Early November Fishing in Tampa Bay
The weather couldn't be nicer and fishing is great, that's the best way to sum it up from here on the island of Anna Maria.
The water temperature cooled down after that cold wind blew hard out of the north, now that the wind has died down that is just what we needed for a little extra spark for our fishing. The water temp was still getting into the 80's before the front, now it is in the high 60's and low 70's, where we need to be to get things moving this time of year.
Now that I've been able to get out on the water the last few days after the subsiding wind fishing has been great. Inshore we have been catching lots of redfish, not as big as the ones we were getting, but lots of action and plenty of keepers. That's normal this time of year and into the winter months. We have a lot of Redfish schools that average a little smaller but we get on larger fish too and once I find the larger Reds they are very dependable throughout the cooler months.
Trout fishing has been really good as well, the water temperature is perfect for large Trout right now and although they are out of season till the first of January it's a lot of fun catching the larger ones. We had several 22 plus inchers this past week and one 25 incher.
I have been catching a few more Snook the last few weeks, which is a good sign, it seems there, were a lot of Snook coming from offshore feeding on bait near the beach and now making their way into the backwaters.
The cold snap really got the Grouper bite going, especially those larger Gags. It always happens that way year after year, we get a big push of Gags in close on the first strong cold front. This is a great time of year for those 30 inchers in the bay.
A lot more Kingfish have moved into the area after the blow. A lot of nice size ones too. The beginning of the week we had a few days where it was as fast as you could hook them up, Kingfish and Mackerel mixed. The largest Kings have been 30 pounds; some of the Mackerel have been approaching almost 8 pounds.
Every day that I had an offshore charter this month I have given my fisherman the opportunity to do battle with a Goliath Grouper. The ones that have decided to take the challenge have really fared well. I think we went 100 percent if I remember right. All of the Goliaths we have landed were over 100 pounds and I think the largest was about 350. They always make for an exciting part of any offshore trip.
This blow brought in more Cobia as well and although I haven't caught many because I haven't been targeting them, now is the time to get serious about them.
Well I hope you have enjoyed the Anna Maria Island fishing report. Good luck fishing and get out there and enjoy this weather. I think yesterday was one the most beautiful and peaceful days I have spent on the water in quite a while.
Capt. Matt Ercoli
www.captainmatt.com
941-447-9888
