Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 93F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph..
Some clouds. Low 77F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph.
Updated: June 18, 2024 @ 9:14 am
This young angler couldn’t be more proud of his redfish catch on a recent trip with Capt. George Hastick. Capt. George has been finding the reds running with mullet schools. He’s been tossing live sardines into the mullet school to see if the redfish blow up on the baits before casting a live bait.

This young angler couldn’t be more proud of his redfish catch on a recent trip with Capt. George Hastick. Capt. George has been finding the reds running with mullet schools. He’s been tossing live sardines into the mullet school to see if the redfish blow up on the baits before casting a live bait.
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George reports the best thing going over the past week is trout. He’s finding some good numbers of keeper-sized fish working open grass flats and shoals near Pinellas Point. Flats and shoal surrounded by deeper water seem to offer the best fishing. Jigs with soft plastic tails or live sardines will take them. The scaled sardine schools are still around on the shallow grass flats, though it is starting to take a little more time to locate them as we move deeper into fall. Snook are split between fish that have moved into backwaters and a few still on the outside mangroves along the Pinellas side of the bay. They have not been very large, but trips have been producing up to 10 fish on live sardines. Redfish have been mingling with the mullet schools. Live chumming with sardines in the mullet schools will get the reds feeding. Once the chum is getting popped a cast to the spot will produce a red. Capt. George is seeing a few more sheepshead in the bay, though he still isn’t seeing the jumbo fish just yet. A little more water cooling could bring them in.
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813-918-8356): Capt. Chuck has been working the area around the Skyway Bridge over the past week, as there are plenty of bonito, some Spanish mackerel and small kingfish working just inside the mouth of the bay to keep his anglers busy. Live sardines are taking all three. He reminds anglers to be aware that the small kings are not mistaken for Spanish mackerel. He’s encountered some anglers keeping undersized kings thinking they were Spanish. A good source of his reports redfish have been working the shallows of Tierra Ceia Bay. Keep moving and looking and small pods of fish can be found. Sheepshead have been clinging to the pilings of the Skyway. Shrimp, fiddler crabs or sand fleas are favorite baits.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Billy says his anglers have been reporting great sheepshead action over the past week, and there have been some jumbos landed. One angler came in with a 10-pound fish taken off a bridge piling. The Gandy bridge has been hot, and live or frozen shrimp on the bottom will take them. Anglers are picking up a few nice reds in Riviera Bay, along with the odd snook. The reds have been taking fresh cut bait better than anything else. Look for them mingling with schools of mullet. Trout fishing on the grass flats below the Gandy has been OK, but anglers are reporting far more undersized fish than keepers. Live shrimp or jigs with soft plastic tails are working best. Offshore anglers fishing off the beaches have been scoring kingfish in fair numbers. One angler looking for kings 8 miles out encountered a school of bull redfish, landing several up to 41 inches long.
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Bill says more and more anglers have been bragging about the trout fishing. They are working the edges of grass flats where they drop into deeper water on both sides of the bay below the Gandy Bridge. Live shrimp or jigs fished close to the grass are producing good numbers of keepers. The back side of Picnic Islands have been giving up some redfish and anglers are reporting taking incidental flounder all over the bay. Flounder season is closed until Dec. 1. Any tarpon that were in the bay will likely be found only in the rivers, now. For those who didn’t get their fill of fighting silver kings, resident smaller fish may be found up the Hillsborough, Manatee and Alafia rivers.
Clearwater Bait & Tackle (727-669-5455): Jessie reports she has not heard much over the past week other than decent trout fishing on the grass beds along both sides of the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Live shrimp under a popping cork has been getting it done. A few anglers have been finding some reds working around Rocky and Double Branch creeks.
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