Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 86F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 74F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: June 19, 2024 @ 7:42 am
This is the quality of snook Capt. Josh Fritz has been putting his anglers on fishing rocky outside points and islands over the past week. The reds are mingling with them, and some trout, as well. Live sardines have been his go-to bait.
Melenda Watzke hoists a keeper cobia for the camera taken on a trip with Capt. J.C. with J.C. Fishing Charters. Capt. Bill at the Rusty Bucket says the cobia have been showing up in 8 feet of water around Anclote Key.
This nice trout was landed on a charter with Capt. Matt Cowden out of Anclote. He’s been taking them on live sardines.

This is the quality of snook Capt. Josh Fritz has been putting his anglers on fishing rocky outside points and islands over the past week. The reds are mingling with them, and some trout, as well. Live sardines have been his go-to bait.
Melenda Watzke hoists a keeper cobia for the camera taken on a trip with Capt. J.C. with J.C. Fishing Charters. Capt. Bill at the Rusty Bucket says the cobia have been showing up in 8 feet of water around Anclote Key.
This nice trout was landed on a charter with Capt. Matt Cowden out of Anclote. He’s been taking them on live sardines.
It’s time for inshore anglers to keep their eyes peeled for cobia. The big ones are starting to show up in bigger numbers, and keeper-sized fish are being hooked. They often travel in pods of two to four fish, cruising near the surface and sometimes trailing pods of stingrays. The big ones can be identified by their long, black bodies and often are mistaken for sharks. The key is the get a live bait in front of their path. They also will take artificials, but a live sardine or pinfish is hard to beat. Cobia must measure 36 inches from nose to fork of the tail. The bag limit is one per person or two per vessel.
Now is a good time to put the power of chum to work offshore.
Anglers anchored around 30 feet of water over hard bottom have excellent chances of drawing a number of species to their boats using frozen chum blocks over the side. As the block melts, the current carries particles of ground fish, shrimp, oils and other tasty fish treats for hundreds of yards and right now could bring Spanish mackerel, kingfish and cobia to the boat. A couple of lines baited with live shrimp, pinfish or scaled sardines set out in the chum slick will get the attention of any fish working their way to the source of the chum.
It’s probably a good idea to rig with a 12 to 18 inches of light wire leader, lest the mackerel and kings clip a mono leader with their razor-sharp teeth.
Capt. Josh Fritz (352-345-9304): Capt. Josh reports the inshore bite is on. Snook and redfish are on the outer Gulf points and rocky bars and island shorelines. Both are responding very well to live sardines, though pinfish and shrimp also work. Trout are on hard limestone bottom in shallow water, but also in deeper water over grass bottom. A white soft-plastic fluke on jig head is a favorite among artificials, with live shrimp or scaled sardines effective natural baits. Anglers should be on the lookout for cobia working the surface on the inshore grass flats. The fish are starting to show up in bigger numbers. Be particularly aware of stingray pods, as the cobia like to trail them to feed on the shrimp, crabs and small fish flushed out of the grass bottom cover by the turbulence of their wings. Cobia like shrimp, pinfish or live sardines. Among artificials, a favorite is a large, soft-plastic black eel.
Capt. Matt Cowden (727-534-6603): Capt. Matt is doing very well fishing out of the Anclote River, taking plenty of trout, reds and snook. Fish are on the outside Gulf flats and points, and with warm weather ahead, any fish lingering in backwaters will be coming out to the join the part in the Gulf. The snook he’s finding prefer live sardines, and the redfish are more apt to take a live shrimp.
Capt. Mike Senker (352-584-6297): Capt. Mike says things are right for productive offshore fishing. An easy trip would be to 18 to 25 feet of water over rocky bottom, anchoring up and dropping a chum block over the side. Possible catches are Spanish mackerel and cobia, though there is a possibility of attracting a kingfish or two. Work out to 30 feet over rocks for mangrove snapper, grunts and small hogfish. Use live shrimp for all three. For keeper-sized hogfish, moving to at least 40 feet of water may be necessary. For red grouper, the best bet now is heading southwest out of Hernando Beach to 120 feet of water.
Tarpon Trading Company (727-937-1488): Larry says anglers reported getting into some hot and heavy trout action fishing around Three Rooker Bar, south of Anclote Key. Live shrimp and jigs with soft-plastic tails are good bait bets. A lot of undersized trout are around Fred Howard Park, so expect to put in a good deal of time there to find a few keeper fish. Look for reds around the spoils out of the Anclote River and the island and mangrove shorelines of the small keys south of the river. Fair numbers of small snook are showing up on the beach at Anclote Key, where they will soon meet up with the large, spawning females for the summer spawn. Offshore, anglers have been scoring kingfish around the 30-foot depths, including inside and outside of the Pasco #2 artificial reef.
The Rusty Bucket (727-645-6598): Capt. Bill reports the cobia are showing up in greater numbers, with the waters around Anclote Key particularly productive. Many keeper-sized fish are being reported. Patrol the beach of the island and look for them or pods of stingrays, which often have a cobia or two tailing them. Large shrimp, pinfish or scaled sardines pitched in front of them will draw a strike. If trout fishing the grass flats, put out a live pinfish under a float for the cobia and catch trout on jigs on shrimp. Offshore, the cobia are there, too, some taken on flat lines with live bait while trolling for kingfish. Gag grouper are abundant in 90 feet of water, but it’s catch-and-release only right now.
Bait & Tackle of Hernando Beach (352-610-4315): Sven reports anglers have been having some fun fishing the creeks along Bayou Drive in Bayport. Live creek chubs produced some mangrove snapper to 16 inches fishing the little bridge there. Others reported taking flounder on chubs to 13 inches. Reds could be a bonus catch. The best bite has been 2 hours before and after the low tide. Jenkins creek has been giving up some snook before daylight, along with a few trout. Mike from the shop fished from Hernando Beach south to Filman Bayou. He and a fishing mate landed several oversized trout along the way. If redfish are the target, anglers will find them up and down the Hernando coast. No large concentrations of fish are being found, and but there seem to be lots of them spread out. A couple of foreign visitors who were struggling to catch anything while on their vacation to Hernando Beach got some good advice from Sven, who talked them into dumping their excess terminal tackle and going with a simple hook on 30 inches of fluorocarbon leader baited with live creek chubs. They came back to report fishing from shore near the mouth of a Hernando Beach canal they landed six redfish. Sven says a less-is-more rig and a decent length of fluorocarbon leader is good advice for anyone. Offshore, work 35 feet of water on rocks for mangrove snapper, and deeper for hogfish. The kingfish are here, and the 25- to 30-foot-plus depths are where to find them. Word is there are fair numbers of wahoo around the 90-foot mark.
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