Snapper, snapper, and more snapper!
August 25, 2024 St. Petersburg 2 photos
Spotted Seatrout
Spotted Seatrout
Snapper (Mangrove)
Snapper (Mangrove)

Trip Summary

We are starting to see the first transitions from midsummer patterns into our early fall patterns. Water in the bay is stilled darker than normal from all the rain, but the bait and fish are still out there aplenty. Most of the summer we have been targeting mangrove snapper, but the last few trips have been seeing more and more trout off the main boating channels, with some areas having an even mix of speckled and silver trout. As we progress into late summer/early fall, expect the snook and redfish bite to get better and better around the bay flats, grass beds, and mangrove shorelines.
Dylan Baker
St-petersburg, Florida, United States
Capt. DL Spragg Charters thumbnail
Hello! My name is Captain Dylan, I am a Tampa Bay native, part-time fishing guide, and pilot-in-training! When I am not up in the air, I am out on the water doing what I love most - chasing fish! I’ve been fishing the bay, flats, and beaches of Tamp...

Other reports from this captain

The winter that just won’t quit
The winter that just won’t quit
January 18, 2025
Well it’s been a very chilly winter by our standards here in Tampa Bay, and the fish are trying to get through it just like we are. Water temperatures have been hovering in the mid-50s, and some fish are more tolerant than others to these colder than normal conditions. You might find a snook or two tucked up in the backwater canals and mangroves, but most snook will be hunkered down in deeper holes just trying to survive the winter. With this cold water, their metabolism shuts down to almost nothing. I wouldn’t expect snook action to turn on until we get on some warmer weather trends into February. The good news is, there are plenty of other species to target that don’t mind the chilly water. The big gator trout are out there this time of year foraging the shallow flats and mangrove edges, we haven’t found a ton of them but this is the time of year to find the big ones in the 22-24”+ range. Sheepshead action will of course be going all through the winter, we’ve been finding them consistently around most dock structures and deeper mangrove edges close to good water/tidal flow. We’ve been finding plenty of redfish as well in the same zones as the sheeps, but most of the fish have been smaller in the 14-16” range. Fishing with crabs or live shrimp, you may also stumble on some big black drum which are an awesome catch this time of year on light tackle. Out in the bay, the grunt action has been very good some days, with lots of solid eater size fish being caught. There have been plenty of mangrove snapper mixed in as well, but we’ve been getting mostly smaller fish with a few keepers mixed in here and there. Of course, the gags are out there as well so be ready when you get that big tug on your 15lb medium action spinning rod. It looks like the cold weather will persist through the end of this week, barely breaking into the low 50s some days. The good news is it looks like we’ll get on a solid warming trend the last several days of January, with temps in the 70s that will continue into the first week of February. This will be a welcome relief for both us and the fish.
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