Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Report
Capt. Ethan Kiburz
October 2, 2019
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
This month has provided us with some awesome fishing as our days have started to get shorter and the fish know fall is approaching! Our tides switched this past new moon on 9/28 and our big low tides will happen in mornings through winter and into spring. Wind can play a huge roll in what the tide is going to do, sometimes creating a delay or advance in it's timing. Depending on which direction the wind is blowing will often force more water out of the bay and create a "half way" high tide. Mother nature likes to throw us curve balls, so paying attention to your conditions can make or break a fishing trip.
There is still a huge abundance of bait around and most of it was small early in the month but it's beginning to get to favorable size. The snook will begin to jump on these larger baits in preparation for spring, so throwing larger flies works well this month, especially in snook blitz's. One thing to keep on the look out for is large schools of shad near freshwater sources this month. Shad make a very distinct noise that almost sounds like a buzz but it happens when the shad jumps out of the water momentarily. They are high in nutrients and that's why the fish love them.
Juvenile tarpon fishing inside of the rivers was phenomenal this month and so has the bite at night around the bridges for the their larger brothers and sisters. As our days get shorter, larger tarpon know to work their way closer to their winter haunts or to head south but we can expect the fishing for them to be great this month and to start slowing next.
Tripletail are here in full force and can be caught around floating structure! Fly Fishing for bonita should kick off this month off our beaches. Keep a careful watch for birds as they will be feeding on the bait the bonita push to the surface.
Target Species:
Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Tripletail
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