Grunts (Grunt, White) are plentiful along with Hogfish.




Claude Hanson Knot Magic Fishing Adventures
727-542-2074

December 30, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Sheepshead are on John’s Pass and they are going crazy. They are up to 6 lbs. There are tons being caught on oysters with 20-30 lbs fluorocarbon with a 1-2/O hooks. Get them on barnacles and fiddler Crabs as well. Drum (Drum, Black) are thick as well. If you’re not catching Sheepshead, you’ll be catching Drum. Sheepshead are right around the pilings of bridges and docks. Hug the pilings and move down current. If you hit the bottom you will catch Drum. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) are thick but more in the back. They are hiding in the shallower, muddy water where the bay holds heat. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are stacked up too. Smaller Whitebait or Shrimp is key. Snook (Snook, Common) are mainly at night and early morning using Pigfish freelinied in the current. Thanks for another great year anglers! Pro Angler is looking forward to seeing all of your great catches in 2017!

OFFSHORE – Hogfish are steady nearshore. They aren’t on fire with the turbulent weather. When then the weather is nice the fish are biting. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are in the area. There are pockets of nice water in about 50-60 ft where the Kings are active. They are also in 120 ft. Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are few and far between offshore and inshore. Wahoo and Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin) are biting offshore. Gags (Grouper, Gag) are great 25-35 miles offshore and again from 50-60 miles. Ajs (Jack, Amberjack Greater) are open in the new year and they are biting well so far. They are at 35 miles and farther to about 120 ft of water. 80-125 lb test line is important with a 10-12/O hook and a big 1-3 lb bait. Hold on tight!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

December 22, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Snook (Snook, Common) and Redfish (Drum, Red) are on and off. When you find them they are really good. The outgoing tide around structure such as the bridges around Fort Desoto, Pass A Grille and anywhere where the outflow is good they are taking Whitebait. Freeline the Whitebait around the inlets. Reds are tide dependent as well. Pinellas Point and the bay have been great for them. They are loving Mullet if you can find it. Wishing you a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from the Pro Angler Team!

OFFSHORE – Snapper (Snapper, Vermillion) are as close as 25 ft to 300 ft. Gags are okay if you can find them. Stretch 30s and Rapala Xraps are working well to hook them. They are congregating on structure offshore.

BAIT REPORT – You can cast net for Mullet this week from Egmont to the Skyway. They are still in the bay as well. There hasn’t been cold enough weather for them to move out. Pilchards and Pinfish are being caught. Bluerunners are right off the beach.


Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House
727-391-7380
fishermansidealsupplyhouse@gmail.com www.fishsaltwatertackle.com

December 15, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Redfish (Drum, Red) bite is good as it is still warm out. Greenbacks are doing best to hook them. Live Shrimp is a good alternative. Fish the low tide in the potholes. The warm ups in the afternoons is producing the best bite. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are really good in the creeks and creek mouths using a 3.5 inch gulp on a quarter oz jighead with 20 lb Fluorocarbon leader bounced on the bottom during a moving tide. Search the Courtney Campbell North to the Howard Franklin Tributaries. Little Tarpon are down by the Port of Tampa running thick. They will hit anything from DOA to Greenbacks. Look for the fishing to continue until there is cold weather back to back. The bite is still great. Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) are still swimming the middle grounds. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are still in the Egmont Key Channel. Grouper (Grouper, Gag) are on until the end of the month. Troll plugs or drop bait around the edges of the Shipping Channel by the Skyway. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
Anglers are heading out to 50-60 ft for Grouper (Grouper, Gag). Smaller fish are moving closer towards the bridges in 25 ft. As the water cools the fish begin to move in. Take a look at some of the in-app hotspots and try out some new numbers. Anglers are heading out to 50-60 ft for Grouper (Grouper, Gag). Smaller fish are moving closer towards the bridges in 25 ft. As the water cools the fish begin to move in. Take a look at some of the in-app hotspots and try out some new numbers.

December 9, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Snook (Snook, Common) bite is still going very well during the wee morning hours around John’s Pass and Madeira beach hitting large live baits or slow moving lures. Remember, as the water cools they get more and more lethargic. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite is hot inside the pass on the shallower flats and mudflats, as the water cools they like to stay in the warmer shallow water areas. Drum (Drum, Black) are very active inside the pass and along the beaches being spotted often feeding on Crabs of all sizes. Handfuls of Pompano (Pompano, Florida) are being caught as well but they have slowed a bit compared to their frenzied fall bite. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Nearshore the octopus are here in force! Many of the local Crab fishermen have told us and now we’re starting to see them often on our hooks and anchors when fishing the nearshore and offshore waters. This means that they are great bait this time of year for Grouper (Grouper, Gag)! Many of the fish we catch come up spitting up octopus of all sizes. Hogfish are steady in the nearshore waters, not many were caught this week but that was mainly due to weather not allowing us to get out there to them. This time of year it becomes very important to time your trips around the weather the best bite is right before the front or a few days after it once weather stabilizes. Farther offshore we had another great long range overnight 39 hour fishing trip at Hubbard’s Marina! We caught some truly monster Gag Grouper with the largest over 30lbs! The big Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) were cooperative as well, along with plentiful monster Mangrove Snapper, Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail & Snapper, Gray), Kingfish (Mackerel, King), and unfortunately lots of Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) we had to catch and release! The Kingfish seem be hanging around the deeper offshore waters despite the dip in temperatures.

BAIT REPORT – Mullet are swimming this week. They can be found in the bayous and passes.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

December 2, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The weather has the Mullet on the move, this means big Snook (Snook, Common) are following them around the bayous and passes. This is the time of year big bait gets you monster Snook inshore. The Redfish (Drum, Red) are on the move as well, it’s a great time to get out and find you a monster school of fish heading out of the bays or back through. We’re seeing them offshore too in huge breeding or traveling schools. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are active where they can stay warm especially around the dock lights at night, find and underwater light and let your lure sink a little deeper than you would in the summer and remember to move it slower as water has the fish a little slower. However, deep around that warm light you will find you some willing participants ready to take a bit of your bait. Nearshore we had a lull in the Kingfish (Mackerel, King) there at the end of last week and early this week but lately they have picked up quite a bit it seems as some water pockets of water are being found between 7-12 miles. They have definitely moved off the beaches but we’re still seeing them in the near shore waters surprisingly. The Hogfish bite has been incredible though with numbers as high as nearly 20 keepers on half days and nearly 30 keepers on all days and the charters get near limiting out with them. It’s been great to see such a strong push of these yummy hogfish! PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The 39 hour fishing trips have started back up thanks to the Florida fisherman returning to action after its long nearly three month dry dock. Our first trip out of the yard smashed the fish, tons of big Gags, Red Grouper, Scamp (Grouper, Gag & Grouper, Scamp & Grouper, Red), Mangroves, Yellowtail (Snapper, Gray & Snapper, Yellowtail & Snapper, Vermillion), Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), Kingfish (Mackerel, King), Vermilions and more! Then the Second trip was a bit bumpy but still smashed the Snapper with a monster push of Yellowtail Snapper that was pleasantly surprising for this time of year with some in the 3-5lb range. Kingfish action around the middle grounds and elbow is outstanding right now they were even hitting dead Sardines being dropped down or reeled up by guys using Grouper rigs. Those who switched to the deadly Kingfish rig or Jig head with a piece of wire trailer and treble hook into Sardine floated back into current were catching the Kingfish personal limits with ease. The Mangrove Snapper bite on both trips was steady, solid and filled with monster Mangroves some nearly the 8-9lb range!

BAIT REPORT – Mullet are swimming this week. They can be found in the bayous and passes.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

November 23, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Redfish (Drum, Red), Snook (Snook, Common) and Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are solid. Any of the shallow grass flats around the Fort. The DeSoto area has great fishing for them as well. Pompano (Pompano, Florida) are showing up in the inland passses. Snook are strong on structure. Stop in on Friday for the Customer Appreciation BBQ and 15% off on almost everything in the store! PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The King (Mackerel, King) bite is still good into this week. Hogfish are going to be the main bite going forward and will improve as the water cools. Big Grouper (Grouper, Gag) are between 140-180 ft. Anglers are also getting a few in close while trolling with Stretch 30s in the ship channel. Not too many reports have come from the blue water.

BAIT REPORT – Bait is abundant.


Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House
727-391-7380
fishermansidealsupplyhouse@gmail.com

November 18, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – John’s Pass and surrounding areas inshore are seeing Sheepshead biting well on Shrimps or Fiddler Crabs. There are tons of big Drum (Drum, Black) in the area. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) are going crazy. Snook (Snook, Common) are picky. Catch them at night or early morning. The numbers are great around the dock in the morning popping Greenbacks. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Hogfish are hot. Kings (Mackerel, King) are biting well as the water cools. The next cold front should push them out. The Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) will hang around a bit long but the Kings will move quickly. You’ll have to go further from shore or farther South to catch them. The Gray Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite is always good. Sea Bass (Sea Bass, Black) are picking up as the temperatures drop. Gags (Grouper, Gag) are moving to nearshore water. We expect a big push as it gets colder. Going farther out when the weather allows we are doing well on the 12 hour extreme slamming big Gags and Reds (Grouper, Red). The numbers are outstanding. The offshore Tuna (Tuna, Yellowfin & Tuna, Blackfin) are thick this time of year as the water cools down around the new and full moon. They come up to the surface taking Squid. Wahoo will come in more often as well. Big Kingfish will be left. Remember, if you’re too busy to go fishing, you’re just too damn busy!

BAIT REPORT – There are a lot of Mackerel and bait inside the bay and around the beaches.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

November 10, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – It’s a good time to fish Tampa. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) have been great as of late. Freelined Greenbacks are hitting them on the edges of the flats and they are also holding on rocks and oyster beds as well. Chum with live Greenbacks and you should see them pop. Target them on the moving tide. They are from 18-23 inches. You should be able to limit out. Snook (Snook, Common) have been good in the same area. Concentrate on the full outgoing tide using the same setup. There are quite a few slots and tons of shorts. Chum for them as well. While on the flats, split shotting into the sandy potholes will produce a few Flounder (Flounder, Southern) on every flat. The Tripletail are here. If you head out when it’s not windy use a 1/O circle hook on 30 lb leader with a Pinfish or Greenback you can search the crab pots or markers for them. Cobia are beginning to show up again. Redfish are more scattered this week. Live bait is working best around the Mullet schools during a moving tide. Cut Pinfish are also working well. Again, Chum with Greenbacks. Spanish (Mackerel Spanish) and Bluefish are in the middle of the bay. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!



BAIT REPORT – Mullet are being chased by hungry Redfish around the bay.


Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

November 3, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- Still catching nice Snook (Snook, Common) inside Johns Pass, Sebastian Leonard our newest mate on the fishing trips caught a monster 33 inch monster this morning while hand lining a pigfish. Also, there are still plenty of big schools of Whitebait traveling through the pass. These big schools of bait have Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish), Trout (Seatrout, Spotted), and Snook following them picking off stragglers. Plus, the Sheepshead are thick right now inside the pass as well hunting around the bridge, docks, and other structures. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) bite is still strong as well inside Upper Boca Ceiga bay on the sandy bottom. They love ambushing live shrimp and small whitebait weighted to the bottom. Personally, my favorite artificial lure for them is a DOA shrimp dragged slowly along the bottom with the occasional twitch. Near shore- Kingfish (Mackerel, King) and mackerel are thick nearshore right now around the artificial reefs and large schools of whitebait. We’re catching plenty of them while trolling during our 5 and 10 hour trips here at Hubbard’s Marina. The big Kings are also being caught while flat lining during the drifts or at anchor during our fishing trips and private fishing charters out of John’s Pass. The Hogfish bite is steady right now and we’re seeing nice ones being caught on live Shrimp and light tackle. The red grouper bite has slowed a bit mainly due to weather not allowing us to go out deep enough to target them, but the cold front approaching this weekend should stir up the waters and bring the bigger gag grouper closer into shore. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Different week same story with the weather. This high pressure has just sat on top of our area this past week making it impossible to get offshore to the deeper waters. Luckily today that pattern has broken ahead of the approaching front and we were able to schedule a special 12 hour extreme trip aboard Flying HUB 2 to capitalize on this nice weather window. The fish really bite well ahead of an approaching front especially on a falling barometer which will be happening today as the high pressure gives way to the low pressure cold front. Due to this we expect today’s special 12 hour extreme aboard the Flying HUB 2 to slam the fish!

BAIT REPORT – There are still big schools of Whitebait in the pass.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

October 27, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- The Snook (Snook, Common) bite is steady despite the high pressure, and they are loving the white bait. Great to see them in such high concentrations again inside the pass. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite is also steady seeing them often caught along the north jetty of John’s Pass on live Shrimp, DOA lures, or smaller live whitebait. Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) and Kingfish (Kingfish, Southern) are thick along the beaches and inside the passes. Redfish (Drum, Red) bite is going well in the back bays along the oyster bars and deeper flats, our inshore private charter this past week with Mr. Dimitroff and his son did very well on Snook, Redfish and Trout inshore. The white bait is very active inside the passes and along the beaches being followed by the Trout, Snook and Mackerel. In the back bays the mullet are starting to run and the biggest Snook, and Grouper (Grouper, Gag) that are moving inshore are following the Mullet around doing their best to pick off the stragglers. As the water continues to cool remember to start working your lures more slowly as the fish become more and more lethargic due to the cooler temps. Near shore- Last week we stated that the Mackerel and Kingfish would dominate the near shore news for a while and boy did that hold true this past week. On the Mrs. HUB, Captain Mark had a 5 hour half day and they wanted to troll. Just outside the bridge we put out the spread and within around 3 hours they had a full mackerel limit for 5 guests plus some beautiful Kingfish as well caught on bigger rapala x-rap magnum 30’s. Plus, the Hogfish bite is going very well again in 30-70 foot along hard bottom rock piles or ledges. Again, long floro top shots, lightest weights possible and around a 4ot hook is what we recommend for those pick non aggressive hogs. Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite has picked up as well as they are starting to prepare for their offshore push. In the cooler months the Gags come inshore as the Red Grouper go a bit deeper that’s why months ending in ER are best for Gags and summer time near shore fishery is dominated by Red Grouper. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The weather this past week has been really holding us inshore. This super high pressure has solid 20-25 knot east breeze is making it tough to break out of the near shore waters with our fishing friends on board. Due to this, we have not been able to fish more than around 100 foot this past week so we don’t have much to report on offshore other than the Gags (Grouper, Gag), Kings (Mackerel, King), Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), and Wahoo are out there ready to chew if you can get past the weather and make it out to where the big dogs play. Check out our latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns.

BAIT REPORT – The Whitebait is very active inside the passes and along the beaches. In the back bays the mullet are starting to run.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

October 20, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore – Jeff Johnson, from Seminole, caught a nice Snook (Snook, Common) using a free lined live Shrimp from the north jetty of John’s Pass this past week. Brandon Kuntz and his buddy Joey Willet were also fishing the North Jetty of John’s Pass this week using live white bait. Brandon caught a beautiful keeper sized Speckled Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) and Joey caught a big Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) too. The white bait is thick inside the pass and the Trout, Snook and Mackerel are still tearing up the bait in the pass and on the beaches. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are now on the beaches as well. Justin Winkelman, from Seminole, caught a nice nearly 30lb King from the Redington long pier using a Ladyfish for bait. Justin also caught a monster Black Drum (Drum, Black) using a live Shrimp too. These same monster Drum are being spotted inside Johns Pass too! Near shore- Mackerel and Kingfish will be the headline of the nearshore fishery while they are doing their fall run by our area. This past weekend’s Wild West Kingfish tournament by Angler armory was very successful with the big Kingfish weighing in at nearly 55lbs. were also getting big Kingfish and Mackerel trolling out during our 5 hour half days and flat lining during our deep sea fishing trips on the party boats and the private charter too! Hogfish are biting very well right now with the half day on the party boat averaging nearly a half dozen or more on each trip. The private charters are doing even better averaging nice Hogfish nearly a dozen or more. The grey snapper bite is steady as always. This weekend we have a cold front blowing in that will make the water a little dirty and chillier so the fish will be a little picky Saturday and Sunday with the weather getting a little funky Saturday and easing up Sunday. Early next week behind the front the fish should be grouped up on bigger structure and ready to eat since they will have shut down Saturday and Sunday. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The weather has been a little tough this past week to get offshore due to the strong east breeze making the offshore waters a little bumpy and breezy. However, we were able to make it out to the 39 hour areas on the 12 hour extreme aboard the Flying HUB 2 and they caught some beautiful big Red Grouper, Gag Grouper, Scamp, Kingfish, and Vermillion Snapper (Grouper, Red & Grouper, Gag & Grouper, Scamp & Mackerel, King & Snapper, Vermillion). They did struggle to stay away from the endangered Red Snapper (Snapper, Red) and overfished Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) but were able to get plenty of keeper fish in between these throwback species.

BAIT REPORT – The Whitebait is still very thick around the pass and inside the bay and also on the beaches and they have gotten big starting to be the perfect size for live bait fishing.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

October 14, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Flounder (Flounder, Southern) are still hot inside the Pass, This past week John Coger and his daughters were fishing off the beach behind our shop catching monster Flounder on live Shrimp. Snook (Snook, Common) are biting well when the water is moving they are loving the live free lined Pigfish. Redfish (Drum, Red) action inside the back bays really heated up too it’s just been a great time to get out on the water. The weather has been steady allowing the fishing to remain steady but the breeze has made casting difficult and sight fishing tough. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) and Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are dominating the near shore fishing news right now. The Mackerel are big right now and the Kingfish are starting to be plentiful. They were all school sized Kings but now we’re seeing the bigger 20-40lb models show up just in time for tournament season. Hogfish bite has been very good this past week today’s all day trip brought in some monster 3 and 5lb Hogfish biting on live Shrimp the largest was even randomly caught on a squid cube. Grouper (Grouper, Gag & Grouper, Red & Grouper, Scamp) bite nearshore got a little picky during this past week’s high pressure but in deeper waters it has held steady if we had people able to make it out there through the breezy more bumpy conditions we have seen this past week. Offshore the 12 hour extreme Flying HUB two trips have been doing very well offshore still unfortunately we haven’t been able to get out there this week due to the breezy and bumpy high pressure conditions we have seen this past week. The East winds have allowed us to fish nearshore but it’s been more than 3-5 or 4-6 foot this entire week offshore beyond 30-40 miles. Due to this our last long range trip was at the end of last week before the storm but the fishing was great showing us big Gag Grouper, monster fat Red Grouper, plentiful Scamp, steady big Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) and the occasionally Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail) with big Kingfish biting at our flat lines. We are hoping this trend will be waiting for us when the weather finally lays down offshore.

BAIT REPORT – The Whitebait is still very thick around the pass and inside the bay and also on the beaches and they have gotten big starting to be the perfect size for live bait fishing.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

October 6, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- The Flounder (Flounder, Southern) bite has picked up lately around the beaches and inside the pass. Many local anglers are bringing Flounder in on Nekid Ball Jigz, DOA Shrimp or live Shrimp weighted to the bottom. Flounder love the sandy bottom drop offs, edges of the flats, or any sandy potholes on the flats. Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are still thick inside the pass and only seem to be getting thicker. Snook (Snook, Common) bite is steady but we have noticed a little lull as this storm approaches. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) still very active on the lights inside the pass and on the deeper water flats. This upcoming storm will stir things up and should help cool the water off a bit and break up any red tide that is in the area. Also, the storm will make the water a little dirty due to high winds causing large waves. However, were hoping that by Sunday or Monday the water should be clearing up or completely cleared. Near shore- The Mackerel and Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are back, were catching lots of Mackerel while trolling out on the half day and while flat lining on our half day and charters were catching plenty of Kingfish. The Kings are still a little small and few and far between but they are definitely back and getting thicker. Hogfish are starting to pick up and behind this hurricane once it stirs up the nearshore waters that should help water temps dip a bit so we should get even better nearshore fishing. Keep in mind the first few days following the storm there’s still going to be crazy pressure fluctuation and dirty water causing a slower than normal bite but by Sunday or Monday the water should clear up and pressures return to normal allowing great fishing to resume. Hopefully we will get another ridge of high pressure to come down and push the storms away from the state not allowing Matthew or the other storm in the Atlantic to come our way. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Grouper (Grouper, Gag) fishing has been great the past week leading up to this storm the Flying HUB 2 has been tearing it up offshore in the 39 and 44 hour area. Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) definitely the most active and prolific but many Gag Grouper and Scamp Grouper (Grouper, Scamp) are coming too. Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray), Vermillion Snapper (Snapper, Vermillion), Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail), and many other Snapper species still biting consistently but not as aggressive as they were during the summer. However, we have been seeing very large Vermillion and Mangroves coming up. Kingfish (Mackerel, King), Cobia and Sailfish (Billfish – Sailfish) still being spotted and often caught offshore. Kingfish most popular catch lately on our offshore trips and most of them on the flat lines since we have been taking the super-fast Flying HUB 2 instead of the party boat that allows plenty of trolling time.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

September 29, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are have returned to our beaches, bays and near shore waters. They are present around the large schools of bait and are loving the 7/8 ounce gotcha plugs and casting spoons. We recommend a faster retrieval with the occasional pause and twitch and at least a 20-30lb Floro leader. Snook (Snook, Common) are still present inside the passes and along the beaches blasting finger Mullet and the larger Whitebait our favorite live bait is a Pigfish and the lure that’s been working great is the spooltek 4 or 6 inch lure we now carry at Hubbard’s Marina. Kingfish (Mackerel, King)) are starting to show up in the nearshore waters and it won’t be too much longer until they are being caught along the beaches and passes. They have started to be caught on the beach piers using flat lines on balloons. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) action is still great at night around the dock lights using a D.O.A. Shrimp or live Shrimp for bait. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Near shore- The Grey Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite has been steady lately in the near shore waters along the large areas of hard rock bottom. The Hogfish bite has been increasing lately a recent half day trip caught nearly ten of these great eating fish on live Shrimp. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are starting to be caught during our 5 hour half day we caught the first half day Kingfish midweek on a flat lined Blue Runner and a few more have been caught trolling our rapala X-rap magnum 20s or 30s. Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite has become more common the Hub ten hour all day trips have been doing well when the fish cooperate and become active. Long strips of Squid have been the bait of choice for these nice Grouper. Offshore – The Flying Hub 1 and 2 have been having stellar trips this past week in the deep water along potholes and middle grounds. The Flying HUB 1 had a twelve hour private charter this past Saturday where they limited out on Red Grouper and caught plenty of nice Gags (Grouper, Gag) to fill up their boat grouper limit. Also the Flying HUB 2 twelve hour open boats have been landing monster Scamp, Gags and Red Grouper (Grouper, Scamp) too along with intermittent big Vermillion and Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Vermillion) too. Kingfish, Cobia, and Sailfish (Billfish – Sailfish) have been the big story as far as the pelagic fish we have been spotting and hooking while trolling and flat lining during these offshore trips.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

September 23, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – A lot of Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) are inshore and offshore. Snook (Snook, Common) are steady. Reds (Drum, Red) have returned well. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are biting well. They are in deeper water as temperatures are still warm. Search cool water at the drop offs around 10-12 ft. The flats are still hot in the sun. Sharks (Shark, Bull & Shark, Blacktip) and Drum (Drum, Black) are also swimming. There’s still some Tarpon around. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – In the gulf we are seeing Snapper (Snapper, Gray), American Reds (Snapper, Red), and Grouper (Grouper, Gag). Check out the Pro Angler Hot Spots for some new numbers out there.




Gandy Bait & Tackle
813-839-5551

September 16, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Snook (Snook, Common) Season is in full swing and for a minute there is was like the Snook found out! They stopped feeding early morning for us following Hermine but starting yesterday they are back it. Captain Frank and Smokey caught more than a dozen Snook yesterday before the half day left the dock on the mid incoming tide. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite is steady at night around the dock lights, and on the high outgoing tides around the grass flats inside Johns Pass. Redfish (Drum, Red) are biting well during the day inside the pass and around the bridge, especially the past week while the snook had lulled. The Sheepshead are becoming more prolific as we start to come into the fall fishing time of year. The big Drum (Drum, Red) are mixed in with the sheepshead more commonly spotted inside the passes and around the dock lines. The big Drum love dead Crabs, and the smellier the better is a great rule of thumb to use for these big bottom feeders. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Near shore- Behind hurricane Hermine the fishing close to shore out to around 15-18 miles got a little slow due to the large amounts of rainwater making the water dirty. However, as the water has cleared a great bite of fish has remained. The Snapper (Snapper, Gray) and Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) are doing very well around the 15 mile mark. The HUB on its 10 hour all day trips have really been loading their boxes with nice Red Grouper and the occasional big Gag Grouper (Grouper, Gag) too! Hogfish bite is steady but still a little picky compared to what we expect to come as the water cools nearshore! Offshore- The Flying HUB 2 is running plenty of 10,12 and 15 hour trips out to the middle grounds and surrounding areas! This boat is allowing us to reach 150-300 foot in a matter of two hours! It has been nice seeing large catches of big Red Grouper, monster Gags, Scamp (Grouper, Scamp), Mangroves (Snapper, Gray), plus Almaco (Jack, Almaco) and Bar Jack too! The first 12 hour was a little slow, but we have building steam since that first one and we have really dialed in on the fish. Mahi mahi (Dolphin), Kingfish (Mackerel, King) and Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin) are being caught on the flat lines as well.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

September 9, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Redfish (Drum, Red) are schooling on and off the flats. They can be caught on low tide using cut Ladyfish or cut Pinfish which are easier to throw in front of the school. As soon as they see it, one will go for it. In the schools there are also Jacks (Jack, Crevalle). There are also good Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) in the southern part of the bay. They are taking free-lined Greenbacks. In the deeper flats you can use a split shot. Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) are biting well in the same areas on rocks structure and throughout the shipping channel using a 1 oz knocker rig. A few Flounder are showing up in the same areas as Trout. The bars and structures will be good with Greenbacks with a split shot. The water is still clearing up from the storms and the clarity is improving. It’s Snook (Snook, Common) season and they are holding structure. Search the incoming or outgoing tide with heavy leader. Pinfish are great to catch them. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish below for additional tips and tricks!






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

September 1, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The current weather system is expected to change the fishing patterns quite a bit. The fresh water is going to push the Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) down as they don’t like a lower salinity. The Redfish (Drum, Red) will probably jump up into the bushes on high tides. Target them like you would any other day but you’ll need clean water. If you find Mullet that’s going to mean the water a little cleaner. Usually the Whitebait will get pushed to the deeper parts of the flats and near range markers. If they leave completely , don’t worry as they’ll come back in a couple of days. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – With this system pushing through most of Florida, we expect a lot of wind and tough conditions. Most of the fishing from last week should fire back up once the storm passes. Expect to see the rainfall cool off inshore waters. This will help some of the fish that prefer cooler conditions. Stay informed on all the coming weather systems using your Pro Angler App!






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

August 26, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The bait is thick inside Johns Pass causing the game fish to get excited at the peak tidal times. This past week nearly every morning this large 3-4 block area of live bait has attracted large numbers of Snook (Snook, Common), Redfish (Drum, Red), and Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) to be feeding on the bait. Captain Anthony on the HUB took advantage of this the other morning before a charter and caught a dozen nice Snook one after another and as soon as the bait hit the water the Snook were blasting the live Pinfish and Pigfish. The big Black Drum (Drum, Black) are also inside the pass feeding on Crabs or large live Shrimp. Tarpon are still around the pass but are becoming less and less populated as they are leaving the area. Trout are also still thick inside the pass on the dock lights at night and along the seagrass beds inside Johns Pass. In the nearshore the Snapper bite is steady nearshore right now. The Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) are finally starting to come into the nearshore area too. They have stayed deeper than normal this past summer but seem to be moving in a little closer to shore than recently. This has allowed us to be doing better on the keeper Red Grouper on the ten hour trip. Also, great news lately is the large number of juvenile Red Grouper being seen throughout the near shore waters showing a strong fishery for the following years. Hogfish are now starting to be more prolific as well which is great news for the near shore area fisheries. Cobia are still hanging around the near shore area along with other pelagics. Sailfish (Billfish – Sailfish) and Wahoo are also around the nearshore areas we have caught a handful the past few weeks. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish listed below the report for more angling tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The offshore bite has been great recently. The pelagics are out in force lately including Wahoo, Mahi and Sailfish (Billfish – Sailfish) too. We have been catching these fish on our long range charters and 39, 44 and 63 hour party boat trips. The most recent long range party boat trip was a 63 hour trip and we caught lots of nice Wahoo & Mahi (Dolphin). Plus, the recent long range charters have been spotting big Sailfish around the boats lately as well. The Gag Grouper (Grouper, Gag) bite has been hot in the deeper offshore waters along the big ledges and hard rock bottom potholes. The recent summer time weather has allowed us to drift these large areas picking up countless nice Grouper like the Red Grouper (Grouper, Red), Gags and Scamp (Grouper, Scamp). On the recent 63 hour we caught Queen Snapper (Snapper, Queen), Snowy Grouper (Grouper, Snowy), Scamp (Grouper, Scamp), Yellowedge (Grouper, Yellowedge), Barrelfish and more! This past weekend we had a 44 hour full moon trip that did very well on the Mangroves (Snapper, Gray), Porgies, Vermillion (Snapper, Vermillion), Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail) and others too. It’s a great time to go fishing in the offshore waters right now and the calm weather makes it easy to reach the deep water.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

August 18, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) and Redfish (Drum, Red) bite are hot on the right tide this week. Tarpon are still around but beginning to thin out. The flats are a great place to search along with the Southern end of the bay. The Snook (Snook, Common) are still on the flats as well. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish listed below the report for more angling tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – The bite is a bit slow for Grouper (Grouper, Gag). If you’re going to target them in shallower water, you’ll have to move a lot. 80-150 ft is best for Reds (Grouper, Red) and that’s also where you’ll find better Gags. Anglers are using live Pinfish or dead bait to hook them. The blue water is on fire. We are seeing tons of billfish (Billfish – Sailfish & Billfish – Marlin, Blue & Billfish – Marlin, White) between 110-120 miles to the Southwest.




Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House
727-391-7380
fishermansidealsupplyhouse@gmail.com http://fishsaltwatertackle.com

August 11, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) and Redfish (Drum, Red) have been caught all over the bay. Snook (Snook, Common) have also come up. Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) and Drum (Drum, Black) are around the shark strip. Live bait has been working best.

OFFSHORE – The charters are doing well with the Grouper (Grouper, Gag) this week.

BAIT REPORT – Pilchards are in the bay. Pinfish are by piers and bridges. They can be caught during the day. There are also some Threadfins around.


Sailor Mike’s Bait & Tackle
813-902-9360

August 4, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – It is hot and rainy! Plan for short days. Snapper (Snapper, Gray) are in the bay on most of the bridges and rock piles and you can catch limits. There’s also lots of Cobia coming up to check out the chum slick. Tarpon are turning up on the slick as well. The rain has cooled the water down in certain areas where Redfish (Drum, Red) are just beginning to move into the bay. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite can be good but they are pretty deep. Anglers are still Mackerel fishing quite a bit and there is still some success with Kings (Mackerel, King). There are tons of Snook (Snook, Common) on the beaches that can be caught on good live bait. Grunts, Croakers, Pigfish and Threadfins are working to hook them.

OFFSHORE – The Grouper (Grouper, Gag & Grouper, Red) fishing is slow this week.

BAIT REPORT – Bait is improving. Threadfins and Pilchards are mixed. Late season Ballyhoo are in the bay.


Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

July 28, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Tarpon have been hanging out inside John’s Pass often as of late. They can be found hanging in the dock lights around the pass at night and rolling inside the pass during the day. Many are catching them from the jetty using live Ladyfish. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite has been hot inside John’s Pass lately as well, most are being caught on live Pigfish around the Docks. Steven Cantrell, from St. Pete, caught a handful of monster Snook under the Hubbard’s Marina main dock free lining live Pigfish and Pinfish. The flounder have been biting well inside the pass. This past week we had a kayak guided fishing trips that hauled in nice Flounder (Flounder, Southern) and Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) along the grass flats inside Johns Pass. The live bait is still hanging around the pass as well and the water has been super clear on incoming tides. Nearshore Tripletail and Cobia are out in the nearshore waters in Force! Frankie Henry caught a monster Cobia flat lining a medium Pinfish from our 10 hour all day at Hubbard’s Marina. We also caught two other big ones but unfortunately they popped off the hook before we could gaff them successfully. They Grey Snapper (Snapper, Gray), Seabass (Sea Bass, Black) and Porgies (Porgy, Jolthead) have been steady but the Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) and Hogfish have been tough due to the super-hot waters. We’re finding the deeper nearshore waters are more productive for these species because it’s not quite as hot out there in deeper waters. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish listed below the report for more angling tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Our most recent long range trip was a 44 hour full moon trip this past weekend. Due to it leaving earlier in the day for a longer night bite we get more trolling time during the day. This helped us catch some truly monster Kingfish (Mackerel, King) on the troll out. We lost some big smokers but while flat lining we were able to hook nearly a 60lb true monster Kingfish. The Mangrove (Snapper, Gray) bite was solid all night long with big mangroves coming up all night long. Most experienced anglers were limited out or nearly limited out by day break. The daytime brought a surprisingly steady Mangrove Snapper pick along with some thick Red Grouper (Grouper, Red). The Gag Grouper (Grouper, Gag) bite wasn’t on fire like it’s been the last few weeks but we still got some big Gags. The Kingfish bite sparked up again just before sunset allowing us to haul in even more of these monster smokers. Overall, it was a great trip with nice Grouper, Snapper, Porgies, and big Kingfish caught too! Check out our latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina/videos




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

July 22, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The fishing has been steady in this area as of late. Snook (Snook, Common), Drum (Drum, Black) and Snapper (Snapper, Gray) are all over the bridges and structures. Live bait including Greenbacks, Shrimp and Pinfish are the Go-To.

OFFSHORE – Offshore the Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) are biting. Kings (Mackerel, King) are still hanging around in 50-70 ft.

BAIT REPORT – Threadfins and Pinfish are swimming. Glass Minnows are everywhere. Pinfish are on the flats.


Sailor Mike’s Bait & Tackle
813-902-9360

July 15, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite just won’t quit around John’s Pass dock lights at night. Also, the big Snook (Snook, Common) are feisty at the dock lights edges ambushing the bait where they can no longer see the predators waiting. Redfish (Drum, Red) bite along the bottom is great as well using slow moving storm or gulp jigs reports local angler, Wade Thomas from Seminole. The whitebait has been thick around the pass as well come late afternoon coming into the pass with the tide and really starting to get cast net size. We’re looking forward to a great late summer bite as the whitebait heats up as the primary food source for our local inshore species. The Flounder (Flounder, Southern) are really doing well in the deeper sandy areas off the hot grass beds the mud minnows or big select Shrimp weighted to bottom is best. However, we love the DOA shrimp so we can cover larger areas of the sandy bottom. Near shore- Hogfish are starting to come up often again on the half day fishing trips using live shrimp for bait. The nearshore Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite remains very good throughout the summer and they love the light tackle live Shrimp technique along with the Hogs making it easy to target both species. The Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are still around but more spread out near shore were seeing the Kingfish (Mackerel, King) still as well but they seem to be hanging in the shallow offshore waters instead of the deep nearshore waters at 15 miles like they have been through late spring. Tripletail seem to be around still but we’re seeing them move deeper as well as our nearshore waters remain very hot. PRO ANGLER APP USERS – Tap a fish listed below the report for more angling tips and tricks!

OFFSHORE – Our latest 39 hour trip had some decent trolling action on the way out many Kingfish (Mackerel, King) were caught but not until we were past the 20-25 mile mark well into the offshore waters. Kingfish and Bonita (Bonito, Little Tunny) continued biting well throughout the troll but the Mackerel weren’t around for us this trip. Trolling between spots netted some monster Blackfin Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin) on Rapala x-rap magnum 30’s. The Porgy bite was on fire during this trip it was hard getting the cut Threadfins past them to the Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray), but boy were they big and aggressive making the fishing action packed. Live Pinfish being used during this time needed a long soak but the big Gags (Grouper, Gag) and even bigger Mangroves would come slurp them up during the Porgy bite chaos making the night fishing very enjoyable until the Kingfish interrupted our bottom fishing. About an hour before sunrise the Kingfish turned on like a light switch foaming up around the boat eating leads, swivels, bare hooks, or anything that was dropped into the water. This made anglers trying to target bottom species frustrated because they kept getting clean cut off while dropping to bottom but those who switched to wire leader and any type of bait got some beautiful Kingfish and many of them, until after sunrise. Day bite was slow and steady but the big Gag Grouper, steady Mangroves and hot end of day Red Snapper (Snapper, Red) bite was the highlights. Overall, it was a great trip with many happy anglers and we look forward to doing it again this weekend. Check out our latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns:https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina/videos




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

July 7, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Not a whole lot has changed from last week. There has been a new push of Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) that has moved into the bay. There ar a lot of schoolies but there are some bigger ones too. On a good outgoing or incoming tide there has been as many fish as you can catch. Anglers are using 1-2/O extra long shank hooks with 40 lb fluorocarbon leaders with small Greenbacks. You can also chum them and they’ll stay on the long hook every time. There are also a couple Cobia being caught on a circle hook with a life Pinfish or Greenback. Flounder (Flounder, Southern) have also shown up. Take your Mackerel hook and put a split shot on it so you can drop it down. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite has been good on the incoming tide or outgoing tide. You can find them just off the shore lines in the mangrove troughs. They can easily be caught. The Reds (Drum, Red) are starting to show up on cut Threadfin in the upper part of the bay. There is Tripletail in the South bay and you will find Cobia while you focus on them. Go buoy to buoy to find them using a 1/O J hook with a nice piece of Shrimp and a split shot. The Tarpon have pretty much turned off since the temperature is so hot.






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

June 29, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The fishing hasn`t changed too much this week. We are focusing on the middle of the bay with moving tides around the drop offs. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted), Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) and Cobia will all be here. Bluefish are on the flats. Redfish (Drum, Red) are showing up on a good afternoon flood tide or a good morning outgoing tide. They are loving live Greenbacks tight to the mangroves and underneath the mangroves. Most people are focusing on Sharks (Shark, Blacktip & Shark, Shark, Bull & Shark, Lemon) since it is Shark Week. They are in the middle of the bay by the shipping channel. Drop a head of a Jack, Crevalle or Ladyfish on a 7-8oz circle hook with 3 ft of leader or cable on 50-80 lb test you will hook them. Tarpon are around the Skyway but the numbers have dropped a bit.






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

June 24, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- Captain Garett Hubbard was down on the dock watching the long range 39 hour offloading and decided to drop down some snapper carcasses while he waited within a few minutes he jumped two nice sized 100 plus pound Tarpon from the dock at Hubbard’s Marina. Mahlon Washington and his buddies have been fishing the docks around Hubbard’s Marina catching monster Snook (Snook, Common) and even big Grouper on live pigfish. The Pompano (Pompano, Florida) bite seems to have subsided a little giving way to more whiting and Silver Trout (Seatrout, Silver) being caught from the jetties. The beginning of the outgoing tides have produced the most as of late inside Johns Pass. The water clarity seems to have finally returned to beautiful after our wind event this past week, but on the strong outgoings the tail ends of the tides are still getting dirty especially on the recent full moon hill tides. The bait is thick inside the pass but still a little too small to fill your bait buckets, should be getting there soon! Near shore- The Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) have been full lately due to that full moon. Our day trips are finding them stuff to the point of bursting, literally so full their scales are being pushed out and displaced due to their full bellies. However, light tackle and live Shrimp have helped us continuing to be successful on this yummy Snapper especially on our private charters. They Grey Snapper bite has been steady and going well for our half day party boat trips. The Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are still around near shore but the Kings (Mackerel, King) seem to be gone hiding in the cooler offshore waters or up in the northern gulf waiting for their fall return down our beaches. Tripletail action is great nearshore especially since the water has cleared making sight fishing for these yummy prehistoric looking fish even easier.

OFFSHORE – Well yet again we bring nearly unbelievable exploits from our offshore fishing trips at Hubbard’s Marina! Just two days ago we landed the biggest Wahoo ever caught on our party boats weighing in at 88.9lbs caught by Chad Andrews from Sarasota. He caught him on 40lb flouro leader with 50lb braid on a dang spinning rod. This monster fish came up to our 12 hour party boat trip and Chad quickly grabbed his rod and a live Pinfish and chucked this unlucky bait right into the jaws of this behemoth pelagic and before he knew it the Wahoo took off like a rocket tail walking nearly 100 yards on the surface before sounding deep and nearly dumping the reel! After two long laps around the boat and ducking and weaving through our other anglers our experienced crew, captain and this happy angler who luckily was an expert as well landed this truly trophy pelagic fish! If that wasn’t enough to get you excited how about the story of young Haley Millsaps. She was fishing this recent 39 hour midweek trip with her father Ronnie and she was using basic snapper gear when she felt a small nibble and set the hook on what was probably a small Red Snapper or Mangrove Snapper. She began reeling this Snapper off the bottom and before she got him ten cranks up she felt the hit of her life as a 34lb Gag Grouper (Grouper, Gag) started to dig back to bottom. With the help of our experienced crew and her father’s strong physique and a little bit of luck she was able to land this truly monster grouper!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

June 17, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Gray Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite has been steady through the spring and summer, if the weather allows us to drift efficiently the boats have been doing very well on these yummy Snapper. When we have to anchor due to gusty conditions we don’t get to show our bait to as many fish and the catch count tends to dwindle a bit. The hogfish bite is steady still, but as the water clears it causes the bite to become a bit pickier as these leader shy fish are very aware of unnatural bait displays. The Tripletail have been thick along the beach and in the near shore waters hiding under floating debris or flotsam. The Mangrove Snapper near shore bite has tapered off a bit but we’re still picking a few. Due to Red Snapper season we have been focused offshore instead of near shore waters but the red grouper bite is finally really hot this year. They are getting more and more prolific and aggressive with rising water temperatures.

OFFSHORE – Last week we said the bite was hot offshore, well it’s only improved from there! We have landed some seriously trophy fish over the past week like Warsaw Grouper (Grouper, Warsaw), 111 lb Cubera Snapper (Snapper, Cubera), monster Wahoos that’s right more than a few with the largest pushing 65 plus lbs! The Red Snapper have been steady along with nice Gag Grouper (Grouper, Gag) and Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) in the mix as well. The Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite has been soft you have to really work to feel the bite lately since they are not half as aggressive as they were in the spring but they are still biting well.

BAIT REPORT – The waters have finally started to clear up back to gorgeous conditions after tropical storm Colin’s heavy rainfall had the back bays pouring out browner than normal brackish water tides on the outbound tidal flows. Luckily that has gave way to beautiful outbound tides and really allowed the bait schools to move back into the bays. We’re seeing the two inch Greenbacks (Pilchards) and larger now which is a great sign the summer inshore bite is really going to turn up. The Whitebait returning means the local inshore fish are going to start favoring that natural white bait during most of the day, but when the hill tides come around the new and full moon the large flush of Shrimp will get them excited for Shrimp again. Watch the area you’re fishing and choose your baits wisely before presenting something the local fish aren’t feeding on during that time. As the water clears, also be sure to use artificial lures that match the water colors because lure colors are made to catch fishermen not fish. The fish like a natural look and can mostly see transitions in the water not the bright colors these lures are dressed up in to catch your eye as you walk down the busy lure isle at the local Bass pro Shops.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

June 9, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- Angelo Rivera and his Positive fishing group are absolutely tearing up the Snook (Snook, Common) from the north Jetty of Johns Pass. The dirty water and heavy rains put a damper on things a few days but luckily the bad weather only affected our area for a few short hours and its back to gorgeous now around Johns Pass and Hubbard’s Marina. The Flounder (Flounder, Southern) bite has picked up quite a bit in local area. The Redfish (Drum, Red) bite has slacked off in the back bays as they move to deeper drop offs as the water heats up. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are biting well now around the area as the shrimp start to move around more and more but the best bites are still at night around the dock lights. Pompano (Pompano, Florida) bite has slacked a bit due to the recent crazy weather but should return quickly as the local waters have cleared back up! Near shore- The Hogfish bite has been picky but steady lately picking up a few here and there on the party boat trips. Our private charters haven’t been fishing near shore much so we haven’t been seeing the large numbers of Hogfish lately due to red snapper season our focus is offshore. Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) nearshore still steady but the past week their bite has been picky too due to fluctuating weather. The Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are still around the Mackerel and near shore bait piles but have spread out quite a bit most are being caught in the cooler offshore waters. The Grey Snapper bite has been great though plenty of those nice eating fish coming up on our half day fishing trips. The 10 hour all day has stopped thanks to them being turned into 12 hour long range trips for Red Snapper (Snapper, Red) but boy has the Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite turned up. Cobia are around, triple tail on the buoys and tons of whale Sharks are being spotted right now thanks to the prolific near shore plankton.

OFFSHORE – Wow the bite is HOT at Hubbard’s Marina offshore. The flying HUB 1 private charters are absolutely crushing the fish with monster 65lb Black Grouper (Grouper, Black), African Pompano (Pompano, African), big Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin),Kingfish (Mackerel, King), Wahoo, monster Red Snapper (Snapper, Red), and tons more trophy sized fish. They even ran a deep drop trip recently on that special boat that caught Warsaw, Snowy, and Yellowedge Grouper (Grouper, Warsaw & Grouper, Snowy) plus monster Gags (Grouper, Gag) and Red Snapper on the way inshore too. The 12 and 39 hour party boat trips have been doing well too, but the 39 hour is always putting more fish on deck thanks to the five times longer fishing times even further from shore and that trip offers a two day bag limit compared to the single day’s limit you get on a twelve hour. However, the twelve hour has caught some beautiful fish too with the largest Red Snapper just under the 22lb mark and plenty of nice Gag Grouper and Red Snapper. Check out the latest Facebook videos to see live reports as the boats returned from their first few red snapper trips, simply search Hubbard’s Marina on Facebook to find our page then click more, then click Videos




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

June 3, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – We haven’t had too many reports of Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) or Redfish (Drum, Red) as everyone is focused on the Tarpon. The Tarpon have been on the beach, in the pass, and are readily taking pass crabs.

OFFSHORE – At around 40 ft. of water, there are Kingfish (Mackerel, King). In 30-40 ft. of water there are also Gags (Grouper, Gag) and Reds (Grouper, Red). For the Groupers, you can’t go wrong with Pinfish. For the Kings, anglers are trolling over structure.




Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

May 26, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Jacob ‘Smokey’ Grant, our first mate on the half days, was nailing monster snook (Snook, Common) in crystal clear water along the docks at Hubbard’s Marina using a hand line and a live pigfish or grunt for bait. The big snook love the pigfish due to their grunting noises they emit, seems to really make the snook react more than a pinfish does. Susan Mongan, from North Redinton, was at it again on the north jetty of Johns Pass catching nice pompano (Pompano, Florida) and really large whiting on dead shrimp. She reported her most action was when she tore off the heads of the shrimp and threaded her J hook down the body of the shrimp to make it almost like a soft plastic lure she could drag back slowly along the bottom, this seemed to get the whiting (Kingfish, Southern) and pompano to strike more often she claimed. Joe Cardon, from largo, didn’t have the same luck Susan did but he did report the whiting were biting everyone’s line. The crystal clear waters did make it tough for most anglers along the jetty but using lighter line helped Susan and her friends to get the pompano in their coolers. Don’s dock reported the mangrove snapper (Snapper, Gray) and sheepshead were biting well but again the light line was a necessity to keep the action going, the water is truly crystal clear inside Johns Pass! Near shore- Not only is the water clear inside the pass, but we have nearly top to bottom visibility in the near shore waters. This has helped the trolling for mackerel to become even more action packed since they can see our flashy lures from quite a distance. Also, the snapper bite is really heating up the Mangroves (Snapper, Gray), Porgies and even the seabass (Sea Bass, Black) have really been biting very well this past week as the weather has finally stabilized for us. Today’s half day had huge stringers of fish with some hogfish peppered into the mix. Mangrove snapper are tearing up just about anything deeper than around seventy foot of water. The shallower waters have been tough to find mangroves that will bite due to the clear water they are too leader shy to bite any kind of heavy leaders. Keep your eyes peeled while fishing near shore the whale sharks have been around quite frequently the past few weeks we spotted two this week during private charters on the Flying HUB 1.

OFFSHORE – Here’s the latest report from our 44 hour full moon trip courtesy of our newest addition to the team, John Martin, who is now the fishing coach for our long range party boat guests! The trolling was good from the start with Spanish (Mackerel, Spanish) coming in as soon as we cleared the bridge. Just before sun down the trolling got even hotter with several smoker Kings (Mackerel, King) coming in with a couple over 20 LBS. The mangrove snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite would not quit during the night from start to finish, we only had to move twice and they were only short moves and anyone who was able to last through the fish catching marathon limited out on their two day bag limit before sunrise! As soon as you hit the bottom the mangroves were tearing up your baits. The only thing that surprised us, was the fact that there was no Tuna action at sun rise. The last several trips there has been hot flat line action on Tuna and Kings just before sunrise, but not on this trip. Perhaps the Goozers were so thick everything else was watching the show. One of the few draw backs to full moon fishing is the day bite often is slow as the fish have been feeding all night. When combined with no wind for an anchor heading the bulk of the day was picking at best, but we did pick up some nice grouper (Grouper, Red), porgies, scamp (Grouper, Scamp) and big Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater). Later in the day the wind picked up enough to allow us a strong anchor heading that allowed us to target two nice wrecks that were loaded with even bigger amberjack in the 50-70lb range and the big gag grouper (Grouper, Gag) also were biting well too between the jacks and starting June first we will be able to get them in the box finally. Overall it was a killer trip with tons of mangroves, nice grouper, monster jacks and a few big smoker kingfish.




Hubbard’s Marina
27-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

May 20, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – INSHORE – Angelo Rivera, from Largo, reports the Pompano (Pompano, Florida) bite is HOT on the western tip of the north jetty at John’s Pass. He reported that the bite turned on just after sunset as the current picked up and that 5 or 6 anglers worked together to cast up current and work down as the next angler casted in the same area and worked down tide and so on and so forth. Most anglers were using the Doc’s jigs and Angelo said the green color was working best all the anglers caught a limit of Pompano just before the bite shut down as quickly as it started. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite is great at night too inside Johns Pass. Angelo Rivera switches to Snook after night falls and he moves to the southern side of the pass along the rocky jetty. His best luck is on spooltek 6 inch lures but also does well using rattletrap lures too. The water clarity inside the pass right now has been phenomenal allowing us to area huge schools of giant Snook hanging under the docks during the day but they seem to be very docile and unaggressive till night falls. The whitebait is in the pass but really small lately, hopefully the large greenies will move in soon to keep the Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) nearshore through the summer. Sharks are starting to really heat up inside the pass and along the beaches the summer time tradition of beach sharking at night will start to become more of a normal occurrence as the water warms and the shark spawn reaches its peak. NEARSHORE – The Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite nearshore and offshore just seems to get hotter and hotter and the clearer waters are making it easier to lure them up to the surface. The HUB and Flying HUB 1 both have had the Mangroves up at the surface eating the chum slick behind the boats. Great time of year to book a private charter for light tackle Mangrove Snapper fun! The Hogfish are still biting but since the water has cleared so much it takes more and more of a special approach to ensure the Hogs will bite. The best bet is using a large amount of Fluorocarbon topshot and a super light lead as light as the current will allow. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are still around especially in the deeper nearshore waters, but as the water warms they will thin out especially if the bait continues to spread out. Whale sharks are being spotted in the nearshore waters right now thanks to the higher amounts of krill and plankton in the area, if you visit the beaches look closely in the surf you will see the sand come alive as if it’s swimming that’s the microscopic food these monstrous animals feed on!

OFFSHORE – Recently Hubbard’s Marina went on a 63 hour deep drop pelagic expedition and boy was it a success! Loading the boat takes a while even though we only allow 18 guests due to the batteries and 3-5lb weights required for the deep drop portion of this unique trip. The Mackerel (Mackerel, King) started off the trip for us before we even left the John’s Pass channel and the Kingfish started chewing just around the fifteen mile mark and we caught quite a few while heading out to the blue water. We also caught some Bonita (Bonito, Little Tunny) while heading offshore too and those are kept for their great bait purposes in the super deep waters offshore. The Mangroves (Snapper, Gray) were big and plentiful when we started fishing, but due to a strong current it was tough to target them perfectly but we did get nice Almaco Jack (Jack, Almaco). Then just before sunrise using live Pinfish on a flat line we started slamming the monster Blackfin Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), one was over 30lbs. Once the sun rose, we started targeting the big Grouper (Grouper, Gag) and the Yellowedge Grouper cooperated nicely along with a few big monster Snowy Grouper (Grouper, Snowy) along with tons of nice Tilefish (Tilefish, Blueline)! We pulled in some monster Sharks in the deep water as well some over 500lbs and with the electric reels it made it a little easier to get these guys up to the surface to release safely. We did some Swordfish (Billfish – Swordfish) chunking at night and got two hook ups but no Swords to the surface unfortunately due to a spit hook and broken leader. The following day started out drift fishing for Tilefish and boy did it turn on like a light switch the tiles were coming in 4-5 at a time and they were nice fish to say the least! This trend continued for hours until we pulled away trying to mix up the bag, luckily the Yellowedge, Snowies, and some big Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) helped us catch some new species. The trick to being successful on these trips is to be sure to use the right tackle and listen to the advice of the experienced captain and crew. Also, everyone using the similar style rigs and weight sizes is a tremendous aid to allowing for a successful trip.

BAIT REPORT – The whitebait is in the pass but really small lately, hopefully the large greenies will move in soon to keep the mackerel nearshore through the summer.


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

May 6, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

OFFSHORE – The Red Grouper fishing has been good past 100 foot of water. Using live Pinfish or dead Sardines and Squid has been the most effective. The tackle I like to use is a 4/0 reel with 50 lb. test main line and an 80lb leader with a 6 to 8 oz. of lead depending on the current. Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) fishing has been good in 75-90 foot of water. Anchor up and put a chum bag out and use live white bait or small green backs on a 1/8-1/2 oz. jig on a medium size spinning reel with 25-30 lb. fluorocarbon leader. You will also want to make sure to have a kingfish rod out as there is a good chance that you will catch a King (Mackerel, King) or a Blackfin Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin). Every trip recently has been producing one or the other. Use number 4 or number 5 wire leader to ensure you keep your catch on. A small blue runner has been the bait of choice or a large sardine, which can be caught with Sabiki.

BAIT REPORT – Catching the best live bait possible is imperative for success to a good offshore trip. If you spend the extra minutes catching the best bait you will have the most luck offshore. Large pods of bait are being spotted all the way out to 90 feet of water. White bait and small Greenbacks or Pilchards are at all bridges and piers. Be safe out there and most importantly have fun.


Captain Chad Hickman
941-468-8692
http://www.elcapitanosoffshore.com

April 27, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The full moon has provided a great bite on cut Pinfish. Anglers are staying far away from the Redfish (Drum, Red) as they have been very spooky. With all the Spring traffic they are a bit spread out. On the incoming high tide anglers are chumming the sandy holes and flats until they find one or two. They can then be found on cut bait. You should be able to get 5-10 at a time. They are very thick. Cobia and Tripletail have also shown up in the middle part of the bay around buoys, humps and range markers. The Spanish are also swimming this area. When the tide is not moving the bite is actually great. Throw a bunch of chummers and the fish will show up. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite is great. We are getting 20-30 Snook per trip. The incoming just before high tide really provides a great bite. Tarpon are beginning to show up near the Bradenton/Sarasota area. About three or four weeks and they’ll be in Tampa.



BAIT REPORT – Pinfish are all over the place from Coffee Pot Bayou. This is the best place to find bait this week. Three or four throws will fill you up.


Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com

April 22, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Spanish Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) have been great. Redfish (Drum, Red) are eating well this week. Schools are sporadic and scattered about the bay. Snook (Snook, Common) have been awesome. The sizes are varied from small to huge however there aren’t a lot of slot sizes. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are on deeper flats this week. Anglers are catching Mackerel incidentally while targeting them. They are biting well though. The upstairs Fly Tying room is completed! The first Thursday of every month will be a beginner Tying class and the Third Thursday will be for more advanced techniques. Stop in and check it out!

OFFSHORE – It’s Kingfish (Mackerel, King) season right now! Everyone is focusing on them this week as tournaments and hot bites are typical this time of year. We are also seeing Grouper (Grouper, Red & Grouper, Gag) from shallow to 90ft. There are some rumours of Blackfin (Tuna, Blackfin) as well farther out. Some anglers are running the buoys and Crab traps for Tripletail too.




Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

April 7, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – David Ryzewiski, from Las Vegas, caught a beautiful big Snook (Snook, Common) at night this past week from the Treasure Island or south side of the pass this past week. He reported that his silver and blue rattle trap caught him a few Snook but the largest he couldn’t pull out of the tide before it got him snagged. Angelo Rivera, from Largo, is a close friend of Hubbard’s Marina caught multiple over slot Snook this past week from the West end of the North jetty using a Spooltek lure just before sundown. Mike Yanavitch, from Pennsylvania, caught a few Flounder (Flounder, Southern) this past week on live Shrimp fishing from the north jetty of Johns Pass. He reported his best bites were when he weighted his Shrimp to the bottom. Colin France, from Atlanta, reported that the Speckled Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) have been biting very well at night inside the pass he was catching his fill this past week just after sunset under the John’s pass bridge. Glenn Fleming, from Cocoa beach, caught some beautiful Sheepshead and watched his friend caught a few big Black Drum (Drum, Black) all along the jetties inside John’s pass. Justin Sanchez, from Seminole, has been fishing John’s Pass often this week from both jetties and from a boat at night. He reported that the Redfish (Drum, Red) and Trout are on fire at night inside the lights of JP. He also has been catching plenty of nice Flounder during the day he said that all the fish he’s been catching has been on live Shrimp. Dorian Hawkins, from Tampa, has been fishing Indian rocks beach catching Blacktip sharks on cut mullet. He also has been catching Flounder, silver trout and sheepshead on Indian rocks fishing the beach and around the foot of the piers. The Whitebait is starting to show up, but hasn’t really invaded our area like they are expected too and for now they are still very small. The Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are here already however, and the Kingfish (Kingfish, Southern) are starting to sprinkle in slowly.

OFFSHORE – Throughout the nearshore the Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are in town for their Spring run but they are starting a little slow this spring. The Mackerel however are prolific already and they are biting on pretty much everything nearshore. The Hogfish bite is a little slower than it was during the cooler months but were still picking a handful each week using live Shrimp. Our private charters are still doing very well on the hogs unlike the party boats. The Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite is finally starting to turn around for the fleet were catching them more steadily now as the waters warm nearshore. A recent Mrs. HUB private charter caught a half dozen Red Grouper on very short trip plus a few nice Kings to finish off the box. The Cobia are still around seeing a few here and there but haven’t been as thick lately as they were last month. In the offshore this past week we haven’t been out but our 39 hour leaves this weekend and behind this weather we have the Flying HUB doing some long range private charters so check in to our Facebook page early this coming week to get a detailed offshore fishing report!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

March 30, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Scott Pelno, from Seminole, was fishing the north jetty of John’s Pass this past week and reported catching some nice Whiting (Kingfish, Southern) on live Shrimp weighted to the bottom. He also reported that the Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) have returned to the skyway. Scott was fishing the south pier at the skyway watching Mackerel being caught all around most of which were caught using a shiny gotcha plug. Mike Swisher, from Ohio, is on vacation to our area and has thoroughly enjoyed fishing the North Jetty of John’s Pass throughout this past week. Not only did he catch Sheepshead, Whiting and Flounder (Flounder, Southern) the also saw locals catching nice Speckled Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) as well. He was fishing with live Shrimp his entire visit. Don’s Dock bait shop at the end of the boardwalk reported that the most action this week has been on the live Shrimp and the usual suspects caught have been the Sheepshead and Mangrove Snapper that love to call their docks home. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite has been great inside the pass, we love to use Pigfish and Grunts (Grunt, White) for bait but lately large or jumbo live shrimp have been working well too. The best time to target snook has been and will continue to be just before sunset until just after sunrise especially when the water is moving. Throughout the nearshore, the Snapper bite has been going very well this week our private charters have been limiting out on the Mangrove Snapper and even the party boat is doing very well. The Hub did a recent 12 hour night trip for Mangroves and not only limited out on the Goozers, they nearly limited out on Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail) and Lanes (Snapper, Lane) too! Then a few short days later the HUB did an 8 hour day trip and limited out on mangroves yet again and caught a handful of nice Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) too. The Hogfish bite has slowed a bit but we’re still finding them occasionally. The Mackerel are finally running thick again, were catching them while trolling and also while bottom fishing too! The Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are now here but they are not quite as aggressive yet. We chummed very heavily yesterday on our 10 hour party boat trip and we had the Kings all around the boat jumping and feeding but they were very leader shy and were tough to get them chewing. We did catch two small ones just over keeper size, but we look forward to the aggressive run that should be starting in the next few weeks.

OFFSHORE – The offshore bite is super-hot right now and we’re happy to have our new Flying HUB fleet to target these offshore species while they are biting well. The Flying HUB 1 did a 12 hour trip the other day and had to come back two hours early since Captain Bryon and his guests filled up their limits well before the end of the trip. They limited out on Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater), Mangroves (Snapper, Gray), and they were one Red Grouper (Grouper, Red) away from the Grouper limit too. Not only did they do very well bottom fishing they also caught a Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), hooked a Wahoo and fought a monster Kingfish (Mackerel, King) as well!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

March 24, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The fishing has been great. Snook (Snook, Common) are on fire. We are seeing up to 30 per trip. They are in between 18-30 inches so far. There are some bigger ones as well. Whitebait is all over the flats and are working well to attract the Snook. Anglers are using 1/O circle hook with a 30 lb leader or as high as 40 lb and as low as 20 lb. Change the weight depending on the fish you are on. Search the mangroves, ditches, and rock piles near the shoreline to find them. Redfish (Drum, Red) are schooled up and hungry if you can get to them. From Northern Tampa bay to the South shore we are seeing some great, big schools. Troll the flats to find them. If you put some time in to find them you will find schools of 50-100. Throw cut Ladyfish or cut Pinfish. For spooky fish a piece of cut bait will work so you can cast further past the fish. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are in the same places as all the Snook so you may catch some good sizes incidentally. This is typical of the Spring pattern. If you are targeting Trout specifically, the grass flats on the low tide in 3-4 ft of water will hold some great sizes. Throw a cork with a greenback or cracked glass mirrodine suspended bait with 20 lb fluorocarbon leader to hook them. There are a lot of Trout right from the Northern point to the South. Things are on fire in this area.



BAIT REPORT – Whitebait have been holding up on the flats and markers this week. Start booking your trips with All American Fishing Charters before all slots are taken!!


Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
justinslofaro@gmail.com www.flallamericancharters.com”

March 17, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Ronald Chapman, a Pinellas County local, reported that the bite inside Johns Pass and around the northern jetty is going really well for him lately. He was fishing frozen shrimp and some sand fleas catching nice Flounder (Flounder, Southern), plenty of Pompano (Pompano, Florida), and even some whiting. Ron reported his best success was around the first part of the outgoing tide. James Miller, a largo resident, was fishing on the top of the Johns Pass Bridge catching sheepshead and mangrove snapper (Snapper, Gray) on shrimp and squid on the incoming and outgoing tides he fished all day and filled a five gallon bucket with great eating fish. Jack Linehan, from Detroit Michigan, reports that the pompano are biting well around fort De Soto County Park too! He reports catching a few this past week on squid off the gulf pier inside the park. Angelo Rivero, from Largo, was catching big flounder this past week using a doc’s goofy jig combined with a yellowtail fly free-floating up and down his mainline.

OFFSHORE – The Tuna (Tuna, Buefin), Kingfish (Mackerel, King) and Wahoo are biting very well on the trollers in the offshore deep blue waters. The last two long range 39 hour trips have pulled in more than a dozen nice tuna, more than a half dozen big kings and this most recent 39 hour pulled up a 55lb wahoo on a Rapala x-rap magnum that we sell in our bait shop. The Grouper (Grouper, Red) bite is great in the offshore waters much better than it is in the near shore waters but you have to stay shallower than 120 foot right now to keep grouper so be careful to stay in the limit once you have grouper in your box. We have been going past the line to get the jacks and mangroves then come in a bit to start keeping the grouper, once we come in and keep grouper then we can’t go beyond that line again. Even though the commercial vertical line boats are fishing 30 foot of water 10 miles from shore and keeping 18 inch grouper, the recreational guys can’t go past 120 foot and we have to wait till the reds are 20 inches. Doesn’t seem right that we can’t go out there where the commercial guys live, but they can fish our back doors just outside the Egmont channel where ninety percent of the recreational industry fishes in the first ten miles from shore but I digress. We love the commercial industry and we don’t want to knock them, just want to coexist logically and sustainably. Nearshore:The Hogfish bite lately is heating up just like our near shore waters. They are loving live shrimp or fiddler crabs. The trick to the hogs is the least amount of terminal tackle possible, light tackle and long fluorocarbon top shots. We like to knocker rig for them, jig head fish for them tipped with shrimp, or simply use a Nekid ball jig tipped as well. The water temp is getting closer to 73-74 degrees now in the near shore waters allowing the mackerel to show back up in small numbers. As the water continues to warm the mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) will only get more prolific followed closely by their larger counterparts the king mackerel or kingfish. The Mackerel will most likely be here in force after the next full moon and the kingfish will be here thick two full moons from now these pelagic fish seem to hop up and down the coastal passes on the moon phases following the flow of whitebait. The red grouper bite is finally starting to warm up with the local waters we expect it to only improve from here as the summer heat sets in pushing these fish even closer to shore in higher densities.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

March 9, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Kevin Strickland, a Pinellas county local, reports catching one of the first Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) of the Spring run. He said he caught one in the back bays inside of John’s Pass on a D.O.A. soft plastic with an eighths ounce jig head. This Mackerel was hugging the structure in some strong currents ambushing the passing live baits. Alex Day and Jeff Wenzel, also local anglers, report that the Sheepshead bite is strong on the inshore bridges, jetties, docks and structures eating small pieces of Shrimp, Fiddler Crabs, Oysters and Barnacles. We are also getting nice Sheepshead nearshore this time of year since they are heading out there to spawn before quickly heading back inshore to safety. Sebastian Leonard, from Clearwater, is doing very well on the nice Snook (Snook, Common) in the backwater canals and creeks. He reports the best bites near the freshwater outflows, this high pressure has the fish pushed back into the backwaters waiting to pour onto the beaches as the whitebait arrives. Michael Eaker, a Pinellas local, reports the Redfish (Drum, Red) bite inshore is going very well on the Oyster bars and grassy edges during the incoming tide inside Boca Ceiga bay. Michael said that his best luck was using a D.O.A. paddle tail with a light jig head right along the edges of the oyster bars and grass beds. The big news is the Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite, it is only heating up more and more and it’s officially March madness in the nearshore and offshore waters when you drop a cut Sardine on a double snell rig for the goozers. Not only do the Hubbard’s Marina crew and captains say the Mangrove Snapper bite is hot but Jeff Wenzel and Alex Day from the new Fish duel app both agree that the Snapper bite is going nuts on the nearshore and offshore hard bottom areas. Hogfish bite is also hot in the nearshore waters on live Shrimp, were getting them on the 5 and 10 hour trips both. The Kingfish (Kingfish, Southern) and Mackerel (Mackerel, Spanish) are not far away, we are expecting them very soon as the local waters warm up to the 75-78 degree water temps they love. Cobia are around offshore and are slowly trickling into the nearshore waters more and more again as the waters warm. Red Grouper bite is still a little soft nearshore, but it heated up for us quite a bit in the offshore waters and we hope the nearshore waters will follow this trend too.

OFFSHORE – The offshore waters are hot right now with a great Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and Snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite. The Grouper (Grouper, Gag & Grouper, Red) bite is also heating up, this recent 39 hour really had a great Red Grouper catch the first one of the year for sure. We were very excited to see the red grouper finally turning on for us, the past 4 months or more the Gag Grouper has been the only groupers to bite aggressively but this past 39 hour the trend changed quickly finally. The Kingfish (Mackerel, King), Tuna (Tuna, Blackfin), and Cobia all were prolific during the recent long range trip as well which really added some fun to the March madness Mangrove Snapper flurry that we had going on during the recent 39 hour overnight fishing trip at Hubbard’s Marina.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

March 3, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – There are some Sheepshead in many areas that are eating well. The Reds (Drum, Red) have moved into the bay. The bite is not hot but they are spread out so if you put your time in you’ll catch a few. The Powerplant is holding some decent Pompano, Florida. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) bite has been on fire in Clearwater and the sound area. The Snook, Common, bite is great which is just in time for opening. The Kings (Mackerel, King) and Mackerel, Spanish have not shown up yet.

OFFSHORE – Anglers are heading offshore to find Snapper (Snapper, Gray & Snapper, Lane) and Hogfish this week. They can be found anywhere from 50-65 ft for the better fish.

BAIT REPORT – There are some Pilchards showing up at the bridges and the skyway this week. The Fly Shop has made some big changes to their department and programs! Stop in and check them out!Tampa Fishing Outfitters will also be at the Outdoor Expo this weekend!


Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

February 24, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inshore- The recent beautiful weather before the latest front really got the fish excited. Not only did it warm up quite a bit the water cleared up a ton as well due to calm conditions finally. These conditions helped local anglers to do really well inshore. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted), Snook (Snook, Common) and Redfish (Drum, Red) really got aggressive on the flats reported our inshore private charter captain. The fish were loving the warm up chasing the active schools of bait around the inshore waters. The pass filled up with hungry sheepshead and juvenile sharks reports Don’s Dock bait and tackle. The Pompano, Florida were coming up on the beaches at first light. They love hitting docs jigs or Nekid ball jigs that make small puffs of sand when they hit the bottom. This is the same action that occurs when their favorite bait the Sand Flea digs into the sand. Near shore- The Mangrove snapper (Snapper, Gray) bite is on fire they are tearing up the live Shrimp and pieces of Sardines and it seems every piece of hard rock bottom has a school of aggressive mangroves ready to chew. The red grouper (Grouper, Red) bite is still a little soft but that period of nice weather brought us the best bite we have seen with the red grouper so far this year. Gag grouper (Grouper, Gag), however, are on fire too bad they are closed right now because every trip we have to move areas to avoid them they are so aggressive offshore right now. Caught some beautiful Cobia on our private charter boat this past week using free lined live Pinfish.

OFFSHORE – The Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) are biting well when you find them, but luckily our new go fast boats allow us to skip around and find the jacks quickly. The Mangrove (Snapper, Gray) bite is just as hot offshore too we nearly limited out 40 people on our full moon 44 hour trip recently that is nearly 800 mangroves caught! In the deeper offshore waters we had some big mangroves caught two the largest was nearly 10lbs. Gag grouper (Grouper, Gag) were a big problem on the recent long range trip captain Garett Hubbard said they caught and released nearly 100 gags at one stop during the recent trip.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

February 18, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The powerplant is still doing well for Pompano (Pompano, Florida), Cobia and Permit. They are hitting Pompano Jigs including Doc’s Goofy jig or live Pinfish. The Cobia are loving live Eel imitations. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are doing well on DOAs or MirrOlures.

OFFSHORE – The ledges in the 60 ft range are doing well for Hog Snapper (Hogfish). Anglers are throwing live Shrimp on a knocker rig. Most anglers are focusing on the inshore this week.

BAIT REPORT – Sardines, Pinfish and Grunts are beginning to show up on the Skyway this week. Check out the GRAND OPENING of the St. Petersburg location on the 26 & 27 of February. Free Food, Fun and Fishing Seminars!


Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

February 10, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Sheepshead and flounder bite is still strong inshore. The Snook, Common bite is mostly been at night lately when the water is moving strong. When it gets cold remember the fish cannot put on jackets like me and you they get a bit of shock and once that initial shock is gone they still move slower and react more slowly because they are cold blooded animals. Remember this when your fishing cooler water next time, working the bait slower will greatly increase your catch ratio when fishing these conditions. Steve Tatavitto, from Clearwater, was fishing with his buddies this past weekend inside Johns pass with live shrimp. They were slow to start but once they started scraping the pilings with a flat ended shovel the chum attracted some nice Sheepshead they caught plenty of nice Sheepshead and black drum. The tide didn’t matter, as long as it was moving they were hooking some fish. They even pulled in some small Grouper. In the nearshore the Hogfish bite on our last ten hour all day was one of the best we have seen in a very long time. We took home nearly 30 nice big Hogfish from this past Tuesday’s ten hour all day. Ananthachai Nantakul, from Tampa, was on this trip with us and between him and his buddy they caught 5 beautiful Hogfish, 3 fat Sheepshead, tons of Snapper, Gray and more! They said that the light tackle helped them catch plenty of Hogfish on live Shrimp. The Red Grouper bite has still been tough due to the seemingly endless supply of cold fronts back to back, but we have faith they will come on strong as the water warms.

OFFSHORE – The Flying HUB 1 got its first trip at Hubbard’s Marina under its belt this past week. Captain Bryon Holland and Captain Mark Hubbard and the crew took it 60-70 miles in heavy fog in about two hours. If the weather was clear and the waters calm we could have gone another 20 miles in the same two hour run! This boat was so much fun and so fast we were fishing in 170 foot before we even knew what hit us. The big Jacks (Jack, Amberjack Greater) were thick and ready to fire at the 150-180 marks especially on the wrecks. They were crushing big live baits just as they disappeared under the boat. Within the first few hours of fishing we easily limited out on 40-80lb Amberjack. Once we finished on the jacks we all started fishing for the fat Mangroves (Snapper, Gray), Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail), and Mutton Snapper (Snapper, Mutton). We caught plenty of big Mangrove Snapper nearly limiting out with the biggest nearly 9lbs. The big Yellowtail bit very well for us too in the 140-160 range with the largest nearly 6lbs caught by Joe Drew on a small live Pinfish knocker rig believe it or not! Captain Mark Hubbard only fish a small portion of the trip but every time he dropped he caught something of true quality. He caught the largest Amberjack that nearly pulled him over, then shortly after he caught a beautiful big African Pompano (Pompano, African) while targeting Mangrove Snapper with cut Sardines. Plus, on top of all the great fish we caught we put a hurting on nearly 30 keeper sized fat Gags (Grouper, Gag) that all had to be caught and released since they don’t open until July first.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

February 4, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – If you can get out in between the fronts it’s the best time to go as the fish have been great. The South wind and increasing water temperatures provide the best conditions. The Reds (Drum, Red) and Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are still doing well and the warm days are producing a great Snook, Common bite. They will soon become the target of most anglers. They are throwing Shrimp or artificials such as spoons or MirrOdines. There will be another front moving through in the next few days so we will see the fish move into the channels, passes and deeper pockets. During the North Wind when the fronts are in a gulp Shrimp on quarter ounce jig bounced on the bottom will do well. Live Shrimp on a 1/0 J hook or on a jighead worked slowly is a great alternative. The Sheepshead are still eating well in the mangroves and they are mixed in with Drum, Black and Reds as well. They too, are biting Shrimp in the channels, structures and rocky bottoms. Snapper, Gray have been found in this area as well. We hope to see conditions clear up for the weekend.






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9723
www.flallamericancharters.com

January 28, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – This week anglers are doing well on Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) throughout the deeper canals and next to docks in 4-5 ft of water. Any canal, dock or trough near a flat is great. Shrimp with popping corks or a quarter oz jig head with a DOA with a paddle tail have been the best bait. Gulp Shrimp is working in any color as well. Just let it hit the bottom and pop it a few times. You’ll have to weed out the shorts as there are quite a few of them to go through to get a keeper. There are tons of Reds (Drum, Red) however getting them to bite is the issue. If you are sight casting you can make a long cast with a live Shrimp so it lands past them. Artificials are working as well in gulp Shrimp. The port of Tampa near the rocks, ledges and docks you can regularly fill the boat with some nice Sheepshead as well. Spring is booking up quickly so call Capt. Justin Lofaro to reserve your spot!






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
www.flallamericancharters.com

January 22, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Paul Matthews, a St. Petersburg local who works for Don’s Dock was slamming the Sheepshead and Snapper, Gray the past few days from their dock at the east end of the boardwalk. He was using live Shrimp weighted to the bottom with great success. Ray Palmer, from Clearwater, was also catching nice Sheepshead from the middle of the north jetty of John’s Pass using pieces of Shrimp weighted to the bottom along the rocks of the jetty. Larry Harrington, from Indiana, was catching Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf) and live Shrimp from the east end of the north Jetty of John’s Pass. Mr. Harrington said that the dead shrimp was working best for the flounder and he also caught a few Shark, Bonnethead while fishing for the Flounder. In the nearshore the Bertrand family from Seminole recently chartered the HUB for a half day private charter. They caught some beautiful Grouper, Red and plenty of Snapper despite the slower bite we have been seeing due to the recent turbulent weather. When the weather allows us we have been getting offshore when possible, but due to the extremely low temps the fishing has been a little slower than normal. Today we have an all-day offshore fishing some of the best weather in past month, check out our Facebook page to see how we did this past Thursday on the 10 hour at Hubbard’s Marina!

OFFSHORE – The last time we were able to get offshore was our January 8, 39 hour long range overnight fishing trip at Hubbard’s Marina. After that the weather has caused us to cancel our other long range fishing trips. This last 39 hour did well on the big Snapper, Gray, we caught some beautiful big Pompano, African, nice big Snapper, Yellowtail, a few Grouper, Red, and a dozen or more fat Jack, Amberjack Greater after losing nearly twenty of them to the wreck. We also caught some beautiful big blackfin tuna while trolling during this recent long range fishing trip at Hubbard’s Marina.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

January 15, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Sheepshead bite has been hot this week and the target for many anglers. They are going crazy in John’s pass biting oysters on a 2/0 hook. Drifting the oysters over structure has reeled in the best sizes. Small pieces of Shrimp are working well too. Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf) are biting well inshore on the sandy bottom drop off. Live Shrimp or soft plastics dragged slowly on the bottom has been an extremely productive method to catch. Reds (Drum, Red) are hitting along oyster bars in the back bay this week. Anglers fishing cold, milky water should use cut bait as the scent will attract the fish more than the visual. Chumming the flats with dead Whitebait is also a great method to catch. Snook, Common are doing well on the night bite in John’s pass. The cold weather has made them lethargic so live bait or lures worked slowly is the best bet. Through the nearshore Hogfish are doing great on live Shrimp. There have also been a few Grouper, Red between the cold fronts when anglers can get out. They are being hooked from 60-100 ft. Cobia are also still hanging around along with some Tripletail under the crab buoys. There are plenty of fish to target and they all have a consistent bite, so it’s a great week to be on the water.

OFFSHORE – There is still a great bite throughout the offshore this week. Anglers are targeting Ajs (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and Grouper, Red on the deeper reefs this week. Incidentally they are catching Pompano (Pompano, African) that are mixed in with Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray) as well. Cut Sardines are the best bet to catching any of these fish as they seem to love it. There are some big Yellowtail (Snapper, Yellowtail) swimming as well. The bite is consistent and they are great sizes this week. Kings (Mackerel, King) continue to turn up which is unusual for this time of year. They can be found in the 60-80 ft range this week.




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

January 6, 2016

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf) and Sheepshead bite inside Johns Pass has turned on! Almost every local angler we talked to when collecting fishing report info said they had caught either a Flounder or a Sheepshead. The speckled and silver trout (Seatrout, Spotted & Seatrout, Silver) are going nuts at night around the dock lights too. The Snook (Snook, Common) bite is slower due to cold water but a few are still being caught when the water is moving. Redfish (Drum, Red) along the oyster bars inside the pass are biting okay for guys willing to brave the cold and windy weather. Cut ladyfish, mullet, or other smelly baits are best choice for the slow moving winter time Redfish. Cesar Torres and his son were fishing just west of the Johns Pass Bridge from the rocks catching Flounder on dead squid weighted to the bottom. James Miller from Largo was catching Sheepshead and Flounder on the very eastern beginning of the north Jetty of Johns Pass. His bait of choice was whitebait for the Flounder and shrimp for the Sheepshead. Anthony Foti Jr. from Wesley chapel reported catching a nice Snook from the north Jetty of Johns pass using a live whitebait free lined into the current. Anthony Foti Sr. from New Jersey was out fishing with his son catching Flounder on the western tip of the Johns Pass Jetty. Aaron Scott also from Wesley Chapel was catching nice Sheepshead using live shrimp on a free line letting the bait sweep down the rocky jetty. Near shore- The recent windy, rainy and rough conditions has hindered our start to the Grouper (Grouper, Red) season but we finally got an all day trip out today to go after them. We did get a private charter out on the first of the year with the Bowman family from Minnesota. They braved the weather conditions and it paid off we got a handful of nice Red Grouper with the biggest over 30 inches. The Red Grouper were biting well for us and the Bowman’s around the sixty to ninety foot range on live pinfish. We also caught some nice Hogfish while on the water and plenty of Snapper (Snapper, Gray) to round off their great private charter catch with us at Hubbard’s Marina. The Hogfish bite has remained steady for us on the live shrimp. Kingfish (Mackerel, King) are fewer and further between as the gulf temp gets to the lower seventy degree range. Cobia and Tripletail still being sight fished in the near shore waters and can be found around the near shore reefs or wrecks. We look forward to the weather clearing up to give us a chance to go after the Red Grouper again, check out our Facebook page to see how yesterday’s 10 hour all day did and remember, “If you’re too busy to go fishing, You’re just too busy!”

OFFSHORE – Grouper (Grouper, Red) and Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) are open again and we look forward to taking our first offshore trip of the year tomorrow. We have a weekend 39 hour leaving the dock on January 8th at 3pm to go 70-120 miles from John’s Pass to fish 120-300 foot for Red Grouper, Amberjack, Mangrove Snapper (Snapper, Gray), Wahoo and Tuna (Tuna, Yellowfin & Tuna, Blackfin)! Check out our Facebook page Sunday to see how the boat did or wait till next week’s report when we finally get an offshore fishing report to discuss!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

December 29, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – There is a lot of action for anglers heading out this week. The nearshore is producing a fantastic bite on Grouper, Red around 5 miles. Although they are closed anyone recreational fishing should not have any trouble hooking them. The Hogfish bite has been great for the past month and continues into this week as well. They are both chasing the bait run so far as we see Sardines and Thread Herring in the nearshore. Everything has been swimming between 5-25 miles. Kings (Mackerel, King) are just a little farther out along with some Mackerel, Spanish. Even farther out there are some nice sized of Wahoo in 600 ft. of water. They can be found anywhere between 80-125 miles.

OFFSHORE – Anglers are still seeing a great Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf) bite throughout the inshore. They are loving soft plastics so far this week. The Pompano, Florida are scattered so far but the bite and sizes are decent when you can find them. Goofy jigs are the best bet for hooking them. Good reports of Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) are turning up however the water is still warm so the sizes and numbers are not quite where they should be. The pattern is a bit off. Reds (Drum, Red) are sporadic this week but seem to be biting for DOA little Johns in natural colors or root beer. Snook, Common are swimming the beaches since the water is still warm however this is unusual and they are expected to move out once the next cold front sets in. Keep an eye out for the new Grizzly Tumblers arriving in store soon as well as many other great new products and deals to check out!




Fisherman’s Ideal Supply House
727-391-7380
http://fishsaltwatertackle.com/

December 21, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Inconsistent weather has made most of the fish in this area confused so they don’t know where to go or what to do. This has produced a bit of a spotty bite in terms of location. They are there, you just have to find them. Snook, Common are the most prominent this week. They are loving Sardines as they are all stocked up in the bay. They are the preferred bait this week. Anglers are free lining them or rigging them under a float. Moving water has been the best option, especially since we are around a full moon phase. This will create a great low tide in the morning and pocket the fish in shallow areas. Sheepshead are biting well on Shrimp this week as well. There are also some great Seatrout, Spotted and Reds (Drum, Red) swimming in the same areas although their bite is not nearly as hot.

OFFSHORE – Cobia are expected to show up on the nearshore wrecks and reefs any time now. The cooler weather will also provide a better Hogfish bite just outside the structures on the sand looking into the wrecks. They are loving fresh or dead Shrimp and also Sand Fleas. The bite has been steady so anglers are having no trouble finding fish in the offshore this week.

BAIT REPORT – There are some Shrimp running however the bite is spotty. Sardines are the hot bait this week and are working well for inshore fish.


Tampa Fishing Outfitters
813-870-1234

December 17, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The Redfish (Drum, Red), Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf) and Sheepshead bite is heating up as the winter weather sets in. The Flounder and Sheephead bite should only improve as the weather cools. Redfish get a bit sluggish when it gets really cool but the way to combat that non aggressive feeding is to use smelly cut bait to attract in the Redfish to your bait. We love using cut Mullet or Ladyfish near oyster beds for the winter time Redfish. Also, throwing handfuls of dead Whitebait over the bar before you cast out your cut bait will help to get them excited and ready to chew. The Flounder are hanging on the sandy areas ambushing live Shrimp or Greenbacks that venture too close to the Flounder laying on the bottom. Sheephead are around the docks, bridges and seawalls eating barnacles, Fiddler Crabs and oysters. Don’s Dock inside John’s Pass reports that guests are catching Snook, Common, Sheephead, and Redfish from their dock using live Shrimp. They also reported that the trout bite is going very well at night around the dock lights. Elmer Turner, from Indiana, was fishing the north jetty of John’s Pass using live Greenbacks for bait and on the strong outgoing tide catching Mackerel and Flounder. Carey McBride, from Treasure Island, was fishing the east side of John’s Pass Bridge catching Mackerel, Snapper, Gray and Bluefish using live Greenbacks. Kris Stein from Seminole is catching big Kingfish (Kingfish, Southern) from the Redington pier on live Blue Runners and Ladyfish. Well we thought the Kingfish run was subsiding and coming to a close but it turns out they are still hanging around and seem to even be more plentiful that they were at the beginning of November. This falls unique weather patterns has the Kingfish more confused than the local anglers, don’t think they know it’s December already. Kris Stein a Seminole local is even catching 30-40lb Kingfish from the Redington beach long pier! Our half day caught as many a 3 on a recent 5 hour trip closer than 10 miles from shore. The hogfish bite on live Shrimp is still going well near shore and should continue to be great through the cooler weather. This time of year the hogfish group up in our near shore waters to spawn making it easier for us to target them while hook and line fishing. The Sea Bass, Black bite has really heated up lately since our near shore waters are cooling. We get them all year around but this time of year when the water cools they get more aggressive and plentiful in the near shore waters. Redfish are being spotted in monster schools in our near shore waters as they head to the near shore reefs and wrecks to spawn. We are even picking up some of these monster Bull Redfish during our half day trips as they head back to the inshore waters.

OFFSHORE – We haven’t been offshore in too long between the nasty weather and the lower interest this time of year in high dollar trips. We have had to cancel two 39 hours due to weather, hope January brings us some mild weather so we can get offshore to get some of these Amberjack (Jack, Amberjack Greater) and Grouper, Red as they open up. We now have the Flying HUB fleet too that can hit the middle grounds, elbow and surrounding areas in 10,12 or 24 hour charter allowing us to get offshore more consistently and often!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
Hubbardsmarina.com

December 11, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The fish are quite unseasonable for this time of year as they have not changed to their full winter pattern as of yet. Despite this there is still a good bite to found inshore this week. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted)are doing well this week on the negative tide while drifting over grass flats. Greenbacks are showing some success when thrown for Trout however the best setup is a DOA or live Shrimp on a jighead. In the deeper water near the residential docks you can find a number of fish including Reds (Drum, Red), Sheeps (Sheepshead) and Snook, Common. As we have not had a hard cold snap yet we have not seen the Sheeps right on the rocks. Shrimp and Crab have been a great choice of bait for them so far. Gift certificates are available for your favorite angler this holiday! Place your order with Captain Justin Lofaro soon so he can have them arrive for Christmas!






Capt. Justin Lofaro All American Fishing Charters
813-406-9722
www.flallamericancharters.com

December 3, 2015

Avalon Fishing Report

INSHORE – The snook bite is on inside Johns Pass. We are seeing large snook more and more often feeding on live pinfish and pigfish but they seem to prefer the pigfish that grunt. Jeb Grant aka Smokey our first mate on our half day and all day trips was fishing the dock using a hand line yesterday and caught multiple snook in the 38-44 inch range and was busting them off left and right. He even tried a 100lb test hand line and was still losing monster snook to the pilings. Will McClure from Pinellas Park had more success catching the smaller snook a few days ago under the Hubbard’s Marina dock and under the Johns Pass Bridge. Sheepshead are starting to show up in force around Johns Pass now that the water is finally starting to cool off. They love oysters, fiddler crabs, barnacles or small pieces of shrimp free lined close to the pilings of docks, bridges or jetties. The flounder are still biting on live shrimp along the sandy bottom inside Johns Pass. Michael Thomas from St. Pete reported catching nice bull redfish and pompano from the Johns Pass Bridge. He even spotted a school of cobia just west of the bridge but couldn’t get them to feed. Michael also said he’s catching lots of speckled trout on DOA cal lures around the docks inside Johns Pass. The mullet run has begun as well if you’d like to cast net some yummy dinner for you and your family! Near shore- There are still a few kingfish around the near shore waters hanging in the sixty to eighty foot range but they will not stay around much longer as the water cools they head south into the Caribbean or hangout in the keys for the winter time. Live shrimp is still the bait of choice near shore for hogfish and mangrove snapper. Alexander Fredericks from Gainesville joined Hubbard’s Marina for a recent ten hour and again he caught his limit of mangrove snapper using live shrimp. Alexander also caught a few hogfish on his recent trip. The red grouper are biting well and we are catching tons of them daily but unfortunately they are closed until January first. Todd Krohn from Nekid Ball Jigz took a recent ten hour all day at Hubbard’s Marina and caught a half dozen hogfish on his unique and successful jigs we carry in our tackle shop. Scamp grouper are being caught often on cut sardines and they are the only grouper species that is still open since gags closed on Dec 3rd at 12:01am.

OFFSHORE – Our latest offshore fishing trip was a 63 hour deep drop pelagic trip at Hubbard’s Marina. This trip fished 100 miles from shore but as far as 150 miles from Johns Pass. We got some monster mangrove snapper, big gag grouper and even a few black grouper at the beginning of the trip in the 300 foot range. Then the next stop was in the 500-700 foot range catching lots of monster yellow edge grouper, big blue line tilefish, kitty Mitchell grouper and more! Then we sword fish chunked most of the night but didn’t catch one like our last 63 hour. The next day we went back to the 700-800 foot range for more yellow edge grouper and a few snowy grouper. The trolling during the trip caught us some big tuna, and tons of wahoo bites but we only got 4 in the box loosing 5 or more!

BAIT REPORT – The Mullet run as begun and lots of fish are already chasing them! It’s a great time to stock up! Holiday deals from Hubbard’s Marina: Buy $100 in gift certificates get $20 FREE towards your next trip’s fare Unlimited, you could buy $1000 and get $200 FREE Men’s Bimini Bay shirts 30% off Woman’s Sea Fear burn outs 30% off Flambeau Tackle box 3 tray $10 Pliers with sheath $5 Okuma Avenger Spinning Reels $19.99-$24.99 All Tackle 20% off All Penn spinning combos 25% off Solid Glass custom grouper rods $60 (30% off) All regular’s club discounts are 5% larger than normal during the holiday deals!


Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1957
hubbardsmarina.com

November 26, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – There are a lot of different species swimming in the area. Flounder (Flounder, Southern & Flounder, Gulf)) have had a steady bite this week. The Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) have been holding up on the flats and can be caught using mirrolures and DOA Shrimp. Any shade of White has been the best bet for color this week. Reds (Drum, Red) are still being caught off the docks along with the tail end of the Snook, Common bite. Some Mackerel, Spanish have made their way to the inshore a the bay and are chasing the bait schools of scaled Sardines.

OFFSHORE – There is still quite a bit of action in the offshore this week. Mackerel, King are biting anywhere from the lower part of Tampa bay to 15-20 miles off. They have been chasing Spanish Sardines and Bluerunners, so they have been working well for bait. The Mackerel, Spanish have also been running although a bit closer to shore. The Grouper, Gag bite on the bottom has been fairly steady but anglers should take caution as to what species are closed and make sure they do their research prior to heading out.

BAIT REPORT – Bluerunners and Spanish Sardines are swimming in the offshore and working well for bait.


Gandy Bait & Tackle
813-839-5551

November 20, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The white bait has invaded our area nearly every dock, structure and light in the area is loaded up with decent sized green backs. This readily available bait makes it easy for many anglers to cast net their own bait and have some action along the docks, bridges, jetties and passes. The mangrove snapper are still biting well, gags are moving closer to our inshore waters, and the mackerel are still hanging around the passes and bridges. James Cutler from St. Pete was fishing around the Johns Pass Bridge and Johns Pass jetties catching Snook, Redfish and Mackerel. He reported the mackerel were biting best for him when the water was moving fast around the jetties and he was using a casting spoon to target the fast swimming mackerel. James said the snook were hitting his jerk baits and large whitebaits in the middle of the water column and his red fish were being caught near the bottom in the cooler water using live white bait. Cut ladyfish or mullet is also great bait for the big red and black drum under the bridges and in our local passes. Mahlon Washington from Ohio was fishing inside Johns Pass recently catching gags and redfish on the strong outgoing tide using live shrimp for bait. He caught both species right along the bottom around the rocks and structure on the south side of Johns Pass. The hogfish bite lately is really heating up as they prepare for the spawning season. We are catching plenty of them during our 5 hour half days and 10 hour all days. They seem to bite best on live shrimp in the twenty five to fifty foot range and using the least amount of terminal tackle possible always gives you a large advantage when hunting these hogs. Kingfish and mackerel are still hanging around the area thanks to the very late cold fronts really extending our season. This same weird fall weather pattern has held off the gags from coming into the near shore waters but it’s starting to cool and the fronts are making it here again so we are seeing the gags start to show up in the near shore ledges, rock piles and wrecks and we expect more and more as the water temps continue to trend downward. Cobia are still around but have thinned out from their larger schools we were seeing during the month of October.

OFFSHORE – We haven’t had a recent long range offshore trip due to weather over this past weekend causing us to cancel our 39 hour fishing adventure. However, this rough weather brought us a front that stirred up the gulf waters got the gags moving inshore and killed off what little red tide was brewing to our south and to our north. We welcome more fronts to help stir up the gulf more, concentrate the fish on large structure, push more gags inshore and to help remove the red tide completely from Florida so the news media stops scaring people away from the beautiful gulf beaches for absolutely no reason!




Hubbard’s Marina
727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

November 13, 2015

St Petersburg

INSHORE – Scott Baso, from Gulfport, caught some nice flounder on live shrimp around the beach behind Hubbard’s Marina and under the bridge at Johns Pass. He was using a small split shot to weigh down his live shrimp to the sandy bottom where the flounder lie in wait to ambush passing prey. Art Seiple, Geoffrey Huyser and Sue Mongan are all local fishing buddies that get together to fish Johns Pass. The three of them were happy to report that the flounder, mackerel and trout were all biting well around the jetty and the bridge. They were catching these species on live green back and also live shrimp. They prefer to fish the outgoing tides but said they catch fish all the time inside the pass and love spending time fishing together. Kam Kavanh from Seminole was fishing with his buddy under the west span of the Johns Pass Bridge catching plenty of mackerel and flounder on live green backs reporting the outgoing tide was most productive for them. The mackerel were tearing up the baits higher in the column while the flounder waiting for the baits to hit the bottom. Michele Hawkins from Madeira Beach caught a monster black drum from the North jetty of Johns Pass while using a large live shrimp for bait it was nearly 30 inches long! Robin Nash from Massachusetts we are catching nice mackerel from the western tip of the north jetty using a flashy twitch bait. The overall theme here is that mackerel and flounder are biting really well right now inside Johns Pass. The near shore waters are still especially warm for this time of year causing the near shore bite to be more like a late summer instead of a November fishery. We are still seeing billfish near shore and plenty of kingfish along with the plentiful cobia showing the water temps are much higher than average for this time of year. Also, the gags haven’t moved into the near shore waters very thick yet but do seem to be getting thicker inside Tampa bay. Many anglers in the bay are catching nice loads of gags by trolling the shipping channel. However, the hotter than normal waters near shore are causing the snapper to continue biting well much later than average and were seeing great numbers of grey snappers, mangroves and hogfish in the near shore waters.

OFFSHORE – The offshore trip this past weekend was a 39 hour at Hubbard’s Marina. We caught some nice big Gags (Grouper, Gag) during the trip along with some beautiful Scamps (Grouper, Scamp) as well! The pelagic fish cooperated too we caught some nice Kings (Mackerel, King) while trolling and on flat lines. Dan Jackman from West Palm Beach caught a beautiful Mahi (Dolphin) while trolling and his cousin Jig head Ed Sumrall caught a fat Blackfin (Tuna, Blackfin) while trolling as well they were using large Rapala X – rap magnum 30 lures that we sell inside our tackle shop. The mangrove snapper, porgies, lane snapper, yellow tail snapper, and more snapper species bit really well for us at Hubbard’s Marina due to the very warmer than normal offshore waters.




Hubbard’s Marina
727 – 393 – 1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com

November 6, 2015

St Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Due to the unseasonably warm temperatures the fish have become confused and are still in their late summer or early fall patterns. They have not pushed into the creeks or cuts like they normally would be at this time of the year. There are some keeper Seatrout, Spotted from 18-23 inches biting. Anglers have been drifting the outgoing tide on grass flats using popping corks with a greenback underneath. They stop, throw chummers and once they hit one fish they will hit a few. They are incidentally hooking Drum, Red as they are still schooled up however somewhat spooked. If you are fishing for Trout, they will come to you mixed in with some giant Jack, Crevalle which are quicker to the bait. Snook, Common can also be found in the shallow water but are becoming more scattered.

OFFSHORE – Anglers do not have to travel too far to get a good offshore bite. About 2 miles off the beach Kings (Mackerel, King) are biting however this is the only species reported at this time. The weather and water temperatures are still quite warm so anglers have not seen much movement from the fish.

BAIT REPORT – Whitebait continue to run just about everywhere. Live baiters should have no problem stocking up.


Capt. Justin Lafaro
813-406-9722

October 28, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The fish are beginning to pose more of a challenge as they get into their late fall hideouts. Schools are breaking up into smaller groups but there are still plenty of fish, just not a ton in the same spot. Redfish (Drum, Red) bite is good right now similar to the Snook (Snook, Common) bite. Trout (Seatrout, Spotted) have drastically increased. The bigger sizes are now moving into the bay and they are plentiful. We expect this to continue for the next month or so. Popping corks over Greenbacks are working very well for these. You can also consider free lining on fluorocarbon line when fishing a hole or trough. There is another front moving in soon so keep an eye on that. North wind will blow water out of the bay regardless of the tide so fishing potholes, canals, troughs and deep water dropoffs will be successful. Keep in mind the Kingfish bite is still doing very well by the Skyway and is expected to continue through the next month.

BAIT REPORT – Whitebait is still running in the bay although it is getting a little spotty. For suggestions on what to use you can always check out our Tips feature which provides information and recommendations for the fish of your choice.

Capt. Justin Lafaro
All American Fishing Charters
www.flallamericancharters.com
813-406-9722

October 23, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – As the fish start to move into their late fall pattern we are seeing more Redfish and Snook anywhere that you can find some deeper water. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as the levels have been low as of late, and the wind hasn’t helped. The docks haven’t had much water to house fish but the weekend promises a possible increase. Potholes and deeper flats have been the best source of fish. Trout has definitely become more prominent in the last couple weeks providing at least one option for anglers. For these you can keep Greenbacks or small Pinfish on a Popping Cork handy to drift the flat. You can also expect to find some Redfish kicking around and if you have Cutbait, specifically Pinfish, they will hit that. Don’t distress as the weekend should bring a softer breeze and even a bit of warmth as the water levels should increase for anglers to get out to the flats and oyster bars. If all else fails, there is still the troughs and potholes.

BAIT REPORT – There are no bait reported to be running at this time. Feel free to check out our app for Tips by tapping on the fish of your choice to view alternative options.

Capt. Justin Lafaro
All American Fishing Charters
Tampa Bay, FL
813-406-9722

October 9, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore- Angelo Rivera, from Largo, caught a monster red fish under the John’s Pass bridge using a four inch power bait pogie at night. Scott Watkins was fishing under the John’s Pass Bridge as well with his family and friends using live green backs and he was catching plenty of Flounder, Mackerel and Jack crevalle. Dave Morgan, from Ontario, was using live whitebait fishing the north Jetty of John’s Pass when he caught a 30 inch snook and lots of big mackerel. Owen and Jill peoples from Seminole were catching pompano and ladyfish from the north jetty of John’s Pass using live shrimp for bait. Mark Crawford, a local of Pinellas County was catching flounder, redfish and mackerel on an outgoing tide from the western tip of the north jetty of John’s Pass. Mark Crawford as reported he was having some of the best fishing he’s seen in years around this time of year he was very happy about the action and said the redfish were the most fun to catch.

Near shore- The mackerel bite on the beaches and near shore is really hot right now but especially hot in the early to mid morning time. Once the sea breeze picks up it seems to shut down the mackerel feeding. The whitebait schools are thick near shore and were finding big balls of bait all over the near shore waters and on the near shore wrecks. Triple tails are back in the area hiding under the crab trap buoys and they love to take live shrimp or chunks of sardines. Bonita are thick near shore right now and even pushing into Tampa bay waters. Big mangrove snapper are biting well right now near shore in the thirty to sixty foot range and they love to eat sardine plugs or live shrimp. Gags are starting to move in closer but as the water cools they will even get thicker and more aggressive. Also, once the crab traps are set out for stone crabs starting on the 15th of October they act as huge chum blocks attracting these aggressive grouper even closer to our shores.

Offshore- Our recent 39 hour trip at Hubbard’s Marina had some rough weather to deal with but this didn’t stop Captain Bryon Holland from filling the boxes with nice fish. We got around thirty or so nice big red grouper before they closed. Also got some nice fat gags even one in the nearly 20lb range and tons more that weren’t landed due to break offs. Scamp bit well for us too and we got around two dozen of them as well. The mangrove snapper bite was steady for us and we got some big boys in the 120 foot range. The porgies were also biting well during this past weekend and we got some monster porgies one was even as large as 10lbs. We also got kingfish and tuna for our pelagic species while trolling and on flat lines.

Written by: Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbard’s Marina
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk
Madeira Beach, FL
HubbardsMarina.com
727-420-9485

October 2, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Colton Rice, from Seminole, reported catching a few nice redfish from the north jetty of Johns Pass using a soft plastic swim bait on a high incoming tide. The redfish were feeding best along the bottom he said while the lady fish and jacks were busting the bait on the surface. White bait has flooded the area making ladyfish, jacks, and mackerel plentiful along the beaches and inside the passes. Larry Scarpato, from Clearwater, was fishing the western tip of the North jetty using large live shrimp and nailing nice black drum right inside the tidal rips. He was free lining the shrimp with small split shots letting the shrimp drift into the rips and as soon as the tide slack in a whirlpool the drum were nailing the shrimp. Raymond Bizier, from the Orlando area, was catching plenty of mackerel with his buddy. They were catching them on free lined green backs about half way out the north jetty of Johns Pass. Carol Mello, from Valrico, was catching flounder on the bottom using live shrimp under the western span of the Johns Pass Bridge. She was using double split shots to weight the shrimp to bottom where the flounder hangout. Joey Drew and Will McClure our overnight mates were fishing the dock areas catching big snook on live pinfish and monster tarpon on large cut dead baits. Tyson Angel, from Pinellas Park, was catching fat black drum around the docks of Johns Pass using dead crabs for bait.

NEARSHORE – Red grouper will be closing down October 8th at 12:01am so next Thursday will be the final day you can harvest these grouper. Gag grouper will remain open until December 3rd and scamp grouper will remain open all year. Right now the kingfish are the big news near shore now that they have pushed into the area waters. We are catching them while trolling on our way out and back during the 5 hour half day trips. We are also catching kingfish while flat lining during the 5 and 10 hour trips. The red grouper bite was great leading up to the most recent low pressure and should be recovering quickly thanks to the weak pressure gradient associated with this recent storm. The hurricane moving up the east coast of Florida will be a wild card since we don’t know how much it will affect our local area waters quite yet. The hogfish are biting well in the 30-60 foot range on live shrimp. We find that 20-30lb fluorocarbon and the least amount of terminal tackle possible entices them to bite more frequently. Mangrove snapper also feeding well near shore and will slow down as the gulf cools. They have been finicky though requiring an expert touch and bait presentation to get them to chew shrimp helps, or cut sardine plugs.

OFFSHORE – Our most recent offshore trip was our full moon 44 hour trip just before amberjack closed on the 28th of September. We got lots of big jacks on large live baits and vertical jigs. The largest jack caught was nearly 80lbs and we got about a dozen more over the 65lb mark. The grouper bite was a bit soft on this recent trip mostly due to us focusing on jacks before they closed. Mangroves were steady but not too aggressive really requiring extra technique to get the larger numbers. Most advanced anglers limited out on this long trip but others struggled to get half their limit due to the pickier bite of fish. Mangroves get tough to catch as the water cools but they remain around all year. During the winter time storms they tend to congregate on large structure making it easier to find and dial in on them. Kingfish, tuna, and wahoo are the pelagic fish we see the most this time of year and on the recent trip we got some fat tuna and kingfish but lost the big fish we hooked which was most likely a wahoo due to its immense speed once hooked.

Written by: Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbard’s Marina
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk
Madeira Beach, FL
HubbardsMarina.com
727-420-9485

September 25, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – In Tampa, we’ve continued to do well with Redfish, but the Snook bite is coming around as well. The Snook haven’t been as tide dependent. We’ve been using live bait including Greenbacks and Pinfish. We have been chumming them pretty good to get them going, but once they’re going, don’t keep chumming them or you’ll feed them too much and they’ll shut right off. There are also a few Pompano starting to show up near the South shore of Tampa Bay in sandy and grass ledges. We also caught a few Redfish and Snook this week. Trout have started to move in recently, and they’ll eat just about everything. The Trout aren’t too big yet, though.

Look out for All American Fishing Charter’s Red October fall specials to catch some Redfish. Between now and mid to late October is the time to book a trip.

Capt. Justin Lafaro
All American Fishing Charters
www.flallamericancharters.com
813-406-9722

September 4, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Mackerel are starting to make their way into the bays and passes as they gear up for their fall run. They will be even more plentiful in the coming weeks and the Kingfish will not be too far behind them as the water temps reach the Mackerel’s favorite temperature around seventy eight degrees. Snook season opened in our area September first and anglers are catching plenty at night in the lights or in the passes free lining live baits like Pinfish, Grunts, or large Whitebaits. Redfish are feeding well during the day. Mike Jones, from Tampa, caught a Redfish recently from the North jetty of John’s Pass using a jerk bait on an outgoing tide. Nick Gualtieri from Seminole was fishing from a boat with his father recently inside John’s Pass and caught a beautiful Redfish on an outgoing tide using a large Greenback for bait. The water inside the bay is a bit dirty from recent rain but that hasn’t slowed down the Redfish and black drum bite inside the pass. Trout are still active on the flats inside the pass as well.

NEARSHORE – Mackerel are starting to show up in force around the beaches, passes and near shore structure. The most action is around the live bait schools that seem to be hugging the beaches and on the nearshore artificial reefs. Kingfish will not be far behind the early arriving Mackerel as the water temps get right for their fall run. Red Grouper are biting well for us in the near shore waters in depths of 50-90 foot of water. They are being found around bait shows on hard rock bottom and we like to drift for the Reds allowing us to show our baits to more Grouper more quickly. Gag Grouper seem to be moving into the nearshore waters a bit earlier this year thanks to the rain water bringing down gulf temps more quickly. We are finding keeper Gags as shallow as 30 foot but the most action is around 40-70 foot on small rock piles or the limestone ledges. Gag Grouper require you to anchor on specific structure since gags do not to venture far from their rocky homes.

OFFSHORE – Our recent 44 hour full moon trip at Hubbard’s Marina had quite the successful catch especially for the light load we carried. This was due mostly to the weather variables stacking up perfectly for us. The wind and current were going the same direction most of the trip which made it easy for Captain Garett Hubbard to position the boat perfectly over our secret deepwater spots. Also, the oncoming low pressure from tropical storm Erika’s remnants had the fish ready to chew. Fish are sensitive to pressure changes and always bite best on a falling barometer and this happens regularly when we have approaching low pressure systems. Also, the water temps were great in the area we fished and even the surface temps cooperated offering awesome pelagic fishing opportunities. We ended up catching a monster 51lb Wahoo while trolling to our bottom fishing area. Then when we started Snapper fishing at night we caught a 51lb Cuberra Snapper using a single Sardine cut to catch Mangrove Snapper! Later that same night the very same angler who caught the Cuberra ending up landing a 16lb Mutton Snapper. The impressive part of this was the angler, Ernest Hall from Atlanta has not been deepwater fishing often. He didn’t even bring his own tackle he was using a Hubbard’s Marina killer stick and our 6ot diawa reel to catch both of these trophy Snapper! Not only did we catch these trophy fish, we also nearly limited out on Mangrove Snapper too. The Amberjack just wouldn’t quit during the day allowing us to catch our boat limit of Jacks during this recent 44 hour full moon trip as well. Plus, we had many heads and tails like Vermillion, Porgies, and Yellowtail Snapper too!

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbard’s Marina – John’s Pass
170 Boardwalk Pl E
Madeira Beach, FL
www.hubbardsmarina.com
727-393-1947

August 28, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

The Redfish in Tampa Bay are schooling up, there is no doubt about it. However, learning how to fishing the school that you’re on is another story. I see people all of the time trying to chase them down, run into them etc.. If you see a school, make sure you get well ahead of them and let them come to you. I use baits when I am school like cut pinfish or lady fish, you really cast these bait a long way making it easier to get your bait in the path of the school. Any flat right now in the bay has redfish on it, put a little time in and you will get on some. Snook fishing has slowed a little, I think due to the water temps rising, but you can still get on few on a good outgoing tide. I wouldn’t kill yourself for white bait right now, I would get what you can, but make sure you have pinfish..this is the most versatile bait right now if its redfish you are after.

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Captain Justin Lofaro
www.flallamericancharters.com
813-406-9722

August 21, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Victor Vizaro from Seminole has been fishing local flats and bridges day and night. He reports the redfish and trout to be active on the flats right now. The redfish are most common and feeding most aggressively on live shrimp, cut ladyfish and even finger mullet. The trout love shrimp or live greenbacks. Victor reported the snook action to be best at night around the lights of docks, bridges or passes. His bait of choice for the snook is a large live pinfish, threadfin, or grunt. Tarpon are still lingering in the passes at night and sometimes can be spotted during the day but most hook ups have been early morning recently before the sun comes up. Turner Bryan, from Madeira beach, reported catching a handful of nice speckled trout on the grass flats using live shrimp. Jill Peeples a local Redington beach resident fishes the north jetty of Johns Pass often with her husband. Jill caught a huge thirty inch redfish while using large live shrimp at the beginning of a recent outgoing tide from the jetty while her husband watched with excitement and bit of envy. Bryan Johanning reports the redfish are aggressive at slack tide inside Johns Pass and they were fighting over his D.O.A. paddle tail jig with a red jig head. He reported catching them till his arms were sore!

NEARSHORE – Mackerel are starting to show up in our near shore waters thanks to all the recent rain lowering our water temps. However, as we move into September and as the water temps fall into the higher seventies we will see the mackerel population in our area sky rocket as their fall run kicks into high gear. Gags are moving in closer as well, again thanks to the cooling waters brought on by recent heavy rains. Mangroves have been a bit tougher during the heat of august but using lighter tackle or small jig heads you can greatly increase your chances of getting this leader shy fish to bite your hooks. Red grouper are still biting well for us especially when drifting larger areas of hard rock bottom.

OFFSHORE – Jacks biting well for us offshore but the deepwater wrecks seem to be holding the smaller amberjack. We have found the larger amberjack to be biting well for us on the natural bottom in the shallower areas of the middle grounds in the 80-100 foot range. Gags were biting the best on small rock piles and they seemed to be very close to their sharp rocky homes busting off most anglers it took patience and focus to actually hook then successfully land these larger gag grouper. The mangrove snapper bite has been a bit picky lately but they have been steady. August is typically the end of their summer spawn and due to the extreme heat it requires a bit more work to get a large catch of mangroves. Using lighter tackle or jig head set ups are allowing us to overcome the slower bite. Kingfish while trolling has been doing well for us on our long range trip, and were even getting a few while anchor fishing and using flat-line setups. Occasionally picking up a blackfin tuna or two as well on the flat line gear.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

The redfish are starting to school up already. As of the past week or so they have been eating as well. They are pretty dependent on the tide. The middle of the outgoing or the middle of the incoming have seemed to get the best bite. We have been catching them on numerous baits. From cut bait, to live pinfish and green backs. This is the perfect time of the year to figure out where the fish stage, so do your homework and make sure you are in the right spots. The redfish action is all the way from the south shore, to Weedon island and even farther up. The snapper bite has been pretty good as well, smaller greenbacks dropped down on live bait hook with a couple of split shots should do the trick..Get out there today to look for these schools seeing 200+ redfish coming at you is really an awesome sight.

Capt. Justin Lofaro
813-406-9722
www.flallamericancharters.com

August 20, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore- Victor Vizaro from Seminole has been fishing local flats and bridges day and night. He reports the redfish and trout to be active on the flats right now. The redfish are most common and feeding most aggressively on live shrimp, cut ladyfish and even finger mullet. The trout love shrimp or live greenbacks. Victor reported the snook action to be best at night around the lights of docks, bridges or passes. His bait of choice for the snook is a large live pinfish, threadfin, or grunt. Tarpon are still lingering in the passes at night and sometimes can be spotted during the day but most hook ups have been early morning recently before the sun comes up. Turner Bryan, from Madeira beach, reported catching a handful of nice speckled trout on the grass flats using live shrimp. Jill Peeples a local Redington beach resident fishes the north jetty of Johns Pass often with her husband. Jill caught a huge thirty inch redfish while using large live shrimp at the beginning of a recent outgoing tide from the jetty while her husband watched with excitement and bit of envy. Bryan Johanning reports the redfish are aggressive at slack tide inside Johns Pass and they were fighting over his D.O.A. paddle tail jig with a red jig head. He reported catching them till his arms were sore!

Nearshore – Mackerel are starting to show up in our near shore waters thanks to all the recent rain lowering our water temps. However, as we move into September and as the water temps fall into the higher seventies we will see the mackerel population in our area sky rocket as their fall run kicks into high gear. Gags are moving in closer as well, again thanks to the cooling waters brought on by recent heavy rains. Mangroves have been a bit tougher during the heat of august but using lighter tackle or small jig heads you can greatly increase your chances of getting this leader shy fish to bite your hooks. Red grouper are still biting well for us especially when drifting larger areas of hard rock bottom.

Offshore – Jacks biting well for us offshore but the deepwater wrecks seem to be holding the smaller amberjack. We have found the larger amberjack to be biting well for us on the natural bottom in the shallower areas of the middle grounds in the 80-100 foot range. Gags were biting the best on small rock piles and they seemed to be very close to their sharp rocky homes busting off most anglers it took patience and focus to actually hook then successfully land these larger gag grouper. The mangrove snapper bite has been a bit picky lately but they have been steady. August is typically the end of their summer spawn and due to the extreme heat it requires a bit more work to get a large catch of mangroves. Using lighter tackle or jig head set ups are allowing us to overcome the slower bite. Kingfish while trolling has been doing well for us on our long range trip, and were even getting a few while anchor fishing and using flat-line setups. Occasionally picking up a blackfin tuna or two as well on the flat line gear.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore- Brayton Ross from Dunedin was fishing with his brother and dad from Hub’s beach behind our gift shop using live shrimp on a slow outgoing tide around sundown and they caught a few nice snook. Victor Prieto and his buddy Ramon Rodriguez were fishing from the north side of the Johns Pass jetty in the eddy of the current. They caught redfish and sheepshead while using live shrimp and also saw multiple mackerel, flounder, and mangroves swimming the area too. Dale crook from Seminole was fishing the swash channels of Madeira beach catching redfish on live shrimp. Black drum are still being hooked under the bridge but are mostly breaking off the anglers using lighter tackle. There are still a few tarpon around the passes but they will be heading offshore soon to spawn and then head south for the winter until their may return next year.

Near shore- The red grouper are still out in the sixty to ninety foot range hunting the bait on the larger areas of hard rock bottom. The gags are pushing in a bit closer and were seeing them in fifty to seventy foot now. The shallower they get the more aggressive they seem to be so make sure to keep your hand on the crank if you are targeting those fat shallow water grouper with big baits. The water has cooled a little but the kingfish are not real thick yet in the near shore waters, but their fall run is in the near future. Sharks are still around the near shore waters but as the waters cool they will thin out giving way to the cooler water and larger shark species. Cooler waters bring the white sharks and makos close beaches!

Offshore- Our recent mid-week 39 hour at Hubbard’s Marina did well on the amberjack that were thick on the deepwater wrecks. There were also plenty of sharks making jack fishing challenging, but we were still able to nearly limit out our boat with big jacks. Last weekend’s 39 hour showed the same amberjack aggressiveness and shark issues. However, the grouper bite improved on the mid-week 39 hour compared to the weekend. The grouper were still picky on the mid-week trip but we were at least seeing beautiful shows and we did well on the scamp grouper in the six to eight pound range. The larger red and gag grouper were a bit pickier really requiring a long patient soak before they would take the bait. The water has cooled a bit offshore and that has the kingfish excited. We caught one monster king while trolling and hooked two more while flat lining at anchor. WE also hooked a handful of pelagic that simply spooled reels before we were able to turn the fish around or even slow them down. The captains attributed these runs to wahoo or the large smoker kings.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

August 6, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – The inshore waters have become quite dirty due to the enormous amount of rain we have had the past three weeks. Due to the darker waters the black drum and sheepshead are the more active inshore species. The redfish also thrive in these brackish murky waters and can be found using cut bait. We love to use cut lady fish and let them ripen in the sun before fishing. The smellier baits will help the fish find your bait in the dirty waters. The black drum love eating crabs so in this dirty water we recommend cutting the crabs in half and let them sit in the sun before fishing helping the scent to attract in the fish. Snook are still biting well at night and early morning on live pinfish around the structure. Were also catching them around the fish filleting tables during the day especially when the crew is tossing in the carcasses which chum in the fish and bait.

NEAR SHORE – The near shore grouper bite has been hit or miss. Our ten hours are averaging between fifteen to twenty five keeper red grouper. The gags have been a bit tougher and were averaging more like ten to fifteen of them. The mangroves are biting well too along with yellowtail, grey snapper, hogfish and porgies. Were getting large hogfish on either live shrimp or fresh dead shrimp and they are using half ounce knocker rigs with 10-20 foot of fluorocarbon leader to get them to bite. The triple tail has returned to the area hiding under the local floating flotsam. You can catch these great eating fish by drifting by the floating trash, buoys, or grass and tossing over live shrimp or small pieces of sardines. Permits are also back in the area over large structure and can even be found tailing around these areas. We are using live pass crabs or blue crabs and sight casting to these unique fish from our private charter boat. Sharks are in the area strong and are biting well. Our private charter boat while doing shark trips is catching 7 foot tiger sharks, 8 foot hammerheads, 8 foot lemon sharks and more!

OFFSHORE – Our 39 hour returned from the middle grounds this morning with a nice load of amberjack, snapper and grouper. The mangrove snapper bite was hot when we started and they bit well most of the night for us. When the sun rose the mangrove snapper bite tapered off. Amberjack were aggressive and loaded up on the large structure. We caught tons of them of a deepwater wreck and nearly limited out in one stop. We had 26 anglers so we needed 52 jacks to limit out and the trip ended with 48 of them in the fish boxes. The grouper bite was a bit soft on this recent 39 hour but we did get more than a dozen scamp, half dozen red grouper and a half dozen gag grouper. We also caught plenty of heads and tails like the porgies, vermillion and others.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

Tampa / St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore – Patrick Mcquiston from Tierra Verde was fishing Pass a Grille pass using live pinfish catching small gag grouper along the rocks and even a beautiful snook on an incoming tide closed to sundown. Don’s Dock reports redfish, sheepshead and mangrove snapper coming up on their dock inside John’s Pass while guests were using shrimp for bait. Gulf to bay bait and tackle shop says their guests reported catching some monster black drum inside Blind’s Pass. They also report hearing about large school of red fish being found around Fort De Soto park. Gulf to Bay bait and tackle guests also report the mackerel seem to have dissipated inshore and along the beaches but they are catching plenty of mangrove snapper along the structure. Gator Jim’s bait and tackle in dolphin landings reports big gator trout being caught in Pass a Grille. They also talked about snook and flounder being caught in the swash channels running parallel to the beaches even with the dirty water. Snook are biting well inside John’s Pass too on live pinfish. We are getting them most often early morning or at night while the water is moving or just when it starts moving.

Near shore – The gag grouper are moving in closer to shore. We are starting to see them in the 50-60 foot range. The red grouper bite is softer now, but they are still biting in the deeper near shore waters around 70-90 foot of water. Grey snapper and hogfish are still coming up on the half days fairly regularly when we could get through the weather to fish for them near shore. The hogfish are biting the live shrimp exclusively. The waters near shore are surprisingly clear for the amount of rain and weather we have been having which is a great thing to keep near shore fish biting strong.

Offshore – Unfortunately not many people have made it past the twenty mile mark lately. This is the dividing line we use for near shore versus offshore. We were supposed to have a 39 hour this past weekend but the severe storms, high winds, and rough seas prevented us from heading out on this long range fishing adventure. Captain Bobby Carter a Madeira beach commercial captain came back recently with a beautiful catch of Gag grouper, scamp grouper and red grouper. He reported 70% color to his catch which means besides the red grouper 70% of his catch was primarily gags and scamp. The commercial guys are mostly fishing 300-350 foot west of the grounds and elbow.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

July 23rd, 2015

Tampa / St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore- Andrew Savage, from St. Petersburg, and his son reports the trout bite is great early morning while free lining white baits into the surf from the beach. Victor Vizaro, from Pinellas Park, reported that the mangrove snapper bite is hot under the bridge and around the structure inside the pass. He was filling up on them while using live whitebait and small pieces of shrimp. The rocks along the south side of John’s Pass are a great place to target these quick biting snapper. Michael Bratton, from St. Petersburg, reports the snook bite inside Blind’s Pass and John’s pass is hot late at night and he’s catching them on live pinfish or grunts. Kris Stein, another local, reported catching some beautiful Tarpon inside johns pass using horse minnows and flare hawk jigs. He hooked seven of them but was only able to land two from his land locked fishing spot. In order to land them more often you really need a boat to chase them and avoid structure they can use to break your line. Redfish are being seen stacked in with the plentiful snook in the pass but aren’t being caught as frequently as of late.

Near shore- The heavy rains lately in the morning and evening have been making it tough to get people offshore. If you brave the rain and scattered thunderstorms the fish weren’t biting too well but as the weather has broken the bite has increased. This pattern should be breaking soon and as the salinity levels straighten out the fish should pick back up. The beginning of the week even the grey snapper on the half days weren’t cooperating but as the week progressed we had less storm activity and the more blue sky that we could see the better the fishing got. Surprisingly the waters aren’t too brown offshore yet but the back bays are completely socked in with brown rain water and run off which will be making its way offshore shortly. By the end of the weekend the waters should return to beautiful and our weather pattern should be becoming more normal which this time of year should mean sunny, beautiful, and calm seas.

Offshore- The gag grouper bite is going well in the deep water offshore. Our recent 39 hour found them chewing in 150-180 foot of water. The mangrove snapper bite is still going well and were catching some large ones as their spawning season is coming to a close. Vermillion snapper are also coming in very large for the same reasons. The kingfish and tuna are spotty but were still nailing a couple while trolling or using flat lines. The kingfish have been loving super light knocker rigs, and the best set up is a light j-hook head with a trailer hook connected with 40-60lb wire. Bait this rig with a dead sardine or Threadfin and let it drift down in the current until your drag starts screaming!

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina

July 17th, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

Inshore- The snook bite in the early mornings has been hot lately reports Jeb Grant aka ‘Smokey’ who is our first mate aboard our 5 hour half days. He’s been showing up early to work to soak a hand line for snook under the dock. We use 60lb monofilament and a 7ot circle hook with a live pinfish and let them swim freely under the dock and around the pilings and the snook have been gulping them up within minutes when feeding. The hand line gives you more control and less stretch since the bend of the rod allows the snook lots of room to break you off the hand line doesn’t and also allows us to quickly return the fish without letting him injure himself on the pilings or get over tired. However, we don’t recommend this to first timers it can be dangerous if not properly executed you could end up with torn of fingers or severely cut palms. The tarpon are still being spotted at night all the way till morning. Trout are active around the dock lights and on the deeper water grass flats. The small white bait is plentiful inside the bays and in the passes. It should be getting bigger and better soon and these are what most inshore species are hitting on most often. The mangroves under Johns Pass Bridge are very excited about these bait balls moving through and have been feeding voraciously.

Near shore – The snapper near shore have been biting well when the weather cooperates. Lately the tight gradient of high pressure around our area has been making morning and afternoon weather unpredictable and a bit explosive. These storms play havoc with the barometer and have been making the bite near shore tough and the rides uncomfortable. We are looking forward to a break in this past after this weekend is over. The grouper have been decent on the flat hard bottom when we can get out there to them and today’s ten hour should do well in the deeper near shore waters where the storms don’t have quite the same effect as they do in the shallower waters. Sharks are plentiful this time of year and are being seen and caught in the back bays, on the beaches, in the passes and often near shore. On a recent shark trip we were catching tons of decent sharks but even the four and five foot sharks are being swallowed whole by monster goliath grouper!

Offshore –9 Gag grouper are biting well in the deep offshore waters but seems to be few and far between and it doesn’t help to have guests using light tackle loosing monster gags. As soon as the first grouper gets into the rocks he starts his grunting and the bite is OVER for the entire boat. Every additional grouper that gets into the rocks exponentially increases the chances for the bite to shut down entirely. This is what makes grouper fishing from a party boat so frustrating for guests but especially for the captains since we know the fish are there and were even hooking them but guests are losing them to the bottom. Snapper are also biting well too and they are reaching the peak of their spawning season. The vermillion snapper are the biggest they can be this time of year. The warmer waters have brought more numbers of yellowtail snapper to our area and were getting some big ones. We even caught a yellow eye snapper on a recent 39 hour trip at Hubbard’s Marina.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina 

July 8th, 2015

Tampa Fishing Report

The Tarpon Bite continues to be productive, although I am getting reports of the bite slowing down a touch. The best places to jump a silver king is going to be the Sky Way Bridge, and in and around Bean point as well as the surround beaches up to a mile off shore. Gag grouper is now open, and I am seeing some good ones come off of structure about 20-30 miles out off Egmont Key in about 25-85 ft of water. The deeper the structure the better this time of year. Inshore we are still catching decent amounts of Snook, get them fired up with some live chummers (green backs) on a strong outgoing tide and you will catch a ton. Redfish are still a little spotty for me, you can catch a few I just have not landed on a large school quite yet.. All in all summer fishing and scalloping is in full effect so get out there and have fun!!

Captain Justin Lofaro
www.flallamericancharters.com
813-406-9722
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July 3rd, 2015

Tampa / St. Petersburg Fishing Report

INSHORE – Charley Wynn, from Tampa, was slamming the mangrove snapper on small sand fleas under the John’s Pass Bridge. He was fishing with his son and they both were simply free lining the sand fleas into the current. Greg Richards, from Kentucky, reported catching flounder around the John’s pass bridge fishing the north jetty using shrimp weighted to the sandy bottom. Brian Johanning, from Largo, was also nailing the mangroves on small pieces of shrimp. Nearly every angler we talked to started by saying the mangrove snapper are thick! Bob Ceterko, from St. Petersburg, was fishing Fisherman’s Park on the South side of John’s Pass catching mangroves mainly but he saw multiple large snook and mackerel swimming by the plentiful white bait but he didn’t have the tackle to target the larger game fish. Radu Dan, from St. Pete beach, was also fishing the south side of John’s pass along the rocks and pilings for mangroves with white bait but he reported the speckled trout were plentiful and feeding voraciously around the evening time each night. David Reese, from Ocala, reported catching whiting often using greenbacks in the surf on the Treasure Island beaches.

NEAR SHORE – At the beginning of the week we had a full moon starting. This made our day bite at the beginning of this week tough. However, it recovered quickly allowing us to get plenty of fish Tuesday and through the rest of the week during the day. Our Tuesday ten hour all day caught over 25 keeper red grouper. We also caught mangrove snapper, lane snapper, yellowtail, porgies, black sea bass, grey snapper and more! The snapper bite has been going well through the summer thanks to their spawning season reaching its peak during the hot summertime weather. The hogfish are biting well again on the live shrimp. Jeff Sloan, from Tampa, caught a beautiful hogfish on his recent 5 hour using live shrimp. We also have been averaging a few of them on each 5 hour half day at Hubbard’s Marina.

OFFSHORE – Our 39 hours and 12 hours have been doing great offshore at Hubbard’s Marina. The red snapper bite is still hot and they will remain open until July 14th. Gags opened up July 1st so now we get to keep everything except grey triggerfish and greater amberjack. The gag grouper bite was a little slow on our recent overnight but this weekend’s 44 hour plans to fish an area that is an old family secret that we haven’t fished in a long time. We average tons of gags 60 head or more in this area so were excited to see how that trip does. Tune into our facebook page Sunday to see the results from their trip.

By: Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard
Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina 

June 26th, 2015

St. Petersburg / Tampa Fishing Report

INSHORE- Joe Drew, from Ohio, has been slamming large snook just before sunrise while using free-lined pinfish with 60lb fluorocarbon leader. He says the tail end of outgoing or beginning of incoming was producing the best as of late. Mark Freed, from Pinellas Park, caught a beautiful large black drum from the beach behind Hubbard’s Marina while using a large live bait next to the tide poles. Jill Peeples, from Indian Rocks, reported catching whiting and jack crevalle while fishing the north jetty of Johns Pass using live shrimp. Hector Mendez, from Brandon, reported catching pompano, redfish, and even some flounder over past few days inside Johns Pass. He was wading in waist deep water on the south side of the north jetty of Johns Pass. He said that the outgoing tide mid morning and the first part of the incoming tide in the early morning were producing the best for him.

NEAR SHORE- We are happy to report that the slime has dissipated or at least has moved away from our area. We are no longer getting that greenish hairy slime covered algae coming up on all our lines, hooks, swivels and baits so that is helping the bite tremendously. The red grouper are chewing like crazy, we recently had a 10 hour all day that nearly caught 30 keeper grouper, 300 grey snapper and porgies, 20 lanes, and 20 vermillion snapper. The bite is hot in the near shore waters to say the least since the warm summer time temps have the snapper spawning and the red grouper feeding on large areas of hard rock bottom. It does take some moving around to load up on the red grouper since we’re finding a few on each area, but the bite is steady and if you keep picking quality areas the fish will keep coming in the boat!

OFFSHORE– Our 39 hour returned this morning with a beautiful load of fish. The red snapper were biting well for us in the 150-210 foot range. We also caught plenty of scamp and red grouper too. The mangrove bite is on fire but they weren’t as large as we have been getting used to through the spring time. The beeliners or vermillion snapper are some of the largest we have seen in many years. The best bite is during the day for the red snapper and mangroves feed best at night! 

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard 
Hubbard’s Marina 
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach, FL 
+1 727-393-1947
www.hubbardsmarina.com 

June 19,2015 

Tampa / St. Petersburg Fishing Report
Inshore – Christian Lett, from Tennessee, reported catching whiting on live shrimp on the outgoing tide while fishing under the Johns Pass Bridge with his father Michael. Michael Lett, his father, reported catching a cobia under the bridge while fishing the outgoing tide. The cobia hit a large live free-lined shrimp and was just over keeper size. Jericho Cooey, from Dade City, caught a large sheepshead under the bridge while free-lining a chunk of shrimp on a circle hook at slack tide. The white bait is pushing closer to shore as we see large schools of them pushing through the pass on the incoming tide. They are about one and half inches to two inches long right now and will get bigger as the summer progresses. The snook and tarpon action at night is still hot, and the dolphins are still following them taking down the stragglers.
Near shore – The red grouper bite is hot in our near shore waters. We are finding the red grouper closer and closer to shore. They are loving the strips of squid cut to imitate octopus tentacles. The cobia have been coming in fairly regularly so make sure to keep a pitch rod ready to go when bottom fishing. They cruise by looking like a shark and they will inhale live bait free-lined to them with 40-60lb fluorocarbon leader and 5ot circle hook. Once you see it, you only have a few minutes to present a bait before it will cruise on by never to return. You can also find them under floating debris or following large whale sharks that are fairly common this time of year. Offshore – The red snapper season will not end till July 14th on our federally permitted vessels. Gags open June first. The red snapper bite has been consistent in the 35-60 mile range in 130-200 foot of water. The main problem for us has been the currents around the recent full moon so were excited to get back out this weekend when we know the currents won’t be quite as strong. The shallower closer to shore red snapper have been picked through quite a bit so the shorts are more common, but offshore in the deeper waters were still landing beautiful red snapper and we have plenty more time left to go get them! Kingfish are still around, tuna are thinning out however, and were looking forward to a few cubera as their spawn ends and they start heading back north through the grounds.

Captain Mark and Dylan Hubbard[b]r Hubbards Marina,
727-393-1947,
170 Johns Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach,
http://www.hubbardsmarina.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina 

June 11th, 2015

St. Petersburg Fishing Report

OFFSHORE – If you go out of St. Petes, start due west and look for hard bottom. Around the 50-60 foot mark the bottom will have some hard spots you will see bait and bigger fish. Rig up some poles and bounce bait off the bottom. If you’d rather troll try a number 4 planer and a number 2 planer with a big gold spoon or silver spoon. This should catch the attention of King and Mackerel. Keep an eye out for little white birds because they follow anything that flashes in the water. Make sure you beat the heat of the day, when it gets too hot the fish aren’t as active. The further south you go the deeper the water. A lot of people start west of Egmont because there is a rolly bottom there, and trolling is good.

INSHORE – Lisa at O’Neils Marina has been getting reports that there are a lot of Tarpon are out there. Trout, Redfish and Snook are all biting right now. Shrimp is good a good bait to use for that. You can catch anything on shrimp so that makes it difficult to target anything specific. Live Threadfins are the best bait overall. Fish early in the morning and later in the afternoon.

BAIT REPORT- There is a lot of bait around. Head over to the Bridge by the Skyway and you’ll see tons of bait and people showing nets. There are also lots of bait if you chum with Squid near the channel markers. lots of bait. go to the bridge over by the skyway and you will see tons of bait and people throwing nets.

Lisa
O’Neils Marina
11150 66th Street North Largo, FL
www.oneillsmarina.com

727 320 9032

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