Fish early morning, evenings for best hookup chances

With scattered thunderstorms from the Gulf — bringing lightning and heavy rains upon Anna Maria Island — anglers are finding themselves having to dodge storms and at times even returning to the dock during morning fishing excursions. And, several occasion this past week some anglers didn’t go out at all. 

With 2024 being a La Niña year, which typically occurs from July through September, we can expect to see slightly more frequent and intense storms that are tropical in nature, but in this particular year, we’re experiencing the symptoms a little early. But, if you live here, you can’t argue, we need the rain. 

With all of the rain, you can bet that we should see some fish such as snook and redfish push out of the Manatee River as a salinity levels drop forcing fish to move into saltier areas such as Anna Maria Sound and Tara Ceia Bay. Although we may be sacrificing a few fishing days here and there at least there is a positive spin to the whole situation. 

There should be more fish around, but getting them to bite is your next challenge.

With water temps hovering in the mid- to upper 80s and low 90s in some spots, you’re going to need to plan accordingly to achieve the best possible outcome. 

Fishing in low light conditions is a good way to start. Early morning from just before sunrise until nine or 10 o’clock is probably the best as long as you can get that window to correspond with a good tide. 

Evenings can be good, especially with the strong outgoing tides we see this time of year. 

And of course, there’s always the nighttime bite. Fishing late night around lighted docks and bridges can produce trophy-size snook during the summer months, as well as some good trout action depending on where you are. And yes, fishing at night is tough simply because we’re supposed to be sleeping so we can get up for work the next day, but it’s worth it if you can get in on a good bite.

If you have to try fishing deeper, get off the flats and out of the bays and head into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s almost time for the mangrove snapper bite to turn on in the passes and on the artificial reefs. 

If you’re equipped to travel well offshore, the American red snapper bite is quite good as well as action on red grouper.

On my Just Reel charters, I am finding plenty of inshore action while fishing in Tampa Bay.

Spotted seatrout are the most frequent catch with some measuring up to 22 inches. Big trout are exploding on live free-lined shiners within seconds of the bait hitting the water. 

Mixed in with trout are Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jack crevalle, and an unexpected number of small sharks. In many instances, the sharks are biting our trout in half as we’re reeling them in.

On shallower flats in Tampa Bay I’m seeing an increase in snook catches. Most are measuring 20-30 inches. Again free-lined live shiners are the bait of choice. Since the snook are shallow, I’m getting the best action early in the morning before the water temps get too hot.