Fresh Hillsborough County Fishing Reports

Some of the best fishing of the year is here as these fish begin to put on the feed bag preparing for winter!

Let’s get after it bites too good to be home!

Cold fronts have started coming through and the temperature is dropping. Beautiful weather and blue skies. Or as Capt. Max would say, “inside, outside.” Trout, mackerel, redfish, and snook have been the most prevalent. Sharks are always around, and cobia have been making appearances. Get out before it gets too cold! The water temp is just right.

Fall fishing is my favorite time of year we can almost go target anything! Let’s go catching

Trip Summary Fall patterns locked in across Tampa Bay this week. Cool mornings, light-moderate NE winds, and clear, moving water had bait packed along mangrove shorelines, flats potholes, and bridge shadow lines. The best windows were dawn through mid-morning on higher stages of the tide and the first push of the outgoing. Snook chewed early on free-lined pilchards and shrimp worked along mangrove points, creek mouths, and seawall eddies from Weedon Island to Fort De Soto. Redfish cruised shallow grass and oyster edges—topwater at first light, then gold spoons and cut mullet once the sun got up. Trout were steady in 3–5 ft over broken grass/sand; popping corks with live shrimp or 3" paddletails kept rods bent. Mangrove snapper stacked on bridge fenders and markers; small pilchards on light leaders were instant. Early sheepshead activity ticked up on docks and rock piles with fiddler crabs or shrimp bits. What Worked This Week Baits/Lures: Live greenbacks, shrimp; 3–4" paddletails on 1/8–1/4 oz jigs; 1/2 oz gold spoons; bone or chrome walk-the-dog topwaters at gray light Leaders: 25–30 lb fluoro for snook/reds near structure; 12–20 lb for trout/snapper over open grass Cadence & Boat Control: Long up-current casts, let baits sweep naturally; light chum with whitebait to keep fish pinned; quiet approaches on the flats Hot Zones Weedon Island mangrove points and creek drains on the last of the incoming/first of the outgoing (snook/reds) Fort De Soto and Bunces Pass flats—pothole hopping for snook/trout at dawn Picnic Island and Apollo Beach oyster bars for upper-slot reds on wind-blown shorelines Skyway Bridge fenders and nearby markers for snapper during peak flow Looking Ahead A touch more northeast breeze and slightly cooler mornings should tighten redfish schools and keep snook staged at creek mouths. Expect trout to push a bit deeper after bright, calm days. If water clears, downsize leaders and hooks; if it turns chalky after wind, bump spoon size/flash and slow your retrieve.

One of the best time of the year to fish tampa bay is here! Whether you want fish to cook up for the family or just have a good time and have alot of action. Now through November is the time!