Tampa & Pass-A-Grille Fishing Guide

After the most brutal winter on record, Spring fishing on Florida’s Gulf coast is at last heating up. Bait schools are working north, with greenbacks and scaled sardines moving through the passes and frequenting the docks and piers. With the bait come the predators. Ladyfish, jacks, mackerel, flounder and even early sharks are now making an appearance in Pinellas County.

This weekend, the macks showed up with a vengeance at Merry Pier in South St. Petersburg Beach. Freelining live bait and casting flashy lures resulted in an almost sure hook up (or cut off) every cast. Most fish were running small, but there were plenty of 15″ and larger fish mixed in.
 

There are still a few sheepshead lurking around the pilings, but after a slow start to the year, looks like they’re headed off the beach to spawn. Meanwhile, everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mangrove snapper.

While the bite is still slow, things are picking up rapidly. Bait schools have moved into Blind Pass, a few stray greenbacks are starting to show up at Merry Pier and at the Jetty in Pass-A-Grille, and fish are starting to get frisky. I’ve had reports of flounder and Mackeral in Pass-A-Grille, redfish and trout at Ft. Desoto, and pompano at Blind Pass and the Jetty. Sheepshead are starting to show nicely, with a few big ones biting tube worms and fiddler crabs.

I even managed to pull a small grouper out of the pilings:

Miss Pass-A-Grille went out on a 1/2 day trip Sunday, and returned with a great haul of key west grunts, a few keeper grouper, and even a hogfish.

Spring fishing is ALMOST ready to bust loose. I spent a few hours this weekend fishing St. Pete Beach. Glass minnows are starting to show up in Boca Ciega Bay, and in Blind Pass. In Pass-A-Grille, the Spanish mackerel and sheepshead are beginning to bite. There are ladyfish, mullet and even a few small gag grouper around. Offshore, the Key West grunts are on fire:

Very soon, there will be some spectacular fishing here. Meanwhile, another front is projected to blow in Friday, dropping the nighttime temps back into the 50’s. Hope that’s the last of it!