Fishing report
Inshore- Still catching nice snook inside Johns Pass, Sebastian Leonard our newest mate on the fishing trips caught a monster 33 inch monster this morning while hand lining a pigfish. Also, there are still plenty of big schools of white bait traveling through the pass. These big schools of bait have mackerel, trout, and snook following them picking off stragglers. Plus, the sheepshead are thick right now inside the pass as well hunting around the bridge, docks, and other structures. Flounder bite is still strong as well inside Upper Boca Ceiga bay on the sandy bottom. They love ambushing live shrimp and small white bait weighted to the bottom. Personally, my favorite artificial lure for them is a DOA shrimp dragged slowly along the bottom with the occasional twitch.
Near shore- Kingfish and mackerel are thick nearshore right now around the artificial reefs and large schools of white bait. We’re catching plenty of them while trolling during our 5 and 10 hour trips here at Hubbard’s Marina. The big kings are also being caught while flat lining during the drifts or at anchor during our fishing trips and private fishing charters out of Johns Pass. The hogfish bite is steady right now and were seeing nice ones being caught on live shrimp and light tackle. The red grouper bite has slowed a bit mainly due to weather not allowing us to go out deep enough to target them, but the cold front approaching this weekend should stir up the waters and bring the bigger gag grouper closer into shore.
Offshore- Different week same story with the weather. This high pressure has just sat on top of our area this past week making it impossible to get offshore to the deeper waters. Luckily today that pattern has broken ahead of the approaching front and we were able to schedule a special 12 hour extreme trip aboard Flying HUB 2 to capitalize on this nice weather window. The fish really bite well ahead of an approaching front especially on a falling barometer which will be happening today as the high pressure gives way to the low pressure cold front. Due to this we expect today’s special 12 hour extreme aboard the Flying HUB 2 to slam the fish! Check out our 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 Taxi by Hubbard’s Marina had its grand opening weekend this past weekend during the Johns Pass seafood and music festival. The event went really well and we had plenty of support for the ribbon cutting ceremony this past Friday. From now on, we have expanded the ferry schedule to run Friday afternoons starting at 4pm until 10pm then also on Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 10pm. For a full route map, schedule, fares, and to buy tickets check out our new site: http://www.tampabayferry.com/madeira-beach-taxi-route/
Old Salts fishing club is having its annual fall king of the beach tournament this weekend. They have hired Tampa Bay Ferry and taxi to do a special event ferry for their tournament. This means you can park at the old leverocks property or new Holton property to catch our ferry boat over to ROC Park where they will be holding their large tournament. Don’t hassle with traffic and special event parking fees, just catch the ferry boat over to the tournament and save yourself some time! To get more info on their special event check out their site: http://oldsaltfishing.org/fishing-tournaments/fall-king-of-the-beach/
Caspers Company, who owns the McDonalds on the water, is offering all our ferry boat riders a free coupon over this weekend! If you take a ride with the Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi you will receive a Buy one get one free coupon for a small frappe or small smoothie coupon good for the Madeira beach McDonalds!
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/
If you like the night life, you can use the ferry for your very own pub crawl with your friends!
We also offer 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!
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
Want to learn more about winter time offshore fishing? Join Hubbard’s Marina for their FREE seminar at the Tampa Bass Pro shops! We have two seminars coming up, one this Sunday Nov 6th at 3pm then a second one at December 18th also at 3pm. We always raffle off a free 10 hour fishing trip at these seminars as well for anyone who attends the whole seminar they have a chance to win this free trip in our free raffle!
November 20th we have the second annual Fish Nekid tournament with Todd Krohn from Nekid ball Jigz. This will be a special 12 hour trip aboard the party boat. Todd Krohn the owner and founder of Nekid ball jigz will be on board with serious cash prizes plus FREE beer! The price of this trip will be $150 instead of $129 but you get the free beer, free one dozen pinfish, and free entry into the $1,500 in prizes that will be awarded during the trip! Also we will give away a free ten hour trip along with cash for the biggest fish of the day. Dylan Hubbard will be on board as well showing you how to fish the Nekid ball jigz and having fun with anyone who wants to join us for this special day on the water, book now as spots will fill quickly. Make sure to tell em’ you want to Fish Nekid when you call in to book this special 12 hour party boat trip!
The 12 hour extreme Flying HUB 2 trips are now a new addition to the Hubbard’s Marina specialty trip schedule. It offers 7-8 hours fishing time in the 39 hour areas and only takes about 2 hours to get out to the great deep water fishing. You can try this new trip anytime you want now, check out the new trip on our website page: https://hubbardsmarina.com/flying-hub-2/
The HUB our other private charter vessel will be offering 10 hour all day trips Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays while the Florida is in Dry dock as well. This means you get a shot to fish the HUB for only $90 per angler, what a deal! These HUB all days will be set up the same as the party boat all days but you will be able to get out there faster on a more quite boat plus you will only be fishing with up to 12 guys. The special HUB trips start September 6th until November 3rd.
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
Captain Jack’s dolphin corner
Baby face our local infamous dolphin that was hit by a boater has made a full recovery and were seeing lots of her recently around Upper Boca Ceiga bay from the new Tampa bay ferry and Taxi and our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour at Hubbard’s Marina.
We have noticed that some of our local Boca Ceiga bay dolphins have headed down to the mouth of Tampa bay and were spotting them as a part of large pods spotted hunting mullet leaving Tampa bay while riding out to Egmont key from Fort De Soto bay pier.
Manatees are making their pilgrimage out of the area to northern springs and power plants to stay warm for the winter. They will be missed while they are out of town, but should return sometime late February or early March depending on the weather and water temps.
Egmont Key Island has recovered quickly from the recent brush fire that occurred on the island thanks to a lightning bolt. This fire burned away much of the brush and the trunks of the trees on the island. However, the trees now have lush green tops now and the cleared out brush areas have allowed visitors to more easily spot the islands wildlife.
The Bald Eagles are back in the area and we have a nesting pair on top of a local cell tower. You can spot these beautiful birds of prey from our dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour at Hubbard’s Marina.
Local pelicans are starting to show off their mating plumage again inside upper Boca Ceiga bay. These yellow heads are great to see again and marks the start of their fall nesting season.
Great blue herons are also starting to nest in the area again which makes the dolphin watching nature cruise and eco tour even more special for our dolphin cruising friends.
Want to learn more about dolphins? Hubbard’s Marina now has a great dolphin facts series on our YouTube channel to check out to see them all watch our dolphin playlist here: https://goo.gl/2mYjX2
Did you know that Hubbard’s Marina now offers a Paddleboard fitness class? We are working with Sea Strength to put together these unique classes. They are Saturday and Sunday mornings for now at the Johns Pass sandbar. You can meet your trainer at the Hubbard’s Marina beach behind our shop before paddling to the sandbar for a unique fitness class with your knowledgeable instructor, plus it’s only $20 to join! Check out Sea Strength on Instagram or Facebook to learn more about these unique classes! Here’s the link to their page: https://www.facebook.com/SeaStrength
Also, new to Hubbard’s Marina we are now renting Schiller water bikes. These are unique bicycles that are much like a racing bike’s frame set on top of pontoons that allow a very stable, safe, and fun way to enjoy the water and have some fun in the sun. Plus, it’s a great aerobic exercise as well! The new water bikes are only $20 for a half hour and $35 for a full hour rental. If you want to see Captain Mark Hubbard trying one out check out this link: https://goo.gl/TZbcXE