Tampa is Florida’s largest open water estuary which covers parts of five counties and has flows from four different rivers. With all this water, that means that all year round there are a ton of different angling opportunities. This summer, the fishing has been off the chain, even in the blistering hot month of July, when things can sometimes slow down.
Tampa Bay
It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet and the July air felt thick and heavy, like stepping out of a shower. I walked across the parking lot, down the dock and met Nate who was sitting in the cockpit of the skiff. We shoved the Spear Evergladez off the dock, idled out of the no-wake zone to a legal area where Nate cranked the tiller and the boat kicked up onto plane. We were flying across Tampa Bay in search of tarpon, snook and whatever else we could find.
It was roughly a 45-minute slow grind through narrow winding channels and canals that snaked back to the spot where we hoped the silver king swam.
Eventually, we came to a clearing that opened up into a massive lagoon lined on all sides with mangroves. We began working the edges as fish rolled and blooped all around us, the signature mark of tarpon.
Tampa Tarpon and More
It’s no secret that I love catching redfish, I don’t catch a ton on fly, however. On this day, one indulged me. Casting tight to the mangroves, half under water, I let my fly sink and stripped in short, fast twitches. I was hit hard. I thought that it would be a snook or jack, when I saw the shape, I thought it could have been a mangrove snapper – low and behold, the smallest redfish that I had ever caught on a fly rod came to hand.
Glass minnows were being sprayed in massive explosions, showing the lagoon with white water. Mullet were jumping. Tarpon continuously rolling. We continued down the mangrove line, we knew that it was going to happen.
I spied a roller about five feet off the tree line, casted my black and purple effigy which I let sink before stripping hard and fast. The take was hard and fast, then a big silver flash that turned on its side.
Tarpon.
I struck the fish hard, setting the hook deep into the ancient fish’s jaws. It was pandemonium – fly line wrapped around the trolling motor, five acrobatic jumps and hard runs. However, I prevailed.
We continued casting, at rollers – there were happy fish everywhere.
Our friend Evan had followed us in, and he had boated a few tarpon as well. It was a rowdy time with a lot of fish being hooked.
Beyond the Bay | Tampa Area Fishing
As great as Tampa Bay is, I spend most of my time fishing Saint Joseph’s Sound in Pinellas County. Saint Joseph’s Sound encompasses 18,264 acres and includes areas such as Crystal Beach, Ozona, Palm Harbor, parts of Dunedin and Tarpon Springs.
I was recently able to get a longtime teammate of mine, Stephen DeMarco out to target trout, redfish and snook. We played together in youth hockey, against one another in high school and met again in college at USF. He had never caught a redfish or a trout and we were able to accomplish both of those goals.
The trout were all pretty small, as were the reds, but he did land one slot red – we were both thrilled. On what felt like the hottest day of the year, the fishing was hotter. We wrapped the day up with ten total fish, we even harvested a red, something I haven’t done in quite some time.
He made great casts all day and was able to skillfully fight his slot fish out from a dock like he had been fishing for years. I was very happy with the results of our day!
In Sum
July is a hot month; it is when fishing can become challenging. Normally it requires perseverance and determination to find and catch fish. However, this has been a year where the fish have been firing off and rewarding us with a ton of activity and big appetites.
Will this continue into August? Only one way to find out.
If you enjoyed this blog, then perhaps you’d enjoy my last post as well. Click here to read that piece.
Until next time, tight lines.
