Outdoor Fishing Adventures, Tampa FL

July is fast approaching and with that we can expect thunderstorms to continue and daily afternoon westerly sea breezes and 90 plus temperature.

I like starting my trips earlier and finishing some where around 2:00pm. This way I avoid the storms and can get out of the heat before I melt away.

Tarpon will be moving up the Bay and we should start hearing more and more catch reports of Tarpon from Apollo Beach north to port Tampa. I like fishing Tarpon on a Strong outgoing tide using big thread fin hearing. 

Spanish Mackerel will be found anywhere you drop a line from just off the shoreline out to the middle of Tampa Bay. The mackerel bite is strong with long runs and on a good bite we can get 30 or 40 fish to the boat. I fish mackerel with live greenbacks and usually chum with a frozen chum bag.

The Snook bite will continue to slow as the water temperature climes to the upper 80’s to lower 90’s. When I fish snook in mid to late summer I try to fish them very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon.  Snook are spawning in the summer months so please be gentle with them. Snook are not my primary target this time of year.

The trout bite should be good in July as it was in June. We find trout mostly over deeper grass beds. I like to find grass in the 4-foot plus range and fish the trout with a popping cork. You can fish trout with Shrimp or greenbacks.

I expect the Tampa Bay grouper bite to be excellent this summer. I fish them with as little weight as possible in 15 to 30 feet of water. If I can get away with it I try to free line a pinfish near underwater structure. I also us very light tackle so when you hook up you have to hold on. The biggest grouper we have caught this season using this method was 15 pounds. Not to shabby for a medium action rod.