Tampa Bay April 1 Fishing Report
Let's keep our fingers crossed for no more freak cold fronts! For certain we must be done with them, I hope. We pounded on the fish right before the front. The day before the front we absolutely destroyed the Snook and Redfish; we even had a 28 inch Trout that day. The first day of the cold air we still hammered on the Snook, actually caught 36 of them and 3 Reds and two Flounder. After that it was a bit of a scramble as the water temperature began to plummet into the 50s. I must say we still did well though despite the strong wind and bitter cold. We fished every day and had good catches. On the colder day it was mostly Trout, but nice size ones and a lot of 10 to 21 inchers. We also caught a lot of Flounder, some Redfish, a few Mackerel and plenty of nice size Sheepshead. Thank God for the good Trout fishing though, it was my fall back for good action thru the cool down.
Things have changed quickly though. All it takes is one warm day like today with the longer days of sunshine and the flats explode. We started off the beach this morning because the water was a little cool. We caught a limit of Flounder, several Mackerel and a few small Kingfish. The water temp climb quickly as I predicted and the Snook went on the feed on the flats. I would say we killed them but we probably caught 15 in a couple hours. Tomorrow should be a huge day for Snook as the water temp should make it just high enough to trigger a heavy frenzy.
Tampa bay fishing charters report with www.captainmatt.com
Inshore and offshore fishing is going to explode over the next few days. It always does after a strong late cold front followed by a warm up. Inshore the Snook, Redfish and Trout will be on fire and big ones too. Before the last front I was catching Snook over 30 inches pretty much every day and some of the larger ones where approaching 35 inches? There is a lot of nice keeper size Redfish around and all the gator Trout you want.
Offshore should be incredible. Kingfish will be on the bite everywhere in the next few days. Mackerel are already thick. Grouper come into season on the first of April. If it swims offshore it will be on fire over the next few weeks. April is traditionally one of our very best months offshore.
There are a few Tarpon in the bay and there will be a lot more action on them very soon. I still have a few days available during peak migration, May thru July, so if you're interested let me know ASAP.
I hope you have enjoyed my report. Until next time, good luck fishing where ever you are headed.
Capt. Matt
www.captainmatt.com
941-447-9888
