UTERJanuary
Sheepshead on every piling; trout deep; reds in the canals
Shrimp on the Skyway and bridge pilings for sheepshead; slow jigs in the holes and canals; snook stacked in the warm canals and the power-plant outflow.
Tarpon Springs to Venice
Tampa Bay fishing
What's biting in Tampa Bay in October: pompano, cobia and king mackerel at their peak, with gag grouper, whiting and tarpon around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 31 fish here month by month, from Clearwater to Venice.
The other best month: reds, snook, trout, kings and Spanish
Florida's biggest open-water estuary, ringed with grass flats, mangrove islands, oyster bars and the Skyway's endless pilings, then the barrier-island passes — Johns, Pass-a-Grille, Longboat, New Pass, Big Sarasota, Venice — and a dense field of artificial reefs a few miles off the beach.
ClearwaterSt. PetersburgTampaBradentonSarasotaVenice
Updated
Now · October
The other best month: reds, snook, trout, kings and Spanish
Water drops through the 70s and everything feeds. Kings on the reefs, Spanish in the bay, reds and snook on the mangroves, flounder at the passes.
RedfishSnookSpotted seatroutKing mackerelSpanish mackerelFlounderCobia
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingArrivingLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Pompano
Fall run on the beaches and in the passes.
Cobia
Fall run back south — markers and wrecks.
King mackerel
Fall run: kings back on the nearshore reefs and wrecks on the threadfin schools.
Spanish mackerel
Fall: back in the bay with the bait.
Snook
Fall feed — mangrove points on the outgoing.
Redfish
Spawning schools at the passes; slot fish on the mangroves.
Spotted seatrout
Trout thick on the grass.
Flounder
Staging on the sand edges at the passes.
Mangrove snapper
Jack crevalle
Ladyfish
Red grouper
Little tunny (bonito)
Blacktip shark
Bull shark
Bonnethead shark
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Gag grouper
Whiting
Tarpon
The last of the fall fish; the first front sends most of them south.
Permit
Leaving.
Sheepshead
Goliath grouper
Black drum
Tripletail
Sand seatrout
Striped mullet
Red snapper
Blackfin tuna
Spinner shark
The water
The tide here
Mixed, 1.5–3 ft
Two unequal tides a day; the strong tide of the day is the one to fish, and it flips between morning and afternoon through the month.
Snook
Slot 28–33" · open Mar 1 – Apr 30 and Sep 1 – Nov 30
One per person with a snook permit. Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay are their own snook region; one fish, permit required. Check MyFWC for the rule of the day.
Structure that matters
Grass flatMangrove shorelinePass / inletBridgeDock / pilingsArtificial reefWreckBeach / surfChannel edge
After a cold front
Fish drop into the residential canals, the deep holes off the flats, the Skyway and the power-plant outflows (Apollo Beach, Bartow) where the water stays warm. Three days after a front, the flats fire again on the afternoon incoming.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Sheepshead spawn on the reefs and passes; the first warm days wake the flats
Big sheepshead move to the pass jetties and nearshore reefs. Late month, trout spread back over the grass on warm afternoons.
March
Snook opens; trout on the flats; cobia and Spanish arrive
Snook move out of the canals to the mangrove points and passes — season opens the 1st. Spanish mackerel flood the bay on the bait; cobia on the markers.
April
Everything at once: snook, trout, reds, kings, the first tarpon
The best inshore month. Snook on the mangroves and passes, kings on the nearshore reefs, tarpon show at the Skyway by month end.
May
Tarpon on the beaches and the Skyway; snook to the passes
Tarpon pods migrate up the beach — Anna Maria, Longboat, Egmont. Snook stage in the passes (closed to harvest from the 1st). Permit on the nearshore wrecks.
June
Peak tarpon; snook on the beaches at dawn; snapper on the reefs
Tarpon everywhere on the beach and in the bay; snook cruise the beach trough in a foot of water at first light. Mangrove snapper on every reef and bridge.
July
Snapper spawn on the reefs; tarpon linger; fish dawn and dark
The best snapper fishing of the year on the nearshore reefs and the Skyway. Flats at dawn only; night snook under the dock lights.
August
Hot and still: the tide is everything
Fish the strongest tide of the day under shade — bridges, docks, mangrove overhangs. Reds start to school on the flats late month.
September
Snook reopens; reds school up; the bait run starts
Schooling reds on the flats and bars, snook back on the mangroves as harvest reopens, Spanish return with the bait. Tarpon still on the beach.
October · now
The other best month: reds, snook, trout, kings and Spanish
Water drops through the 70s and everything feeds. Kings on the reefs, Spanish in the bay, reds and snook on the mangroves, flounder at the passes.
November
Trout and reds on the flats; flounder and sheepshead show; last snook
Trout thick on the grass, reds on the bars, flounder on the sand edges at the passes, sheepshead beginning on the pilings. Snook closes end of month.
December
Winter sets up: sheepshead, drum, trout in the holes
Pilings and reefs for sheepshead, deep holes and canals for trout and reds, drum on the flats with crab. The first fronts push fish to the outflows.
Fish guides for Tampa Bay
When, where and what to use, fish by fishBlack drumBlackfin tunaCobiaFlounderGag grouperGoliath grouperJack crevalleKing mackerelLittle tunny (bonito)Mangrove snapperPermitPompanoRedfishSand seatroutSheepsheadSnookSpanish mackerelSpotted seatroutStriped mulletTarponTripletail
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