Central West Region

Tampa Bay May Fishing Report Hi all, everything is going great down here on Anna Maria Island. Fishing has been good and the weather has been great as well, except for the little blow we had this past weekend. It looks like the 10 day forecast is right back up to 85 degree highs. The fishing on the flats has been incredible. We have been just smashing the Redfish. I have had many days with ...full report

It Tampa Charter Fishing Report at www.captainmatt.com is finally here, my favorite time of year, Tarpon season. The first few days of the month we had to work at hooking the Tarpon a little harder, although we still made it happen. We had large numbers of fish schooling in the area by the 1st of May, although they seem to be a little tight lipped because the water was a little cooled down by the ...full report

The fishing out of this area of the Nature Coast ha been fantastic. There are a variety of species to target right now in the flats off Hernando Beach. The tarpon have arrived and the other species like cobia, shark, pompano, mackerel, red fish and trout are being caught throughout the entire region in good numbers. The best red fish bite seems to be in the morning on a good moving tide. We have ...full report

Black Drum and Sheepshead Action!! Well it’s hard to believe that we are almost to the mid point of February and the major story still remains to be the Unbelievable Beautiful weather that has persisted here in Florida. Over the last month my clients and I have been in awe over the mild 70 degree temperatures we have been spoiled with since the New Year. Never in my life have I seen such a consistent ...full report

The day started out cool, overcast and breezy, and the goal was fish for dinner. Erratic weather this time of year makes tides and timing most important to success on the water. Recent rollercoaster temperatures have been a real fishing challenge, but regular clients the Moliter family, Richard, Penny and son Rich, know that in these conditions persistence always pays off. We started out targeting ...full report

As you can imagine it has been quite the disappointing winter here in Florida. For the last 3 weeks we Floridians have been forced to wear shorts outdoors everyday, watch our poor winter jackets still collecting dust and to make matters worse we’ve been forced to constantly apply Sunscreen day after day because the sun just doesn’t want to go away. As torturous as this may sound at least anglers ...full report

As we approach March and Spring settles in anglers can expect some great inshore fishing of Hernando Beach. The waters off this area are a little warmer than usual due to the mild Winter. I expect a early arrival of some species this year. Spanish mackerel are already here in good numbers, and I expect good numbers of cobia to show up soon. Be sure to tune up the heavy spinning tackle and have ...full report

The winds have made it tough for anglers. We had small craft advisory's for most of last week. March often brings these breezy conditions, but with some creative planning it is still possible to bend a rod. The many creeks, rivers, and back country bays hold a lot of fish this time of year, and are safe areas to get out of the wind. I launch my boat from a ramp close to a area I plan to fish ...full report

Tampa Bay Mid-March Fishing Report Up to-date Tampa Bay fishing report at www.captaimatt.com Wow! It has been nice out, just amazing how different this year is to last. I mean 80 degrees in February and early March. It has really been nice out. It makes the fishing so pleasant. Not to mention it seems like everything is biting. Inshore the Snook have been on fire. Snook have been ...full report

Tampa Bay Fishing For March 17 Tampa bay fishing report at www.captainmatt.com Redfish and Snook galore is the best way to describe fishing this past week. It has been very good inshore. I know it has to be just as hot offshore as well. It’s just so good inshore I still haven’t taken the time to point the bow toward the open gulf and head offshore. Snook fishing has been really good ...full report

Over the last few weeks anglers fishing the Nature Coast of Florida have been extremely blessed with great weather and some unbelievable fishing action. To say that I am surprised at how well the beginning of Spring has been over the recent weeks still remains an understatement. With water temperatures hitting the magical mark of 69 degrees weeks earlier during this New Year plenty of species are ...full report

March 23, 2011 2 Clients 4 hours Captain Wayne Johnson fishing out of Regatta Point Marina in Palmetto, Fl; Friday March 23rd what a Tarpon trip! We ran out at 7am to catch Thread Fins in the Manatee River, then ran out to a Tarpon hot spot arriving at 8am by 8:20 it was fish on, hooked up on a 100lb Tarpon. The fight lasted for about 50 minutes and after a few jumps we finally landed the beast. ...full report

Week of March 26, 2012 Captain Wayne Johnson with www.extremeflatsfishing.com out of Regatta Point Marina located in Palmetto, FL reporting the week of fishing for March 26th of 2012 fishing the lower Tampa Bay, Anna Maria Island, Bradenton Beach, down to Long Boat Key. I can honestly say what an awesome week of fishing! We have caught a boat load of fish from Redfish, Snook, Trout, Cobia, Mackerel, ...full report

Anna Maria April Fishing Report Well, I finally took a well deserved day-off the water; so I will take the opportunity to give everyone a quick report on how the fishing has been in these parts. It’s tough to say what I have enjoyed more lately, the near perfect weather or the easy fishing. Actually the fishing has been so good it seems that I spend the whole day baiting hooks and taking fish ...full report

Tampa Bay Mackerel Bite…Spectacular March 27th, 2012 – Tampa Bay Fishing Charters Wow what an awesome spring mackerel run we are having. While slow trolling over artificial reefs and other live bottom areas we have barely been able to keep our baits in the water. We have had at least three Kingfish each day and around ten Spanish mackerel. Not to mention all “the ones that got away”. Obviously ...full report

You just have to love April along the Nature Coast. Blue skies, cool mornings, mild temperatures, and some of the best fishing the Nature Coast will see all year occurs during the month of April. Historically, April is the catalyst month for the start of the Nature Coast fishing season. Now don’t get me wrong the Nature Coast has great year round fishing but most of the fishing patterns created ...full report

February Fishing Report Go to www.captainmatt.com for and up to date Tampa fishing report. Winter, spring, what time of year is it? This has been one heck of a nice winter, well if you can call it that. I just left the shallow water flats and my temperature gauge was reading 74 degrees. Now that is in shallow water late in the afternoon, but who cares, that is far above what it needs to be to ...full report

February Fishing Report Go to www.captainmatt.com for and up to date Tampa fishing report. Winter, spring, what time of year is it? This has been one heck of a nice winter, well if you can call it that. I just left the shallow water flats and my temperature gauge was reading 74 degrees. Now that is in shallow water late in the afternoon, but who cares, that is far above what it needs to be to ...full report

Mid January Fishing Report You really can’t beat this weather. It looks as though our winter will have consisted of maybe 4 days this year. I just got done looking at the 10 day forecast and the weatherman is calling for mid 70s to low 80s for the next 10 days. The fishing is good now but it’s really going to be rocking on the flats in a few more days. Really, with a few more warm days, ...full report

Fishing surface plugs is a great tactic to try in winter months. Top water plugs can be challenging to use initially and can wear you down at times. Anglers that have patience and persistence might not get the quantity, but the quality of the fish is truly rewarding! Many species of fish will hit surface plugs. Tarpon, red fish, big trout, jack crevalle,blue fish, mackerel, snook and more will ...full report

My clients in the Venice beach area have brought news of Blacktips along the beaches. The largest one this week I have seen was 3 feet long, caught on live shrimp. Large Flounder, the biggest one 20 inches are also along the beaches. The best technique I know and heard used this week was using pieces of squid cut into strips and then threaded onto a jig head, bounced off the bottom with a lift-pause-reel, ...full report

Richie27" Snook6/30/11 Caspersons BeachThe Snook have been hitting on shrimp, Pinfish, small white jigs as well as top water baits during the mornings & throughout the afternoon. Early evening, watch near rock piles and lighted areas such as bridge bumpers where these fish have been holding. Top water baits resembling small Baitfish are the most effective for night time. For Redfish, outgoing ...full report

Pasco County waters have been heating up, with a number of King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Cobia, and Trout being caught in virtually any depth of water. The tides have been strong, and so has the bite on live and artificial baits. Movement of the bait has been the key to targeting different species. Faster movements with flashy baits will produce the Kings and Spanish. Slower movement on the top ...full report

Launched at the RV campground and went East with the wind down the channel to the bend to the left and had to anchor on the power pole to stay out of the stumps. Tried Shiners and spec minnows and nothing doing. Went back past the campground and worked the channels, again nothing... wind was awful. Gave up, only one other boat reported fish. ...full report

My son-in-law and I went fishing yesterday and were in about 8-10 feet of water. We decided to use new Penny jig head with 3" gulp shrimp instead of live srimp for a change. We started getting hits rights away. We did try one live shrimp and never got a hit on it. We ended up catching 4 Trout, 5 Black Sea Bass, a lizard fish and a Catfish. None were keepers. We fished for about 2.5 hours ...full report

My father-in-law and I were fishing near the bridge, it was about 7:30pm and cool. We started catch Mangrove Snapper just as fast as we could put our lines into the water. We fished for about an hour and end up with 18 Snapper and the sizes ranged from 14 inches to 19 inches. We have been back to the same location at the same time and were luck to get one legal Snapper. But we had a ball and man ...full report

We went out at high tide on Wed. 18th, about (9:AM) went about 3 miles west of the condos, then south toward Leisure Beach and drifted north in the grass in average of 5 ft of water. We got plenty of short Trout, a few keepers and lots of Ladyfish, Grunts, some Shark, and of course Whisker Trout, (Catfish). Fished plastic and live shrimp. As long as we stayed in the grass the bite was on, as soon ...full report

Don't fish here. Nuthin' but tons of Red Grouper the size of guppies. ...full report

Went grouper fishing on the Blue Dolphin yesterday. I caught many a grouper. Problem was they were all short, I kept getting 20, 21 inchers. At the end of the day I think there was about 5 keeper Gags total, 6 mangrove snapper and alot of grunts. I took home two decent mangrove snapper. As always Capt. Mitch and crew of the Blue Dolphin did an awesome job. The Blue Dolphin goes out of the ...full report

the fishing has not been overwhelming in this region the last two weeks. The water temperatures have still remained unusual for this time off year. I will definitley be out and about when the water temps. cool off a little and then im feeling the fish jumping into our boats ...full report

When we got to the bait hole the tide was a little higher than we normally like to see it. The bait was holding just right outside of nets reach. We were patient and got bait. Headed out for the Causeway. The wind was ripping pretty good. Forcing us to hits some spots we usually don't. Fishing was slow for the most part. However, we did see a decent snook (upper Slot) by the bridge. Also ...full report

Hello Anglers, The time we have been waiting on over the past few months has arrived. Snook season opens on Monday and the big schools of redfish have started their late summer invasion. Tarpon, Shark, Trout, and Mackerel are still on the menu, but Snook being in season and the Redfish deluge will take center stage for several weeks. There are a lot of fish condensed at the mouth of the rivers and ...full report

We were suppose to be in a tournament on 8/16, but we missed the start time. The tournament was hosted by O'Briens Irish Pub Reel Simple Fishing Club, which I am a member. We went fishing anyway near the Skyway Bridge and we caught trout, a sea bass, snapper. We sat through periods of down pouring of rain, but it was fun. Brant ...full report

FOOTBALL FIELDS OF FISH! Venice Florida Fishing Pier: On again, off again…plenty of hot action has been found on the pier this week. Schools of baitfish the size of football fields have attracted tarpon, sharks, cobia, snook, and even a few redfish this week. Tarpon have been running through the pilings early in the morning. Angling the daisy chain is a sure hook-up if using a weighted streamer ...full report

Large Variety of fish in port richey this weekend. Anything from Remora to Speckled Trout. We landed spanish mackeral, black drum, and ladyfish also not real "gamefish" but still alot of fun. Bring your family on the water because every thing is biting. Anchor up along the ridges, dropoffs, and rocks in 4-8 feet of water. Live Shrimp, Pinfish, and Croaker were the bait of choice. Good luck and ...full report

Fort Desoto is known for a large amount of fishing but also for a large amount of boaters. Alot of the fishing has been spooked off toward channel dropoffs because of this. The best spots here are to go to 100 feet to the side of a channel drift with the wind in about 3-6 Feet of water. Drag Exude shrimps over the trouts faces and they will bite it. Fish have been from 15 inches to 24 inches. Check ...full report

The water temps have been resonably the same and spring break is coming. The Speckled Trout and Silver Trout in hurricane pass are biting on shrimp live or artificial. The beaches are getting packed full of people and are starting to get overfished so find a secret spot and your good to go. Happy Fishing E.D. ...full report

This fish was caught Saturday Feb. 10th 2008 at approximately 12:40 am. This is the first documented Sawfish in Tampa Bay in history. It was a mature male, estimated to be approximately 12 years old. It was caught by Wayne Slusser and Keith "Bulldog" Thomas on spinning equipment using cut Spanish Mackeral as bait from the Anna Maria City Pier. It measured 10 feet in length, 40 Inches in girth, ...full report

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Inshore the Snook have been hot during the outgoing high tide with live baits and a light dusting of chum. Catch & Release mandatory. Anglers are seeing Cobia, Tarpon & Spanish Mackerel as well. It seems that the reds have gone for the season. ...full report

Reports of some redfish inshore along the southern part of the region are coming in, Look for them when the tide is in, throw live mullet or a shad or a bucktail artificial. Tarpon are all along the coast just off the beach in the mornings, and when the day warms up and the tide goes out , look for them in the passess and channels. Live Crab or thredfin are the baits of choice. Permit are holding ...full report