Spotted seatrout fishing in Tampa Bay

In Tampa Bay, spotted seatrout peak March–June and September–November and are around year-round, spawning in May–June, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. March: Back on the grass on the afternoon incoming.

1. JanuaryAroundDeep holes, canals and the power-plant outflows.
2. FebruaryAroundSheepshead 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. MarchPeakBack on the grass on the afternoon incoming.
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. MaySpawningSpawning on the grass edges and channel drops at dusk.
6. JuneSpawningPeak 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. AugustAroundHot 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.
9. SeptemberPeakSnook 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.
10. OctoberPeakTrout thick on the grass.
11. NovemberPeakPeak on the flats.
12. DecemberAroundWinter 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, 46 pass / inlet spots in the Tampa Bay & Sarasota map area — the kinds spotted seatrout 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.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• PigfishFree-lined or under a cork on a 2/0 circle hook for gator trout; on the bottom for grouper.
• 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.
• 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.

• Leader15–25 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#1–1/0
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 54–86°F water, best at 62–78°F.

All about spotted seatrout · Tampa Bay & Sarasota, the whole year