Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 76F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..
Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 76F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: June 19, 2024 @ 9:34 pm
This angler displays a very rare catch in Tampa Bay — a black grouper. The 22-inch fish was caught on a rock pile in 8 feet of water while mangrove snapper fishing. Black grouper normally inhabit waters in the Gulf beyond 100 feet.
An angler landed this redfish, along with others, on a trip with Capt. Chuck Rogers. Rogers has been finding good numbers of reds, including some small schools, on the Hillsborough side of Tampa Bay between the Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges.

This angler displays a very rare catch in Tampa Bay — a black grouper. The 22-inch fish was caught on a rock pile in 8 feet of water while mangrove snapper fishing. Black grouper normally inhabit waters in the Gulf beyond 100 feet.
An angler landed this redfish, along with others, on a trip with Capt. Chuck Rogers. Rogers has been finding good numbers of reds, including some small schools, on the Hillsborough side of Tampa Bay between the Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges.
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813-918-8356): Capt. Chuck says there’s been plenty of scaled sardine schools on the flats along the Hillsborough side of the bay near the Gandy Bridge. He’s been putting it to good use on redfish, which have been showing up in better numbers along the mangroves on high water between the Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges. Capt. Chuck has been talking to other captains who have been working a couple of large schools of reds between the Kitchen Preserve and Apollo Beach. Snook have been a bit scarce in the bay. He’s seeing a few along the way while looking for reds, but a lot of snook have moved out to the Gulf beaches and passes for the summer spawn. Trout are on the grass beds in 6 to 8 feet of water. Grass with sand holes are likely places to find them, but expect to release a lot of shorts to get a few keepers.
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George is hoping for the best, but reports that after filling his live well with scaled sardines netted on the Coffeepot Bayou flats, he noticed they were dying. He bolted out to deeper water and revived them, suspecting something about the water quality there was the cause. He posted a video of the dying bait and heard from other captains that they also lost bait on the Pinellas side of the bay, including at Christmas Pass, with another reporting dead catfish in one area. Hastick said he didn’t detect any red tide and will be monitoring the situation. Prior to that he was doing well on reds and snook along the mangroves on that side of the bay from St. Pete north. Not taking chances on the flats after the bait incident, he’s been fishing rocks in about 8 feet of water for mangrove snapper and gag grouper, as well as trout over grass in 6 to 8 feet of water. One of his anglers got a surprise fishing rocks just south of the St. Pete Pier, landing a 22-inch black grouper, a very rare catch, as they normally are found beyond 100 feet of water in the Gulf. The trout fishing has been great, though there are a lot of short fish. His anglers landed 50 fish to get a handful up to 20 inches.
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Zack says anglers are reporting finding more tripletail around markers, tripods and floating grass in the bay. Live shrimp is the top bait. Snook have been hanging in the shade of the bay during the day, but are biting better at night right now due to warmer water temperatures. There were some reds taken off Picnic and Weedon islands, with fish around the mangrove on high water. A lot of dead grass is around, so finding some water free of the floating grass mats is important. Trout have been moving to deeper water as the bay water temperature climbs into the 80s. Most have been saying to fish at least 8 feet of water over grass bottom. There are some schooling mackerel moving around below the Gandy Bridge area and those fishing docks and bridge pilings are reporting more keeper-sized mangrove snapper than the week before. Tarpon are around in good numbers, cruising the light lines of the bay bridges at night. One exception has been the Bayside Bridge, where angers are reporting tarpon during the day.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Jacob reports anglers have been doing well fishing the Gulf passes, taking snook, which are there for the summer spawn. They are out of season, so they must be released. The pompano have been there, as well. Anglers have been finding the bite in 20 to 25 feet of water. Live shrimp and pompano jigs are the go-to baits. Some of the better catches have come from the bridge at Tierra Verde. Bridges and bay reefs are giving up more keeper mangrove snapper in recent days and those hunting reds have had luck from Pinellas Point up to Coffeepot Bayou on the Pinellas side of the bay. Fresh cut bait has been working best. Lots of trout are on the grass flats in 4 to 8 feet of water, but most have been small. Small, live shrimp on a #1 circle hook have been producing.
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