Redfish fishing in Tampa Bay

In Tampa Bay, redfish peak August–May and are around year-round, spawning in September–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. January: In the canals and deep holes; sight-fish them on the warm afternoon flats.

1. JanuaryPeakIn the canals and deep holes; sight-fish them on the warm afternoon flats.
2. FebruaryPeakSheepshead 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.
3. MarchPeakSnook 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.
4. AprilPeakEverything 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.
5. MayPeakTarpon 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.
6. JuneAroundPeak 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.
7. JulyAroundSnapper 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.
8. AugustPeakSchools forming on the flats.
9. SeptemberSpawningBig schools on the flats and bars; spawners move to the passes and nearshore — Tampa Bay was one of FWC's spawning study sites (August–November, peak September–October).
10. OctoberSpawningSpawning schools at the passes; slot fish on the mangroves.
11. NovemberPeakTrout 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.
12. DecemberPeakWinter 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.

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.

Fish Scouter charts 1,374 grass flat, 883 dock / pilings, 385 mangrove shoreline, 46 pass / inlet, 9 bridge spots in the Tampa Bay & Sarasota map area — the kinds redfish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · Tampa Bay & Sarasota, the whole year