Summer patterns are in full swing in Tampa Bay and Boca Ciega Bay. Bait is becoming plentiful, water temps are on the rise, and the fish are getting active.

I managed to get in several hours of fishing Saturday, Sunday and Monday, starting at around 7:30 a.m at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. Other that a few showers on Saturday, the weather was perfect, and the dock was pretty crowded. While there were plenty of snook and Spanish macs around, I was targeting grouper, using whole frozen sardines on the incoming tide.

Seems that the grouper were hanging underneath the pier, and also on the ledge just north of the pier. I was slammed several times under the dock by a presumed goliath grouper which has been hanging around. And I managed to pull in plenty of 15″ to 21″ gag grouper, while losing some REALLY big fish. Here’s a 23″ gag that didn’t get away:

Mike (from Michigan) and his brothers were slaying the macks- not big fish, but plenty of 10″ to 15″  ones- lots of fun on light tackle.  There was a school of snook hanging out under a bait school in the shallows, and several decent sheepshead nipped at the pilings.  There were reports of big sharks hooked, as well as some big flounder. All in all, a great weekend for getting outdoors!

My friend Harris and I had been talking about putting together a full moon snapper trip for a while. Friday was perfect. Full moon. No wind. Warm water. Good tides. So, we headed out around 7:30 p.m. Friday night.

Harris and I were joined by Tim from Tampa, Al and Todd. We geared up with plenty of tackle, bait and beer.

We made a couple of bait stops as the sun dropped below the horizon. Pinfish were scarce, but we managed to load a few decent ones in the livewell.

We cruised through Boca Grande Pass as the moon rose. There were loads of nighttime tarpon fisherman there. We had snapper on our minds, though.

At around midnight, we anchored in 100′ on the wreck of the Bayronto. There were a couple other boats nearby, and we could hear the occasional singing of drag as we baited up. With a frozen chum block, and around 40 pounds of mushy sardines, we set up a great chumline. The snapper moved in quickly, starting with a big mangrove snapper :

More soon succumbed to live pinfish and frozen sardines:

Then the Yellowtail Snapper showed up. We freelined whitebait and sardine chunks back into the chum line. The snapper were there, and it seemed that, for a while, we were hooked up on every cast. Some of the yellowtail were big flag, 4-6 pound fish.

Yellowtail are tons of fun on light tackle. Pretty soon, we were throwing back the smaller ones.

As the moon dropped toward the horizon, we brought out the heavy tackle, with the intention of nailing a few amberjack. They were definitely there- we saw a school of dozens of big ones checking out the boat at sunrise. But, we didn’t catch a one. Seems that the sharks and goliath grouper were just too aggressive, and grabbed every bait before the amberjack had a chance.

Our 40 lb test was no match for the big goliaths. We hooked a bunch, but it was about like hooking a school bus. We had better luck with the sharks. Harris dropped a pinfish shortly after sunrise, and was soon hooked up. He fought the fish about an hour before we could see what it was. Big shark!

We successfully leadered the big bull shark. It was estimated at 8′ and around 300 pounds. Nice job, Harris!

Once the sun had been up a while, the bite slowed, and it was time to head for home.

We ended up with dozens of yellowtail snapper; 6 big mangos; a banded rudderfish; and we released vermilion snapper and  red snapper.

It took three hours to fillet the catch. And, yes, fish fry at my place tonight!

My friend Peter ventured offshore over the weekend, and the fishing was on fire! Lots of action, and lots of variety. Pictured above is a big blackfin tuna – destined for the grill.

Here’s a monster red snapper:

And, what offshore trip is complete without a few big grouper?

Congrats to Peter for an 0utsanding fishing trip. And thanks for sending the photos!

It was another glorious weekend, with bright skies, clear water, good tides and plenty of fish. Tampa Fishing is in full swing! A few highlights included:

Pompano
Grouper
Mangrove Snapper
Bonnethead Sharks
Spanish Mackerel
Filefish (ugh)
Red Grouper

The Pier at 8thAve in Pass-A-Grille was packed with the usual suspects, including Joe, Cap’t Dick, Lolita, Dan,  Larry, Mike and his brother from Michigan and more. Here’s Mike’s Saturday catch:

Mangrove snapper are biting, but… it’s odd. The last few years, it was like flipping a light switch. One day- no snapper. Then, overnight, thousands of little snaps. This year, though, there have only been a few snapper so far, and almost all have been in the 12-13″ range. And the love little spottail pinfish:

Saturday was all about the grouper.  Between Cap’t Dick and I, we musta caught a couple dozen in the 15″ to 20″ range. But, under the Northeast corner of the dock, something BIG was lurking. We were railed nine (count ’em- 9!) times by something huge while using whole frozen sardines.  Might have been big snook. Might have been monster gags. My money is on a big Goliath grouper. They have been known to frequent the dock, and to wreck spinning tackle. I returned Sunday with a heavy grouper outfit (big Penn reel and an Ugly Stick like a pool cue). No dice, though. Whatever had been there Saturday had cleared out. Oh, well. Next weekend is forecast inthe upper 80’s, with light winds, a full moon, and a decent incoming tide from 6 a.m. till noon. You know where to find me…