Tampa Fishing Guide

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Tampa Inshore Grouper Fishing
2008-06-02 23:23:00
Conventional wisdom says you need a boat for grouper fishing. And, yes, the bite is strong now in 70′ to 140′. But, it’s also good standing on the Merry Pier on 8th Avenue in St. Pete Beach. Of course, there were plently of snapper and mackerel around, even a few sheepshead. But the highlight this weekend was grouper: There were big greenbacks- and I mean BIG, like 6″-7″- that were popping on the surface soon after sunrise. Although they were scattered, it was possible to get a few with a sabiki. And they were just the ticket for big grouper, like the 23″ and 24″ pair pictured above. Sunday’s fish fry brought over a dozen guests, who dined on blackened grouper fillets, panko crusted deep fried grouper fingers, and a grouper-peppers-onion-sausage creation, along with salad, veggies and pasta. Yum- gotta love fresh grouper!  
More About: Fishing , Grouper , Tampa

Offshore Fun on the Getaway
2008-05-28 00:03:00
Memorial Day weekend brought some great fishing opportunities. I caught tons of grouper and snapper at the Merry Pier on Saturday and Sunday. But the real fun was on Monday, when I was joined by Cap’t. Dick and three of his friends for an extended day trip offshore on the Getaway . We were all a bit ...
More About: General , Offshore

St. Petersburg Fishing
2008-05-19 19:39:00
In typical May style, the Merry Pier in St. Peterburg is loaded with grouper and mangrove snapper. And they’re highly cooperative. Fishing on Saturday, I managed a limit of snapper, and threw back over a dozen. Gag grouper, ranging from a foot up to 19″, were mixed in. They were hitting live, tail hooked shrimp, ...
More About: General , Petersburg

Florida Snapper & Grouper Fishing
2008-05-12 16:49:00
As the water continues to heat up, so does the fishing. I spent a few hours both Saturday and Sunday hanging out at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. Live shrimp was the bait of choice. The technique- tail hook a medium shrimp on a #2 Owner hook with a foot of 30″ flourocarbon ...
More About: Fishing , General , Snapper , Grouper , Florida

Spring Fishing is in Full Swing!
2008-05-05 18:57:00
It’s a great time of the year to be a Florida fisherman! The weather is fantastic, the water is clear, and the fish are biting. Fishing this weekend in St. Petes Beach, I caught, hooked, or saw just about everything that swims. How’s this list: -Grouper -Mangrove Snapper -Lane Snapper -Snook -Sheepshead -Spanish Mackerel -Sailor’s Delight -Atlantic Spadefish -Ladyfish -Jack Crevalle -And the usual trash fish I ...
More About: General , Spring , Full , Swing

Snook Season is Winding Down
2008-04-28 15:25:00
So, it was a glorious weekend for fishing- lots of sunshine, clear water, ample bait, decent tides. I hit Merry Pier Saturday mornign, stocked up on select shrimp, and freelined a big one under the pier on a 7′ Star rod and Shimano 6500 Baitrunner spooled with 20′ mono. BAM! 1 shrimp, 1 snook. It came ...
More About: General , Season , Winding

Trolling for Snook!
2008-04-21 16:34:00
Trolling for kingfish? Sure! Trolling for grouper? Why not. But… trolling for snook? This was a new experience for me. On Saturday, I met my friend David and we headed down to Bellaire Beach for a little surf fishing. It was a beautiful day, but the fish weren’t cooperating.                 Later that afternoon, we headed to the ...

Fish? and Rumors of Fish
2008-04-07 15:17:00
The winds were howling Saturday, quashing any chance of getting offshore. I did manage to get in a little St. Petes Beach shore fishing, with sheepshead, grouper, ladyfish and Lane snapper to show for the effort. I’ve been getting a number of St. Pete’s Beach area fishing reports, though.. Tarpon have made their official appearance. I ...
More About: Rumors , Fish

Getting Ready for Kingfish Season 2008
2008-03-30 22:50:00
While the main push of kingfish is still a few weeks away, I’ve been readying the tackle box in anticipation. Meanwhile, I managed to spend a couple of hours in St. Pete Beach fishing at the Merry Pier. I saw a couple of undersized snook caught over at the ‘bowling alley’, the old piling immediately ...
More About: Season , Ready , 2008

The Spring Bite is ON!
2008-03-17 22:32:00
With the wind Saturday, and the fog Sunday, I wasn’t able to hop a boat and head offshore. Still got in some good fishing, though. Sheepshead were the target, and they’re finally starting to show reliably. Using fiddler crabs, a bagged about a dozen of ‘em on Sunday, ranging up to about 4 pounds. Man, ...
More About: Spring , Bite

Spring Fishing in Tampa
2008-03-06 19:47:00
It’s been crazy at work- sorry for the late post. Yes, I was fishing last weekend. Yes, they were biting. For starters, check out the catch from the full day trip on Miss PassAGrille:     Yeah, they were chewing the bottom out of the boat. Even a nice flounder! Imagine if grouper were in season- they threw ...
More About: Fishing , Spring , Tampa

Countdown to Snook Season 2008 - Tampa
2008-02-21 23:36:00
Snook Season 2008 opens on March 1. Earlier today, I happened to be hanging around Blind Pass and what should I spot but… a whole bunch of snook, schooled up within 10 feet of the shore. They were a little spooky in the clear water, but they were unmistakably snook. Most were smaller, but a ...
More About: Tampa , Countdown

Hanging out at Merry Pier
2008-02-19 15:01:00
Pictured above are the results of the Saturday full day trip on Miss Pass-A-Grill. Conspicuously absent are grouper, which are now out of season in Federal waters (i.e. 9 miles r more offshore). LOTS of grunts (aka grey snapper, aka key west grunts), and a few triggerfish. I understand that some decent grouper were released. For ...
More About: Pier , Merry

St. Pete Beach Fishing
2008-02-11 01:46:00
Another weekend, rounding up the usual suspects at Merry pier in St. Pete Beach . Fishing was… steady, if not good. Amazingly, greenbacks remain plentiful, and a couple tosses of the net are all that’s needed for an afternoon’s fishing. There are plenty of select shrimp available at the baithouse, too. Yes, there are still Spanish Mackeal ...

Monster Keys Kingfish
2008-02-05 23:22:00
Every year, my friends Scott and Gail venture down from Murray, Kentucky for some Florida fishing. This year they went to the Keys , and Gail landed this HUGE kingfish on bass fishing tackle. Congrats on an amazing fish!
More About: Monster , Mons

A Super Weekend!
2008-02-04 17:29:00
    With weekend temperatures approaching 80 degrees, it was a great time to get out on the water. Down in Pass-A-Grille, pretty much everything was biting. To my surprise, a single throw of the cast net brought up scores of big greenbacks. Who’d have thought bait would still be abundent in February? So, using big hand picked ...
More About: Super , Weekend

Catching Up
2008-01-30 20:57:00
Spent some time in Arizona, so I’ve been a little lax with posting-the picture is from a full day trip on Miss Pass-A-Grille a couple weeks ago. Nothing to write home about, but there were a few decent gags and reds, along with the usual assortment of grunts and triggers. The big fish went to ...

2008 Fishing
2008-01-07 23:12:00
The new year came in with a bang- after some glorious December weather, a strong winter cold front blew through a week ago. Pre-front, EVERYTHING was biting- I saw a bunch of 16 to 22″ gag grouper caught in Pass-A-Grille, and they were slamming live pinfish with gusto. Macks, flounder, even sea bass were biting ...
More About: Fishing , 2008

Christmas Fishing Trip
2007-12-26 16:35:00
On Sunday, December 23, I headed out on the Getaway with a make-up party consisting of Cap’t Dick, Maurice, and his 15 year old son Gabrial. Captain Joe was at the helm, so I knew we were in for a great day offshore. We left late, around 9, and headed out through the fog. By the ...
More About: Christmas , Fishing , Trip

Pass-A-Grille Jetty Fishing
2007-12-10 20:29:00
OK, so it was a slow weekend for fishing- the weather was amazing, mid 80’s with plenty of sunshine, so it was great just to get out. On Saturday, I rounded up the usual suspects at the Merry Pier, including small grouper, feisty Spanish mackeral, small snapper and flounder, and an assortment of various trash ...
More About: Fishing , Grille , Pass , Grill

Cobia Fishing
2007-12-03 20:20:00
Ah, another weekend, another plethora of fish. Arriving once again at The Merry Pier on Saturday morning, I found plenty of bait, and plenty of predators. Grouper, snapper, mackeral, flounder and bonita joined the party. But the fish of the day was cobia, with two landed. They were 32″ and 31″, JUST shy of the ...
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Thanksgiving Fishing Marathon
2007-11-28 20:28:00
Wow! Got to fish 5 consecutive days over the Thanksgiving weekend. I kicked things off on Thanksgiving day at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. Fishing started a little slow, but soon changed- a school of Bonita came through. Havoc! Everybody up and down the Pier was hooking up- and each hookup was followed ...
More About: Marathon , Hank

Flounder Fishing in Tampa
2007-11-19 23:29:00
Well, one thing about fishing at the Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grill, Florida- you can count on variety. Once more, the seasons are changing, and so is the fishing. After a great run of summer and fall snapper, all of the mango’s that had been hanging out at the pier disappeared overnight. 100% gone. Oh, well, ...
More About: Fishing , Tampa

Charlotte Harbor Fishing
2007-11-12 20:26:00
4 a.m. Saturday came mighty early. Harris, Egla, and I were joined by two of Harris’ employees for a day of fishing in Char lotte Harbor . We left Punta Gorda Isles on the good ship Running With Scissors and headed west. The north wind made for a chilly run as we exited Boca Grande Pass. A ...
More About: Fishing , Charlot

Tampa Bay Cobia Fishing
2007-11-05 16:47:00
I headed down to the Merry Pier at 6 on Saturday morning, hoping for a little snook action. The snook were there, alright, and I lost a nice slot size fish trying to net it one-handed. It hit a Gotcha’ lure, of all things. Man, those are some great lures! Anyway, I switched to frozen ...
More About: Fishing , Tampa , Tampa Bay

Fish, Rain & Football
2007-10-29 15:45:00
I hit Merry Pier at sunrise on Saturday, scored a few jumbo shrimp from the bait shop, and had some fun with the local snook population. I landed three undersized snook (to 24″), and lost a BIG one - probable over slot size. The current was outgoing, low and strong, and the fish were hanging ...
More About: Football , Fish , Rain

Snapper, Grouper and More
2007-10-08 23:17:00
A good day’s work- red snapper, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, vermillion snapper, red grouper, scamp, gag grouper, triggerfish and more. Another successful day aboard the Getaway, based at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Yes, it was quite a haul:    Only problem is that these fish were caught over a year ago- 9/9/06, to ...
More About: Snapper , Grouper

Pass-A-Grill Fishing Report
2007-10-01 21:37:00
Date: 9/29/07 Time: 4:30 a.m. till around 10 Tides: Strong outgoing (2 a.m. high tide) Conditions: Water clarity poor, partly sunny, light east wind The Catch: Bluefish, grouper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, ladyfish, catfish, pinfish  It was a pretty slow weekend for fishing, despite high expectations. Mike ( a work at home dad) and I hit Merry Pier at 4:30, ...
More About: Fishing , Report , Pass , Grill

Fall Fishing Arrives in Tampa Bay
2007-09-25 00:13:00
  The fish of the weekend is pictured above- a 33″ redfish, caught by an unidentified fisherman (but, hey, I got to net it!). Ahhh, Autumn is in the air. And, if I can feel it, you bet the fish can! Mike and I hit the Merry Pier dark and early Saturday. The original plan was to ...
More About: Fishing , Tampa , Fall , Tampa Bay

Fishing? Catching? and Planning
2007-09-17 22:37:00
Lots of great fishing last weekend… very little, though, in the way of catching. I was joined Saturday on Merry Pier by my fiance, “V”, for some early morning snapper fishing. We got a few, saw a few snook caught, and watched an amazing sunrise. A great way to start a weekend, but no fish ...
More About: Fishing , Planning