Fishing Anna Maria Island – April 2018

—Here around Anna Maria Island, spring is quickly turning into summer. The water temperature in Tampa Bay has broken through the “magic”  70°F” mark, and has stayed there for weeks now. This has opened the floodgates, so to speak, on all sorts of fishing. Inshore fishing for snook, trout and redfish, as well as the near shore fishing action for snapper, permit and king mackerel, has been red hot. 

—Around Anna Maria Island’s inshore waters, I’m still pounding away on snook, sea trout, redfish and some nice flounder. All of these species are super tide-dependant. So, having a decent moving tide is essential in making sure the bite is on. Plenty of frisky, fresh-caught, live pilchards (whitebait) has been the go-to bait of choice.

—Snook season is open for another week, or so. It closes on May 1st. My clients have caught a mess of nice snook over the past couple months. We kept a few for dinner, and released a bunch of keepers to catch again next time!

—Sea trout are heavy into their spring/summer spawn mode. This has them fat and hungry. Again, EVERYTHING inshore depends on tide and weather, but when it all comes together, the trout bite has been insane.

—Near shore action is really heating up on wrecks, reefs, and areas of natural hard bottom. Anglers on my boat have boated a mess of mangrove snapper, catch-and-release gag grouper, permit, kingfish, cobia and spanish mackerel this month. Tides aren’t quite as important out here, so this has been a great option for my clients on days where tides are weak (weather permitting, of course).

Hard Fighting Permit

Spring Snook Fishing

Big Catch