Partly cloudy. Low 67F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: March 16, 2024 @ 7:08 pm
Capt. George has been working some backwater areas on the St. Pete side of the bay and taking juvenile tarpon like this one being displayed by a happy angler. They are great sport on light tackle.

Capt. George has been working some backwater areas on the St. Pete side of the bay and taking juvenile tarpon like this one being displayed by a happy angler. They are great sport on light tackle.
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813-918-8356): Capt. Chuck has been measuring bay water temperatures as high as 93 degrees and that hasn’t been good for snook or redfish action. He’s been focusing on what isn’t being impacted too negatively, including a solid mackerel bite, as well as some pretty good trout and mangrove snapper fishing. The Spanish mackerel have been schooling and feed on baitfish in open water below the Gandy Bridge. They’ve been around the hard-bottom bars that drop into deeper water and taking live sardines well. Trout fishing has been pretty good, with some large and oversized fish being landed. They’ve been on grass flats in 5 to 6 feet of water, often at the edges of the flats that drop down from there. Live sardines and jigs with soft plastic tails are working. Mangrove snapper fishing is pretty good under the Bay bridges, the artificial reefs and around docks. Live shrimp will take them. The open-water shell bars are giving up a few pompano. Use Doc’s Goofy Jigs in yellow and white when the current is moving well.
Capt. George Hastick (727-525-1005): Capt. George says the very hot bay water is slowing a lot of the action, but there have been a couple of nice surprises. Trout fishing is better than one might expect, with fish hanging around the drop-offs at the edges of grass flats that go from 5 feet to 7 or 8 feet. His anglers have been scoring fish to 20 inches or more. Spanish mackerel fishing has been solid below the Gandy Bridge in the open waters of the bay. They also are around the artificial reefs and range markers, with some nice-size fish being landed. The snook bite is tough, and most are staying in the shade. With good moving water toward the high end of the tide, a live sardine fished under the shade of mangroves can produce a fish or two. Reds also are pushing well into the shade and hesitant to bite. He’s only found a handful over the past week that would take a bait. Lots of small sharks are all over the bay, and throwing his bait net in low light, he ended up with one in his net. Some of the backwaters and canals are holding juvenile tarpon. Look for them rolling early in the day.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727-954-6365): Billy reports that a lot of his customers are doing very well on Spanish mackerel. The fish are schooling in open water from the Skyway to Gandy Bridges. Mangrove snapper fishing is very good, with anglers scoring limits fishing the pilings of the bay bridges, under docks, over rock piles and the artificial reefs with live shrimp. Some have been scoring some very nice trout fishing with jigs on the grass flats in 5 to 8 feet of water. A few black drum are being taken from the pilings of the Gandy Bridge. Some small bull sharks have been landed by anglers fishing in canals off Riviera Bay. Redfish have been scarce, with only a few catches reported.
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813-839-5551): Zack says lots of schooling mackerel have moved up the bay. Many nice catches have been made from the Picnic Island pier and the open water between there and Weedon Island. Trout fishing has been better than expected on grass flats in 5 to 6 feet of water. Customers have been bringing in photos of oversized trout and many are reporting taking limits. Mangrove snapper and sheepshead have been a good bet for anglers fishing shrimp around the pilings of the Gandy Bridge. A few have tangled with black drum and schooling jacks on the pilings. A few reds have been reported by anglers fishing the front of Weedon Island on higher tides, but it has been very hit-or-miss.
Clearwater Bait & Tackle (727-669-5455): Brandon says the very hot water at the top of the bay has the fish and anglers turned off. He got out for some testing of the waters himself along the Courtney Campbell Causeway and only ended up with sunburn. Some of the anglers stopping in the shop have been on their way west to Clearwater and Dunedin to work the Intracoastal Waterway or the beach passes for trout, reds and snook. Clearwater Bay on both sides of the S.R. 60 causeway has been producing some trout, and some have taken some snook under the causeway bridge.
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