Summer Fishing in Tampa Bay

July and all of summer is an awesome time to be fishing in Tampa Bay!

Well it’s hard to believe that July is already here. 2022 has been great thus far with no trace of Red tide and we have seen a good recovery from last year. This month is a great month to target just about anything inside Tampa Bay. The bay fishing is great but that early morning bite in the flats can be stellar as well. So here is what’s good this month

Mangrove Snapper in Tampa Bay are on fire this month and they are growing in popularity over the years. Anglers have realized that you don’t need to go 20 miles offshore to find a big Mangrove Snapper. There are plenty of ledges and rock piles throughout the bay holding BIG Snapper. One of the most important tools to successful Snapper fishing is good Chartplotter/Sonar. My Lowrance HDS 16 ive with side structure scan is the secret to my success on catching Snapper in Tampa Bay.

Late summer Tarpon are also hanging around and plenty of fish are grouping up around the spoil areas and reefs that are throughout the bay. The preferred bait would be live or dead Threadfin Hearing. These can be easily found around the channel markers in the middle of the bay. Only thing left is a 10 foot Talon castnet and you will be in business.

Flats fishing is also still good this time of year but you will need to hit the flats early before the water temperatures get too hot. Planning this around the tides is key so don’t forget to pick up a monthly tide chart. Tackle of choice is either freelined or floating corks matched with Daiichi #1 circle hooks as the bait is smaller this month. I also have had some great success using Tampa Bay fishing channels inshore slacker Jigs. These are basically light weighted hooks. This works great when targeting mangrove areas under the trees. As mentioned before, fishing in the early morning for the best luck.

Summer time is a lot of fun and you can catch tons of fish and be back to the dock by lunch. Remember to look at the weather and watch those afternoon thunderstorms, they can be very dangerous this time of year. If you are interested in booking a charter on one of our boats we would love to get you out for a great day on the water. Visit us on the web www.steadyactionfishingcharters.com or call us 813-727-9890