Fishing in the gulf Tampa area

[rogerdoger]

Heading down to Florida to visit father in law in the Tampa area. I know nothing about salt water fishing but thought I may bring a rod down with me. Was thinking of my Spey rod as my others are pretty small. Any advice or know if it’s worth it? Even thought about buying a Walmart special if needed.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

Depends on if you have boat access or not. You can always buy a surf-rod while there, frozen shrimp/squid (squid stays on better in the surf) and catch all sorts of fish. Leave the surf rod with him for future trips.

If you're timing it right, Pompano are a blast to reel in and very tasty table fare.

Check out Bama Beach Bum on YouTube. He's very informative when it comes to surf fishing the Gulf of Merica.

 

[flathead#2]

Great opportunity for Snook down there.

Here on the top end been having good luck with
Whiting and Pompano.
6 Whiting this morning.
Some really nice Pompano last week.

check your inbox

 

[bigbassin]

Heading down to Florida to visit father in law in the Tampa area. I know nothing about salt water fishing but thought I may bring a rod down with me. Was thinking of my Spey rod as my others are pretty small. Any advice or know if it’s worth it? Even thought about buying a Walmart special if needed.

I lived down there a little while, snook seemed to be the easiest game fish for me to catch. I never got a red out of the bay but saw many upper slot fish. Just pick a flat that has grass on it deep water near by, then walk the edge. Or if the tide is up, walk the mangrove edges. You’ll get plenty of casts at snook and the occasional red, even hooked an 80ish pound tarpon doing this. Of course he snapped my 15 leaderboard right off.

I always just used a white paddle tail, if you want to target the reds you’re going to want to be on the bottom with a gulp shrimp or DOA.

You mention a Spey Rod so I’d assume you fly fish. If you’re going June/July timeframe I’d highly recommend driving down an hour to Bradenton/Sarasota area and walk the beach to sight fish snook. They’ll travel the gut between the shore and first sandbar in big groups that you can run out in front of and lead with a fly. Average shot is probably 40’, no need to bring a Spey rod, an 8 wt will work fine. Seaducer, DT Gibbys, and Shminnows and are standard flies to throw. I always had the best luck with mostly white, a little flash, and a single chartreuse feather/strand of bucktail.

 

[Loper]

if you are fishing from the beach, go to a local tackle store and ask for a pompano rig. It’s a leader with a couple hooks and small orange or yellow floats. Dig in the sand where the water touches the beach and you can find dozens of sand fleas. Put those on the hook and cast out and have some fun catching pompano, whiting, etc. You can also cast for snook as others have said. If you use shrimp or greenbacks or white bait you can broaden you list of species to catch. These baits can be bought at the bait shop or you have a cast net you can use that for the greenbacks or whitebait. No need for a big surf rod in the gulf, the waves and current aren’t strong and you don’t need to cast out super far. Just cast in the trough between the sandbar and the beach, get a surf spike for the rod, and sit back in a beach chair and enjoy.

Note that when surf fishing from the beach, sand and salt seems to always find its ways into reels, so I wouldn’t bring your nicest reel. I know plenty of guys who use a Walmart special, and just throw it away once it starts grinding or locks up. Whether a nice reel or a cheap one, be sure to rinse it with fresh water and put a few drops of oil on it after each use.

If you are not fishing from the beach, take the advice mentioned above walking the flats and pitching along the mangroves. I suggest wearing crocs or some other type of water shoe as you don’t want to tear your feet up on oyster beds.

Have fun!

 

[menhaden_man]

Call Captain Tony, head down to Sarasota. It’s worth the trip and all inclusive.

https://m.facebook.com/TNTFreedomFishingCharters/

 

[ResearchinStuff]

It's tarpon season right now. Get a charter and go catch something big.

 

[KyleR1985]

I miss living in tampa.

You can catch mangroves on the pilings of the gandy.

I’m from south Louisiana so speckled trout was a common pursuit for me. I caught quite a few on the grass flats like mentioned.

trolling the bay for grouper is pretty fun too - but you’re going to need pay a guide who knows what he’s doing. Crazy to catch them there - I didn’t figure that one out till the last year I lived there.

 

[Boarmaster]

Flyfishing, 8 wt with a floating or intermediate sinking line is my most used fly rod weight. 6-7 wt will work in a pinch.

From beach or wading out off a causeway your fish are relatively small similar to a large fresh water trout.

For conventional, A 7-7.5 foot medium or medium heavy - fast action spinning rod with a 3000-4000 size reel with 10-20 lb braid or 10lb mono is a standard set up for inshore fishing anywhere in SWFL. Splice (no swivel) a few feet of fluorocarbon or mono leader to end of mainline. For most inshore fish a 20-25lb leader will be great. For snook 30lb leader is good for beach

Surf fishing in SWFL is different than the northern gulf or east coast. Larger rods for heavy surf aren't needed as generally the surf is calm compared to other places.

I can get into the weeds but those are your basic set ups.

You might find that renting a kayak would be fun and give you some additional opportunities.
Most of the water here you will be fishing in is 6 inches to 4 feet deep.

You might want a bit heavier gear if you fishing from a bridge.

 

[rogerdoger]

Thanks everybody, probably going to bring both 8wt and spinner. If I catch anything decent I will post a photo.

 

[Rokbar]

A kayak in the inlets and sounds is the ticket. We used to go to PCB and I hired a kayak guide one time. After that I just took my own pedal kayak. Half a crab on a 1 oz. lead head dropped to the bottom of a bridge column can produce good bull reds.

 

[Boarmaster]

Thanks everybody, probably going to bring both 8wt and spinner. If I catch anything decent I will post a photo.

Weighted Clouser minnows in Chartreuse/ white or pink /white will catch alot of fish down this way.
If snook are on the beach then a white shimnow fly will work.

 

[willtim]

Hire a guide.