Fishing in Tampa bay has been excellent over the past month. We have experienced the best inshore grouper fishing I have ever heard of with huge keeper sized monsters up to 15lbs and 32″ caught on literally every trip that we fished for them. These fish absolutely hammer baits and immediately try and rip the rod out of your hand as they flee for the rocks. We have been using 50lb tarpon tackle, and 60-80lb leader with the drag completely locked down and we still only get around 60% of the fish out. Oddly enough, most of the biggest grouper have come out of rocky areas in less than 6ft of water and can be found mixed in with some really nice bonus snook. Grouper are aggressive, incredibly fun to catch, and are some of the best eating fish on the planet.
Now through the spring in the best time to fish the flats in our area. The sea grass in the area is much shorter during this period and the water is crystal clear making redfish and trout very easy to see. Cooler temps bring huge speckled trout otherwise known as “gator trout” into warmer, protected shallows where they can be sight fished with bait, lures and even flies. Trophy sized trout from 24″-30″ are common and can be found in epic concentrations sometimes numbering in the hundreds!!! Large redfish otherwise known as “bull redfish” form large schools and can also be sight fished in the shallows. These fish are strong fighters that make long runs when hooked making them an excellent sportfish. Encountering schools of 100-300 redfish around flats, mangroves, and oysterbars is the norm right now.
Along the edges of flats, loads of redfish and trout of all sizes, as well as flounder, large bluefish, and  ladyfish keep anglers rods bent while fishing with soft plastics. Some of the best fishing actually occurs right after a cold front blows through the area. A north wind blows a lot of water right out of the bay making low tides way lower than normal. This leaves the flats bone dry and concentrates all of the fish along the edge of the flat as they wait for the tide to rise. It can be ridiculously fun and easy fishing.
All and all the fishing this time of year is great with lots of quality fish being caught along with some superb sight-fishing opportunities. During last years cold snap I was able to really hone in my wintertime fishing techniques and catch tons of nice fish when most other guides wouldn’t even bother to go out. If you want to experience the awesome fishing opportunities unique to this time of year that most others miss out on, you know who to call! Come Catch a memory.

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