Fishing report
Inshore- Sheepshead bite is strong inside the passes and along the bridges right now. They are heading offshore to spawn this time of year and it’s a great time to get big sheepshead on small pieces of live shrimp or small pieces of cut oysters. Snook fishing has been popular since snook season opened up March first. Snook must be at least 28 inches to keep, but also shorter than 33 inches. They love to eat spooltek lures, flair hawk style jigs, or D.O.A. shrimp as far as artificial choices. Snook love large live shrimp or live pigfish or grunts for bait. I typically use 30-80lb depending on where you target them. If your snook fishing the flats 30lb floro is all you need, but if your fishing structure than 50-80lb leader is best depending on the area’s cover. Typically a 3ot circle hook works well if your live bait fishing for the snook. Pompano are moving along the beaches and I love to use a light Nekid ball jig for the pompano, the white or green ½ ounce jigs seem to work best bounced along the sand to mimic the sand fleas these pompano love to eat.
Near shore- The sheepshead are spawning nearshore right now so along the ledges and rock piles near shore free lined live shrimp will help you get a nice big sheep. The mangrove snapper and lane snapper are also starting to become more prolific nearshore this time of year small pieces of cut sardines or live shrimp work well for these species. Hogfish bite is still going well but as the water warms they tend to spread out and become less aggressive so you may have to fish down the area before you’re able to get your baits down to these great eating hogfish. Less is more when fishing hogs, since they hang above the bottom lighter lead and a more natural presentation is key. The grey snapper or grunts are great eating and were catching plenty of them nearshore right now.
Offshore- The 39 hour long range offshore fishing trips are catching plenty of big mangrove snapper, fat red grouper, scamp grouper, vermillion snapper, and large amberjacks too. The last two 39 hours in the past week have had monster piles of big snapper coming in with some mangroves weighing in close to ten pounds! The largest mangroves are being caught on small live pinfish with light knocker rig style set ups. The 12 hour extreme trips have had great success lately with large African pompano, big amberjack, nice mangroves and some fatty red grouper too. You should really see the latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates after each long range trip returns: https://www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina/videos
Want to read the past reports? Check out this link: http://hubbardsmarina.com/hubbards-marina-fishing-reports/
Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi news
The Tampa Bay Ferry and water taxi by Hubbard’s Marina has expanded it’s service to 5 days a week! We are now running our water taxi services from Wednesday morning until Sunday night10am until 10pm each day of service. For more info about the routes, stops and schedule check out this link: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
Spring season is finally here, the weather has been beautiful, and it’s a great time to get outdoors and see everything our area has to offer! Enjoy the local shopping, restaurants and many special events.
Tomorrow night (Friday, March 10th) at Archibald Park is FREE movie night starting at 7pm! Jurassic Park will be playing and the Snack Shack will be open for refreshments or you may bring your own. This event takes place right on the beach and is always a great time had by all! Enjoy this special even from Ferry Stop # 5 at ROC Park.
The Green Frog Moon Festival is Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 5pm at Ferry Stop # 7 at Jungle Prada.
March 17th at 6pm John’s Pass Village Tampa Bay’s Best St Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl is back!
Check in starts at 6:30 at Copper Clover. $5 suggested donation for Pets and vets gets a you a wristband to a participate good for specials at participating Restaurants and Bars in Johns pass. This special pub crawl will happen at ferry Stop # 1 at John’s Pass.
You can catch the ferry to many local restaurants, city centers, shopping areas, local beaches, and much more! It’s a great way to see the area and get to where you’re going without worrying about beach traffic or parking. To see all the special stops and the things to do at each stop visit this page on our new Tampa Bay Ferry and taxi website: http://www.tampabayferry.com/things-to-do/
As a reminder, parking is free at our Madeira Beach Marina and Jungle Prada stops. We look forward to seeing you! To see the schedule, map, and the stops with addresses check out this info on our website: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
Keep in mind that the ferry does allow alcohol, pets, and anything you need for the beach so pack a cooler and come catch a cruise.
Did you know that Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi offers a private taxi service, if you’re having a dinner party and want our boat to come pick you and your guests off to take you to your favorite waterfront bar or restaurant simply contact us and we can set you up this private taxi service!
Don’t drink and drive, drink and let us take you on the boat! The water taxi by Hubbard’s Marina is the coolest way to get home after some time at the beach bars.
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
The bird nesting island in Boca Ceiga bay is coming alive with hatchlings and roosting seabirds. It is a great time to join us for a dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour at Hubbard’s Marina to share this special sights and sounds with family and friends.
Our local seabirds are not only roosting and nesting on dog leg key, our local hatchery, they are also dawning their mating plumage which makes them very colorful and robust. For example, the Roseate spoonbills are getting easier and easier to spot with their pinkish feathery appearance.
The Dolphins have been super easy to spot in large numbers lately around Boca Ceiga bay and the entrance to Tampa Bay. They are playful and ready to hunt the large schools of mullet. As the water warms during the spring they will only become more and more playful and easy to spot.
The local bald eagle that seems to be roosting atop a cell tower along the route of the dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour boat here inside Johns pass is getting fat with the many mullet we have spotted him swooping up along the back bay waters.
Want to learn more about dolphins this winter? Check out the new great Johns Pass dolphin facts series on our Hubbard’s Marina YouTube channel to check out to see them all watch our dolphin playlist here:https://goo.gl/2mYjX2
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
We have a super light 39 hour coming up Tuesday March 14th it’s a great opportunity to load up on big mangrove snapper, fat red grouper, big amberjack and tons more great eating fish. This 39 hour offers nearly 20 hours fishing time 70-100 miles from shore plus you get a two day bag limit! It’s a great way to get out and enjoy a stellar time offshore.
The Tampa bay ferry and water taxi service has expanded to 5 days a week! It’s a great way to see the area and get to the beaches while avoiding traffic and beach parking chaos. For more info about the routes, stops and schedule check out this link: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
The 12 hour extreme trips right now are limiting out on big jacks and catching monster red grouper and the Wednesday trips are consistently super light! Join us for some ‘reel’ offshore fishing fun at Hubbard’s Marina aboard the New and one of a kind Flying HUB 2.
Well were already hearing rumors that Amberjack may be a short season this year, it could be as short as 4-5 months for 2017! If this is true jacks could close April or May, so if you want to go catch some jacks let’s get you offshore on a 39,44 hour 12 hour extreme here asap since jacks opened January first and we may not have very long to continue keeping them before NOAA’s National Marine fisheries gulf council decides to close them early. Remember, we don’t get much advanced notice of this so stay tuned to our email newsletters and social media for more updates.
To book trips on our site, check out this link: https://hubbardsmarina.com/reservations/
Want to stay up to date with the latest catches, reports and more from Hubbard’s Marina? Follow the new live video segments that Hubbard’s Marina is posting daily to Facebook! Also, more Instagram photos and videos are popping up too! Plus, were on the FishBrain app now too and they were nice enough to add Hubbard’s Marina as a fishing location so now on your future trips you can upload your catch to our location. If you have questions or want more info about all this message Dylan Hubbard on the Hubbard’s Marina Facebook page or shoot him an email: info@HubbardsMarina.com