Fall Fly Fishing Tampa Bay
Fall fishing has arrived in Tampa Bay! The Bay is becoming full of game fish gorging themselves before the coming of winter. The tide is getting real low during the day and the waters are starting to become cool and clear. These are ideal conditions for sight fishing our favorite species like redfish, snook and many more.
The redfish are starting to school up and can be found on the crystal clear sand and grass flats inside the bay. Standing on the deck of a skiff with a fly rod and stalking a “slob” redfish in inches of water is what fall fly fishing is all about. Not to mention the fantastic fly fishing opportunities we have for migratory fish like cobia, mackerel, and bonito! The possibility of a late season tarpon is never out of the question either.
The fishing for bonito and mackerel has been off the charts! We’ve been getting between 6-16 bonito on fly and light spin on every trip. The schools of mackerel and little tunny are blitzing all over the mouth of the bay. Mixed in with these schools are small kingfish and a few tarpon. We are also getting into some nice redfish up to 30 inches in parts of the upper bay and also in areas towards the south end of the bay. Some are even sticking their tails out on the right tides. Evening trips are still a good option for small tarpon, redfish, and snook.
Expect the fly fishing for redfish to continue to get better as we get more “blue bird” sky days and super low tides. I will start my season fishing the areas around the Chassahowitzka wildlife refuge for redfish, black drum, trout, and the occasional giant snook. There is nothing like poling the flats during a beautiful fall morning in the “Chaz”. It’s a true piece of old Florida!
Fishing Tampa Bay from the south end to the upper sections of the bay will continue to get better as the weather gets cooler. We can expect to find large schools of redfish cruising over sandy bottom and large singles in just inches of water. The snook fishing can be fantastic. Snook will continue to feed heavily until the first major cold snap.
Get out there and wet a line!
Capt. Nick Angelo
813-230-8473
www.shallowwaterflyfishing.com
