Central West Region

The fishing out of Hernando Beach has been very productive. We have had a few mild fronts come through from the North which made it difficult to find quality fish some days, but the inshore bite continues to be good throughout the entire region. The trout fishing has been good, but anglers need to be ready to fish a variety of spots until they locate bigger fish. Drifting deeper grass flats ...full report

We have reached that time of year along the Nature Coast when all things great in the world of fishing collide on the grandest stage Florida has to offer. The weather has reached its perfect state, water temperatures have stabilized, the snow birds/migratory birds have all headed north and the arrival of some of the most sought after pelagic species is in full swing. This is what we have waited for ...full report

Tampa Bay May 1 Fishing Report We just had one great week of fishing this past week, inshore and offshore I mixed it up about 50/50. We caught fish everywhere and every stop and a lot of them. We are in & out of summer time patterns now with a light wind out of the East, calm in the afternoon and then a sea breeze. I switch over to Tarpon this week and that will make up about 95 percent of my ...full report

Tampa Bay April 20 Fishing Report Typical April fishing means everything is biting, just got in from a three quarter day charter with a single person, we landed 30 plus Snook and were heading in by 1 in the afternoon. The past two days before I spent offshore. We just absolutely destroyed the King fish, all you want as fast as you can drop a line in the water we caught 8 to 30 pounders. Inshore ...full report

Spring has sprung and summer heat is all ready here. Fishing in and around Hernando beach is very good both inshore and offshore. Red fish are holding in there summer spots all ready. Look for them around the outside points and islands with a good water flow and mullet schools, Live bait will get there attention faster than a lure. Pin fish and green backs are my top choice for bait, use a 2/0 to 3/0 ...full report

Tampa Bay April 7 Fishing Report Wow, the fishing has been spectacular, pretty much if it swims in these waters it biting. We have been destroying the fish. We still had to work around some interesting weather but it hasn’t slowed us except for yesterday’s thunder storms. We still got a couple hours in on some big Snook. Inshore fishing has been really good. Snook are biting like crazy. ...full report

Winter Tampa Bay Fishing – April 8th, 2013 Wow what awesome weather we have had this winter until March...the fishing had been very good also. The mild temperatures in January and February have kept the white bait around and it is plentiful in Tampa Bay. Snook bites have been coming on each charter with lots of trout and small reds mixed in. While heavily chumming the snook grounds, ...full report

Holy Mackerel !! The Spanish Mackerel bite has been off the hook off the Nature Coast. Find clear clean water in 8 - 10 feet with either rocky bottom or grass. I like to drift these areas jigging rubber twitch baits till I start getting bites. I will then drop an anchor and chum the area. Usually the Macks will be all over your baits. Be ready to have alot of extra jigs, you'll have alot of ...full report

Tampa Bay April 1 Fishing Report Let’s keep our fingers crossed for no more freak cold fronts! For certain we must be done with them, I hope. We pounded on the fish right before the front. The day before the front we absolutely destroyed the Snook and Redfish; we even had a 28 inch Trout that day. The first day of the cold air we still hammered on the Snook, actually caught 36 of them and ...full report

April has long been considered the primo month for anything and everything sight fishing. With so many fish actively feeding along all of our local structures a variety of sight fishing situations will be available to all anglers. Redfish, Speckled Trout, Tripletail, and Cobia will all be top sight fishing targets this months and chances to land all or most of these species with in a day is very possible. ...full report

The inshore fishing out of Hernando Beach has been fantastic. Trout, Spanish mackerel, pompano, cobia and more are giving my clients non stop rod bending action. Spanish mackerel have began their Spring invasion, and can be caught from Aripeka to North of Bayport in 6 - 10 ft of water. Near shore rock piles or grass flats will have these hard fighting toothy critters ready to test your tackle. ...full report

Tampa Bay March 10 Fishing Report Hello from Anna Maria. Whew! I think that was our last real cold blast for the year. It was a good one too. I think it was some of the coldest water I fished all winter. Strange that it came in March. We had to grind it out for a few days while it put the spring action on the shallow flats to a halt. We managed pretty well despite the water temp change though. ...full report

Fine Fishing for Spring Break on Pinellas County Beaches While you're here for spring break check out our “schools”! by Capt. Ted Nesti of Florida Native Fishing Charters Spring is in high gear here on Florida's Sun Coast and the fishing is HOT! The last of the cold fronts has blown through, the weather is warming up and the Gulf water temperature is rising making the local inshore ...full report

Tampa Bay March Fishing Report Hello everyone, Capt Matt here from Anna Maria, just giving a quick update. Spring fishing has been in full swing, Snook, Redfish and Trout have been phenomenal. I have had some 70 plus fishing days on Snook and Redfish, if that is a good enough indication. The Trout fishing is as good as it has ever been in my 18 years of being a charter captain. There is a ton ...full report

Hernando Beach Fishing Report With winter all most over the inshore fishing is in a spring like pattern. On my recent charters where we should find fish they are not there they are in there spring spots, red fish are on the outside points and mangrove shorelines around rocky/oyster beds. Look for the mullet schools like I say in every report find the mullet you will fine the reds. Live bait is the ...full report

Once again the fishing action along the Nature Coast continues to amaze me. Historically, February can be a banner month for a variety of species along the Nature Coast especially Redfish and Speckled Trout, however, with the added benefit of unseasonably warm weather the exotic species that we are targeting at the moment is what has been the major draw for my visiting anglers. In recent years ...full report

Tampa Bay Fishing Report 2/24/13 Late February fishing and we did very good with Snook yesterday. We landed 37 Snook, 6 Redfish and a few Trout. The largest Snook was about 28 inches the largest Red about 26 and the largest Trout about 23 inches. The water is reaching the low 70’s and the fishing is going into full spring mode, some of the hottest action of the year. The Snook fishing ...full report

Anna Maria February Fishing Report It has been great the last few days of fishing. The flats have been on fire. Water temps have been getting in the low 70s on the shallow flats, the magic number for killer flats fishing. The big three have all been biting; a ton of Snook, some really nice Redfish and giant Trout. The snook have been really heating up on the better days. We have been catching ...full report

The cold weather made fishing tough for a few days, but the the weather and the fishing quickly heated back up. The cold "blast" we got in this area of the Nature Coast pushed fish back to the shallows near springs, and as the gulf waters warm up they will be back on the move and feeding. Species we have targeted on recent trip include trout, red fish, and pompano. The best bite has been around ...full report

Tampa Bay February Fishing Report I hope you are out there enjoying this weather, I mean it just can’t get any nicer. I just stopped over at the beach to meet up with a couple of friends after I got done fishing today and I just can’t believe how beautiful the Gulf is. I spent the morning in the bay catching Snook, Reds and large Trout like I have all week. I really haven’t been venturing ...full report

I am new to the area, and have not had much time to fish the lake, but in the past three trips I have been killing the jumbo Bluegills and Black Crappie. I am originally from Northern Michigan so that's what we call them. I think down here they may be called Bream and Specs, I'm not sure though. On 2/15/13 I caught 12 gills the largest on was 12.5 inches long and 6.75 inches from top to bottom. ...full report

We took our kayak out on the Anclote River for some morning fishing. Bites were steady from 6:30 AM until 8:30 AM. We were landing keeper Mangrove Snappers with live shrimp on a cork. We also landed a small Flounder and 6lbs. Sheepshead using Gulp® Sand Fleas on a red jig. From 8:30AM until 10:30AM, action stopped dead, other than pinfish and other small fish stealing our bait. As we were reeling ...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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