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Tampa Bay January Fishing Report

Hello from sunny Anna Maria.  I must start my report out talking about the weather.  I think this is without a doubt one of the nicest winters I can ever remember in my 18 years of running charters.  The weather has been so spectacular it often leaves me with the feeling of heading out on a normal spring day.    The core water temp is really above normal with temperatures more similar to late February and March. The fish are reacting they same way they do in the spring.

 Inshore fishing has just been awesome to say the least.  Snook have really been biting well.  We are catching a large number of them, some days as many as 50 plus.  Most of them are in the 20 to 24 inch range but we have been catching a few in the 26 to 30 inch range.  They are a lot of fun in the shallow ultra clear winter waters.

Red fishing has also been very good, especially on the warmer days, which usually this time of year is better on colder days. The water has been so warm they prefer to feed on the warmer days in the shallows.  Most of them are real nice fish in the 22 to 28 inch class, lots of good eating size.  They are mixed in with the Snook so you never know which will bite next.

Trout fishing has been tremendous, pretty much 90 percent of the Trout I have been catching have been keepers.  Most are 18 to 24 inches.  The largest have been up to 26 inches.  I had some better days where we caught as many as 40, most over 20inches and left the school biting to see if we could catch smaller ones to keep.  Remember you are only allowed one Trout over 20 inches, the rest have to be between 15 and 20 inches.

Tampa bay fishing charters at www.captaimatt.com

There are also a few Mackerel, Flounder, Pompano and Blue fish mixed in with the Trout now which are a fun bonus.

I have not been offshore in the last couple of weeks; the inshore fishing has been too good.  I have heard the Grouper are biting pretty good which is no surprise with the water temps where they are now. I will head out there more when the pelagic Kingfish, Mackerel, and Tunny get thicker.  It’s a lot more fun offshore when there is more variety.

So that sums it up pretty much, all you have to do is look out the window around here and it’s easy to see it’s time to be fishing.

I hope you enjoyed my report, until next time, have a great time on the water.  I’m filling my spring calendar so let me know if you want to get out there.

  Capt. Matt 

941-447-9888

 www.captainmatt.cm