FISHING By Dylan Hubbard
170 John’s Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach • 727.393.1947
www.HubbardsMarina.com
INSHORE – Trout action will continue to improve with cooling water temps. Look around grass flat areas where there’s a nice roll, drop off, pothole, or some sort of ambush spot they can hang to feed actively on all the passing bait. They are loving live shrimp or white bait but a variety of soft plastics like the DOA shrimp.
The Sheepshead bite is heating up around the docks, pilings, and bridges. They love cut oyster, barnacles, fiddle crabs or small pieces of shelled shrimps on a 2ot hook with 20lb fluorescent for leader. Use a small split shot if the current requires it, but a free-lined bait is best.
Flounder will also get better and better as the waters cool. They hang right on the sandy bottom and love live shrimp or small bait fish that venture close.
Tripletail are biting well around the crab buoys along the shoreline. Great time to get out there and do some sight fishing. You may even run across the occasional cobia while cruising the buoys so be ready for him too! The tripletail love the live or even artificial shrimp tossed close to their buoy hideouts.
Behind the occasional cold fronts, you can find these guys tucked up in the backwaters and bayous. Don’t forget the mullet run, as these large schools of fish flush out of the back waters the big snook and reds will follow the fish to ambush the stragglers and smaller fish. If you spot a school, work your baits from the middle of the school
to the back edges and hold on tight.
NEARSHORE & OFFSHORE – An approaching front had the hogfish foaming and ready to chew, we also caught some red grouper and tons of grey snapper, porgies, and sea bass too! Private charter trips have done exceptionally well on the hogfish, gags and red grouper plus plenty of lane snapper too. The red grouper bite seems to be out in the deeper near-shore waters while the gags are spread throughout. Blackfin tuna are picking up past 120ft of water and we should see more of these guys as the water continues to cool.