Tampa Bay Summer Fishing Report for July

We are right in the middle of the summer. This makes for some hot weather and rainy afternoons. With our summer weather patterns comes some great Tampa fishing. Summer fishing offers up some great bay and flats fishing. Snook fishing in Tampa during the summer is some of the best fishing around the state. As Snook get ready to spawn the stage up around the spoil Islands, beaches and passes of Tampa Bay and St Petersburg. Match this with some of the best beaches in the United States and you are going to be in for a great time while visiting Tampa Bay. Other species that you can expect while on a Tampa fishing charter would be Sharks, Cobia Mackerel and Mangrove Snapper among others. The west coast of Florida offers up some of the best fishing around.

As mentioned above Shark fishing is also a great option while looking to go fishing in Tampa Bay. All types of Sharks invade Tampa Bay during the summer months and make for a great fight. Heavier gear is needed when Targeting sharks, I use a Daiwa BG 5000 Matched with St Coix Extra heavy Spinning rods. Spool this up with 60lb Braided line and some fluorocarbon 80 lb leader or even steel leader and you are ready for battle.

While targeting Sharks in the bay you will catch a variety of other fish most of the time. Grouper and Goliath Grouper are on the list and are commonly caught this time of year. Finding good hard bottom matched with some decent tidal flow and you will typically be hooked up on Grouper with a little patience. I like to Create a chum slick to bring the bottom feeders off the Ocean floor. This also gives you a chance on the bigger fishing so they don’t get you into structure and break you off.Grouper fishing is awesome inside Tampa Bay but most overlook the hundreds of wrecks that have been placed throughout the bay. Tampa Bay wrecks fishing is some of the best around.

Mangrove Snapper are also very plentiful when fishing in Tampa Bay. Snapper are very structure oriented and school up by the hundreds around the artificial reefs and wrecks of Tampa Bay. We have our smaller Bait (Greenbacks) show up in the summer and the Snapper are not far behind. Gear of choice would have to be light tackle spinning gear with little to no weight. Free Spooling baits with the tide is a very effective way to catch Snapper. On the stronger tide days I’ll add a split shot for a little more weight. You have to show a natural presentation when fishing for Mangrove Snapper in Tampa Bay. They can be very picky some days and make it hard to get them to bite.

As you can see there are plenty of options when looking for a Tampa fishing charter this time of year. Some many species to fish for all in a single day on the water. Come join Captain Jason Prieto on his Brand new 2018 26ft Pathfinder powered by a 350 Mercury marine for a great enjoyable day on the water. Tightlines