Fishing Tampa's Flats and Bay

Posts Tagged ‘Tampa flats fishing guide’

Tampa Bay Charters have been very good in August. Now that we are past some of our hottest weather I think the fishing will only continue to get better as we approach fall and the weather cools along with the bay water temperature.

Redfish, snook,trout,flounder and some very good fighting jacks have all been around to make for some great drag screaming and rod bending action on light tackle.

On a couple of recent outings I took along my video camera. I wanted to get the action on film,but I will warn you I am not the best camera man around. On one of the outings I was actually just scouting out some area for redfish,so I was by myself and had to fight the fish and hold the camera at the same time. Really not an easy thing to do. On the other occasion a good friend of mine asked me if my wife and I would go out for a morning trip with him.  I took him up on the trip as I don’t often get to kick back and just have fun anymore as I am always the captain.

I hope you enjoy the videos.

If you would like to book a trip with a Tampa Bay Fishing Guide then feel free to contact me.

Capt. Steve Betz

August fishing has been very good so far this month. Adapting to the hot water and outdoor temperatures has been key to a successful day of fishing.

Most of my fishing has been on deeper grass flats and bay structure. These are the places you will find trout,mackerel, jack cravelle and a variety of other rod bending species. As the sun gets higher in the sky it is time to head deeper to areas with good water flow. These places have been producing flounder,trout,mackerel and others.

In some areas the redfish have schooled up. It really has not been predictable fishing for redfish as each day things change as we have our many summer rain storms that cause a lot of fresh water run off causing the redfish to move constantly. Even so we have been able to put some nice reds to the boat on several of our past trips. The redfishing should become even better as we leave August behind and head into September.

One thing all of the Tampa Bay Guides are happy about is that we have NO oil in our bay or on our beaches! Our fishery is alive and well and our fish are safe to eat if you feel inclined to keep a few for dinner.

If you would like to book a Tampa Bay Charters feel free to contact me.

Capt. Steve Betz

June fishing has been very good. The trout bite in particular has been very good with my clients taking their limit on every trip.

Its been a very hot summer so my trips have been early morning to get the bite and beat the heat. By 11 am most anglers are ready to get off the water as the heat can get unbearable and the bite slows down.

Besides the trout there have been Jack Cravelle and Spanish Mackerel in the mix. Tarpon are still here but to my dismay they have been very picky for me and I have not been able to get the hook up.

Here are a few pictures from some recent charters.

Susan with a nice keepr

Dillion shows off a Jack he caught

Loren caught this trout while trying to catch Grouper from a deep water dock

Lynsey and Paul with an early morning limit

As always thanks for checking in to read the reports.

If you would like to book a trip with a Tampa bay fishing guide go to my contact page.

Thank you Capt. Steve

There are several things going on in Tampa Bay right now as far as the fishing goes. As a Tampa Bay fishing guide I am always looking for a variety of fish to catch.

Tarpon have been a very hot item with fish rolling on the beach and being caught at the bridges and passes. Either a large sardine or thread fin pitched to them on the beach or free lining pass carbs at the bridge and pass have been the ticket to hooking up.

Black Drum are still in the area with fish in the 30 to 40 pound range being caught on light tackle at the bridges. Sighting the fish and then sight casting to them with a blue crab gets some quality fish.

For the meat eater in the crowd Trout have been topping the charts for flats fishing. Getting a limit is all in a mornings work. Live sardines either free lined or under a cork has been getting the job done.

Trout

I enjoy catching fish now and then

Spectacular jumps make Tarpon fishing exciting!

Thank you for checking in and reading the reports.

If you would like to book a trip for a Tampa Bay charter please feel free to contact me.

Capt. Steve Betz

As a captain and a Tampa fishing guide I spend time before every Tampa Bay fishing charter preparing. Getting ready for that next charter includes rigging tackle,boat preparation and of course pre fishing different areas of Tampa Bay to find out just where the fish are holding up.

Yesterday was one of those days. I have some clients who want to have a fish fry. So my task at hand is to put them on some fish they can take home and put in the fryer. With snook being a strictly catch and release species until the end of September and Redfish being very unpredictable right now I felt the best bet would be some trout,mackerel and Cobia.

The tide was not the best yesterday with a very slow and short incoming turning to a just barely out going. My scouting partner and I thought it best to drift a near by grass flat in the morning and then move further south later for the out going.

The plan worked out pretty good.  The bite was a little slow but we did manage to find some hungry and very fat trout on the grass flat. When the tide slacked we made our move and worked our way south to a small spoil area. This area proved to also hold some nice trout going over 20″ and fat. In the mix we were cut off a few times buy some mackerel only because catching them this day was not as important as finding them so we were using some light leader material. We also got a few flounder that were nice eating size.

Cobia have been sighted and are being caught on a daily basis right now. On the last cast of our day Loren had his bait inhaled by a nice 33″  and legal to keep Cobia. After some drag ripping runs on the light tackle we were able to land the fish for a photo and then release him to be caught another day. This Cobia would of been a nice one for the fryer for sure.

Cobia caught on light tackle spinning gear

Thanks for reading my reports.

If you would like to book a trip for a Tampa Bay fishing charter please call or e-mail me.

Capt Steve