Fall is in the air out here in Tampa Bay.The gulf water temp is now between 77 and 79 degrees and fishing, especially offshore, has been and will be getting even better.We had some really enjoyable days this week.The air has been very dry, the water has been very calm, and the fishing has been great.I have been spending most of my time offshore, with calm seas I had to get out there and take advantage of it.
The Kingfish are starting to move in thick, we had some real fast action on 8 to 12 pounders.No giants yet but they will come shortly.
Grouper are in close in droves and they have been biting pretty much as fast as you can catch them. Every spot we stopped to make drops the action was fast.There are a lot of smaller Reds but if you can get through the smaller ones by using larger bait there are some real nice eating size Gags as well.
The large Mackerel have been furious out there.They are averaging from 20 to 25 inches and all you want to catch and all the fillets you want to eat.I baked some the other night and they were great.
We have been catching some monster Goliath Grouper as well. I haven’t spent much time fishing for them but the little time we did spend we landed a 150 pounder and two 200 pounders.200 lb test helps get them off the bottom but we still had some monsters break us off with ease.There are plenty of Goliath Grouper of 400 pounds on the spots I have been fishing.Maybe we will get one of those beasts up this week.
Near shore fishing has also remained strong, plenty of Mackerel, lots of Sharks up to 7ft and we are still catching a few Tarpon.
Inshore fishing has been strong for me this week as well. I have spent a lot of time inshore and we have caught a few real nice top of the slot Redfish.The Trout are thick and very easy right now.Many of the areas I have been fishing them is much like the Mackerel fishing, literally as fast as you can reel them in.
The more the water cools the more large trout we have been catching.We have been catching a lot and plenty of smaller slot keepers.The water will cool a little more over the next week and we should start seeing a lot larger slot fish.
Well I hope you have enjoyed this fishing report.I hope all of you are enjoying this great fall weather.Capt. Matt
