Tampa Bay Fishing Charters

Posts Tagged ‘clearwater fishing guides’

April has come and gone. Tampa Bay Fishing Charters had some really good catches. Snook,Trout, Redfish,Spanish Mackerel and many frisky drag pulling Blue fish were caught.

There is always a variety of fish to catch with a Tampa Bay Fishing Guide. Tampa Bay holds fish year around,but this time of year is most fishing guides favorite time to run charters. Tarpon have made they’re migration and can put even the most experienced angler to the test.

Take your pick! Is it Tampa Bays hard pulling line ripping Snook you are after? Or would you rather stalk Tarpon in hopes of getting that once in a life time trophy fish? Maybe you are out for a day of action with the family. Then you will definetly enjoy catching spanish mackerel and trout.

No matter what your choice may be Capt. Steve will be more than happy to accommodate you in your quest of a Tampa Bay fishing adventure.

Here are a few pictures from recent charters.

May is going to be hot hot hot for catching! Book your charter now!

Thank you for stopping by to read the reports.

You can contact Captain Steve with questions or to book your next action filled fishing adventure!

Capt. Steve Betz

813-717-8843

captainsteve@flatsandbay.com

It scares me a little to say it but I think Spring has Sprung! The cold fronts seem to finally be over. Tampa Bay fishing is on an upswing from winter fishing. Redfish, Snook, Trout and Spanish Mackerel are all willing to play. That magic number for water temperature (72) is what turns them on! We have been having some nice catches of Redfish, Snook and Trout on my last few outings. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat have both been aboard my boat when some clients have either won or lost the battle with a nice fish.

Its that time of year to book a trip for some drag screaming action! It is all here or close at hand. Sharks are now invading Tampa Bay. Tarpon are close to invading in large reliable numbers. Kingfish will soon be just off of the Gulf beaches.Are you up to the challenge? What will it be? The thrill of Victory? Or the Agony of defeat? You wont know until you book your next Tampa Bay fishing adventure with Capt. Steve Betz!

Feel free to contact Capt. Steve to either book or ask questions about a charter.

February has been a moth of changes for Tampa Bay Fishing Charters. Windy weather and cold water temps called for some adjustments to fishing.

People come to Florida to go fishing and I really hate to disappoint them when a charter may have to be cancelled due to high winds. Sometimes it is just to windy to fish the open flats,bridges and even some mangrove lined shores.

The next best thing can be canals,creeks and rivers. My pick this month has been canals for the most part. The residential docks that line these canals provide structure that fish like to hide in and also a food source for some species. It can be a challenging when you hook some of these fish. The first thing they want to do is get back to the safety of the structure they were hiding in. It makes for some exciting action!

On several charters this month Sheepshead have been a main stay on these docks. The Sheepshead we catch in Florida are not the ones that our northern visitors tell me are a trash fish where they come from. These fish are one of the best for table fare Tampa bay has to offer.

We are also catching a variety of other fish including Black Drum,Flounder,Gag Grouper,Mackerel and Mangrove Snapper while fishing the docks.

I expect the docks will be holding fish well into next month. They are always an option when the wind gets a little to much to bare on the open flats of Tampa Bay.

I hope you enjoyed the Tampa Bay fishing report. If you have any questions about my charters or would like to book your next fun filled fishing adventure,please contact Capt. Steve.

February Tampa Bay Fishing Charters are off to a nice start. Redfish and Trout have been the fish at the end of the line so far this month.

Things seem like they may settle down as far as the weather is concerned and with that I expect more catching.

On a couple of recent charters my clients caught some nice Redfish and Trout. They are not monster fish but nice slot fish for this time of year. Live shrimp for bait on light tackle makes fighting these fish fun!

Here are a few pictures from a couple of this months charters so far.

Thank you for stopping by. If you would like to book a charter or have questions feel free to contact Capt. Steve.

Happy New Year From Captain Steve Betz and Tampa Flats and Bay Fishing Charters!

I hope the New Year is a happy,healthy,prosperous and Fishing filled year for all of you.

This past year has been a really good one for me. I had many fish filled days and was able to put smiles on the faces of both new and repeat clients.

The weather has been nothing less than awesome this winter. We have had a few cold fronts roll through the area,but they have not stopped the fish from biting. Recent charters have had 100 fish plus come to the boat. Redfish and trout have been the main stay with some keepers going home for dinner.

We have been using live shrimp for bait and at times artificial lures have been doing the trick. Both methods have been keeping the rods bent and catch trout up to 24′ and redfish up to 22″.

This time of year is a great time to catch fish in numbers and keep anglers busy reeling them in!

Thank you for stopping by to read my reports. If you have any questions about charter availability ,whats biting or the best time to book your next fishing charter,feel free to contact Capt. Steve

Tampa Fishing Charters have been very good this past month. We have been catching good numbers of Trout and Redfish. Everyone has been in on the action. Women,Children and Men alike.

The action has been steady on light tackle making some of the smaller fish really put up a nice fight. Trout have been caught in the keeper range. We have also been catching some Redfish with in the slot range of 18 to 27 inches.

This time of year the fishing can be fairly easy and kids catch on real quick.

This is a good time of year to take advantage of some rod bending steady action. No matter what your skill level Capt. Steve Betz will put you on the fish and instruct you on how to catch them.

If you would like to book a charter with Capt. Steve feel free to contact him to book your date or ask any questions you may have.

November Tampa Bay Fishing Charters have been really good with steady action from Trout and Redfish keeping the rods bent. Cooler water temps have moved the fish into the saltwater creeks and canals.

Live baits and artificial bait have done the trick keeping anglers happy catching fish after fish. We have been having some good catches of Spotted Sea Trout with a some of our clients taking home a few keepers for dinner.

Along with trout we have been also catching some nice Redfish. They have been mixed in with the trout and some of the smaller Redfish.

We have also been catching a variety of other fish on our Tampa Bay fishing charters. Silver trout and Sheepshead have been in the mix.

If you would like to book a Tampa Bay Fishing Charter please feel free to contact Capt. Steve Betz with any questions about rates,availabilityand what will be included in your fishing adventure!

June has been a crazy month for fishing charters. Typically with the great tides we have for Tarpon fishing I would expect more people would call to book those type of charters. For me that has not been the case.

It is a good thing I choose to be a diverse fishing guide and not get tunnel vision and only target a particular species. For one thing I would probably get very few charters and my clients may get bored out of their minds.

So far the month of June has been a month of variety fishing. I have done Grouper and Grunt Charters,Tarpon Charters, and Spanish Mackerel and Shark Charters. It has been a fun month so far and the constant change has kept it interesting to say the least.

I had a call from some regulars of mine who really enjoy catching Grunts and Grouper. I take these clients to some nearshore areas that hold plenty of fish and they seem to always fill the box. This time out they got a pleasant surprise. I traveled out a little further than usual as the sea’s were so calm. I noticed some birds working in the distance and thought this may be a good opportunity for some light tackle Bonita action. I was right and it was not long before Will was battling a hefty Bonita.

Bonita

Bonita put up a very good fight on light tackle spinning gear. After Will and his dad had enough of battling Bonita I made a move to some nearby structure. What was about to happen topped of the days fishing charter. We found a school of hungry Cobia. After a few cast of a small jig it was a hook up! Drag ripping runs were made and both Will and there fishing friend Steve put two nice Cobia in the boat. These fish weighed in at about 25 lbs. each. I think they had plenty of fish for the table now.

Cobia

Will and his Dad were pretty excited about that trip and asked me to take them again. We did with different results. They put plenty of Grunts, Porgys and Sea bass in the cooler along with one nice Grouper. I was to busy baiting hook’s and forgot to get pictures.

On another charter it was Spanish mackerel and Sharks. I had a group of 5,three adults and two young boys. These are some of my favorite charters. I love seeing the smiles on kids faces when they catch fish. They caught plenty of fish with a 4′ black tip Shark in the mix. I did not have time on this charter to take pictures,I was just to busy tending to the clients needs.

I had another Tarpon charter. It was a slow bite and we never did get a Tarpon this day. My client did how ever catch a few sharks and at the end of the charter got a surprise and hooked into a 25lb Kingfish! This fish peeled off about 75 yards of line and made several nice runs and put up a nice fight. No it was not a Tarpon but in saltwater you just never know hat you are going to get at times.

The fishing has been awesome so far this month. A variety of fish can be caught. Book a summer time fishing charter and you may get surprised at what you catch!

The summer heat is here and so are the fish that come with it. Tarpon, Sharks,Spanish Mackerel and Bonita are here.

On recent charter’s we have caught them all but the elusive Tarpon. We have had hundreds if not thousands of Tarpon around the boat. They have just not been willing to cooperate and bite on our offerings. I am hoping that on the next Full Moon tides in June the story will be different.

Tarpon Rolling by the Boat

While Tarpon fishing we often do what is called chumming. We cut baits into to pieces and put them out behind the boat. We will then free line a live or chunk of bait on the hook back into our chum line. This can be very effective at times while Tarpon fishing. It can also attract some unwanted guest. On a recent trip we had Flipper show up right behind the boat. Eating our chunks of chum on his way to us. Time to move!

Flipper at the back of the boat

I am not going to lie to you. Tarpon fishing can be very frustrating at times!

The spanish mackerel,shark,bonita,are a different story. Chumming heavily and free lining baits have been producing some nice drag ripping fish on light tackle. Most anglers enjoy these type of charters because is provides a lot of action!

Sand shark

spanish mackerel and bonita

Tampa Bay fishing should remain hot through out the month of June. If Tarpon is what you want then book a Tarpon fishing charter,if its steady action and drag ripping runs oon light tackle then book a Shark Charter.

Capt. Steve runs charters 7 days a week including holidays!

March was a fantastic month for fishing in Tampa Bay! I was very busy with Fishing Charters and April looks to be another busy month for me. People are taking advantage of our spectacular Florida weather and awesome Tampa Bay Fishing.

This past month of March I had a variety of clients and they caught a variety of fish. Even on some of the days ours tides were not the best we managed to pull it off and catch some quality fish.

Snook (big ones),Redfish, Trout, Spanish Mackerel, Silver Trout,Flounder,and many other species were in the mix. Tarpon and Kingfish are here but I have been so busy catching all the other species I have yet to target them this year.I am however getting ready to switch gears and start fishing for the Silver Kings aka Tarpon!

I suspect April fishing is only going to get better. The bay is covered with bait fish and along with that comes a lot of good fishing. Red Grouper season opened on the 1st so the opportunity will be her to target them on nearshore charters. Tarpon fishing should really heat up and following the Tarpon into Tampa Bay will be Sharks. Spanish Mackerel should be hot and steady making some great action for Kids and Adults! Snook,Redfish and Trout will all still be here and ready for the catching!

This is the perfect time to book a fishing trip with Tampa Flats and Bay Charter’s! The weather should remain mild through the month. This is the perfect time to take a Kid fishing.

Here are a few pictures from last months charters.

Alex's first snook!

Spanish Mackerel

Brent with his first snook!

Girls can catch fish too!

Alicia took her kids fishing while on vacation.

I hope you enjoyed my report and pictures. If you happen to be in town on vacation or are a local wanting to learn more about fishing in Tampa Bay it would be my pleasure to take you on your next fishing adventure!

Capt. Steve Betz