It’s January 11th, 2019 and the fishing is off to a hot start! Cold fronts have started showing up and cooling down water temps in the Tampa Bay area. The average water temp inside Tampa Bay is at 68 degrees and the fish have definitely felt it. Fish have already made their migrations into winter time areas such as rivers, creeks, residential canals and the back country.

Fishing trips this time of the year can be very productive if you know what to look for. Planning your fishing trip around the tides is very important especially with the negative tides that we experience. We recently started a charter at 11am due to the tides and our clients caught Snook from the first cast to the last cast for four hours! What to look for? It’s very simple, in negative tides the fish are restricted in the areas that they can be in. Creeks and rivers will hold fish in deeper holes; most of these areas have a muddy and oyster bottom that hold heat in the colder months. Its best to try and fish a moving tide but be aware that fishing an outgoing tide in some places might leave you stuck.

Weather can be the difference between a productive day of fishing and slow bite kind of day. Fishing before upcoming cold fronts is usually a great time to get out, reason being is that those fish will feel the weather starting to change and will be feeding in preparation. During the cold front and a couple of days after will be the toughest bite due to the fact that those fish will need to be acclimated to lower water temps. Depending on the change caused by the cold front it could be worth waiting two to three days before going fishing again.

“Captain what are we going to catch today?” Well, right now we have several species of fish that we can target. Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Trout, Snook and Redfish being at the top of our list this time of the year inside Tampa Bay. If the water temp remains close to 70 degrees the Snook will continue to feed comfortably; if it starts to drop under 65 degrees we can expect for the Snook bite to slow down until spring where they will come back in full force! My favorite time of the year for Snook! As water clarity increases and water temps continue to drop the Trout bite will start to heat up. Sheepshead usually being a great winter time fish to target have already made their way inside the bay and can be caught at bridges, reefs, rock piles and residential canals. The Redfish bite inside the rivers and creeks has been consistent with a few juvenile fish being caught. Mangrove Snapper are holding on major bridges and docks, a great option for someone fishing with kids and looking to catch dinner.

“What are they eating?” Shrimp, Scaled Sardines and artificial baits have been the meal ticket. On colder days the shrimp and artificial baits have actually out fished the sardines, so don’t be afraid to stop by your local bait shop and buy a couple dozen shrimp.

That’s all we have for the January fishing report! We hope that you find this information helpful and it makes you a better angler.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment below.

Its mid-May, and as summer approaches you can expect the afternoon storms to roll in. Now, it doesn't necessarily mean that we must stop fishing; it can actually improve the activity in the water. Fish are already wet, so the rain doesn't bother them. However, there are some factors that will affect how these fish feed and react to the falling barometer caused by the incoming storms and rain. A falling barometer can really get the fish going, causing a total feeding frenzy. The drop in air pressure right before a storm approaches and at the beginning of a front is a great time to catch fish.

If you are on the water, you always want to check the forecast and make sure you are able to find safe cover or worst case scenario, wrap it up and head in. The bite might be really good, but nothing is worth risking a lightning bolt to the dome. If it’s light rain and no thunder or lightning, then you should be fine and can fish through it. At the end of the day, it’s your judgment and determination that will decide on what weather is safe or not. Be sure to look at your local weather radars and listen to your weather radio periodically when on a boat.

On a recent wading fishing trip, Kenny and I experienced some late afternoon thunderstorms. As we saw some weather building up in the distance, we also noticed the flat activity increased with surface strikes and heavy mullet movement. Before we could fish for long the fast moving dark clouds were upon us and we could actually feel the temperature drop and could see the rain curtain approaching. We quickly maneuvered ourselves into safe cover and decided to wait out the storm.

When the rain passed, we quickly realized that the water was now stirred up and cloudy with sea grass floating on the surface. We made the change from our top water lures and adjusted for the sea grass and decided to use ¼ ounce DOA jig head with a dark colored DOA CAL Shad Tail to help with the murky water. From our experience we have proven that darker baits work better in darker water and lighter colored baits work more effectively in clearer water. As we reached two oyster bars we could see fish pushing in the shallow water and finger mullet jumping around. We quickly used a stealthy approach and put ourselves into a good position to make a cast at the fish. Wasn't too long before Kenny was hooked up on what seemed like something from the show River Monsters! The fish made several long runs taking Kenny for a ride of his life, after what felt like a 15 min battle (actually 5 minutes) he managed to bring the beast to the shore as I used my grips to land the fish of his life!

40" Snook weighing well over 30lbs! Moral of the story is not to let a little rain ruin your fishing trip when it can actually improve your chances of catching more fish.

Tampa Bay Inshore Fishing Report January '19

When It Rains It Bites

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