Last Updated on September 15, 2021 by Eric
This summer has been brutally hot and with the red tide outbreak we had, things were looking rather iffy. The red tide did have an effect on our estuary but thank God it didn’t spread throughout the entire bay and has left things in a rather good position for the fall. There have been reports of some large schools of breeder redfish and that is something that is very good to see.
A temporary closure has been placed in Tampa Bay for Snook, Redfish, and Trout, which will be reassessed on Oct. 1st. Hopefully, they decide to keep it closed for a while longer.
With that being said the snook fishing has been consistent and the trout bite is looking better. The main thing is the redfish bite, and it has been excellent. Both live bait, cut bait, and artificial have been producing good numbers of fish. The artificial bite is only going to get better as the water cools off and cleans up. The rain hasn’t helped much in the way of clarity, but the fish are still there, they are just harder to spot.
Live bait has been my go-to as of late. Scaled sardines and pinfish have been the bait of choice. With the dirty water and high tides, pinfish have been very effective. They put out a lot of vibrations in the water and that attracts the reds who are picking up on them using their lateral lines. They can sense the vibrations and hone in on the spastic pins. The last two trips have produced double digits in redfish and snook. Yesterday was a banner day where we landed over 25 redfish, as well as snook, trout, jacks, and bonnethead sharks.
My new bonefish hill tide 22 boat has been a blessing and a very comfortable ride as well as spacious. I can now take up to 4 passengers!!!
The whitebait has been rather small as of late and that’s why pinfish have been the main bait of choice. I am looking forward to the fall and can’t wait to see what it has in store for us! If you would like to book a fishing charter here in Tampa Bay don’t hesitate to call 407-977-7650, fill out the contact form on the website, or book directly with the new online booking platform. Looking forward to our next adventure.
Capt. Bucky Goldman of Bag’Em Fishing Charters.
