Tampa Florida Fishing News, Tips & Updates | Hubbards Marina

American Red snapper also referred to Red Snapper are a delicious that some describe as the least fishy tasting fish. American reds are an endangered species according to the National Fishery and have one of the highest regulated seasons for fisherman looking for a chance to catch them. However, the fishery is open only for a short time which makes them more desirable to most. What makes these fish so special? Red snapper can grow upwards of 40 inches, weigh up to 50 pounds and can live more than 50 years. Red snapper caught in deeper waters tend to be redder than those caught in shallower waters. They have a long triangular face with the upper part sloping more strongly than the lower. Red snapper feed on fish, shrimp, crab, worms, cephalopods (octopus or squid), and some plankton (tiny floating plants and animals). Young red snappers are food for the large carnivorous fish that share their habitat, such as jacks, groupers, sharks, barracudas, and morays. Red snappers are gen...

Kingfish or Kings are a part of the Scombridae family which includes more than 30 different species of fish (such as tuna and bonito). Kings grow fast, they can grow 19in to 35in in length, the biggest recorded kingfish is 72in and weighed 99lbs (now that’s a lot of fishspread).  Much like other members of this genus, they are carnivorous, typically preferring small fish such as grunts, porgy and snapper, but they will also eat crustaceans, mollusks, shrimp and squid. The king prefers outer reefs and coastal waters dependent upon warm temperatures, the King mackerel will migrate closer to shore in the spring and summer (which is why we are catching so many on our 5hr half daytrip and our 10hr all day trips ), and migrate to deeper waters in the fall and winter.   They typically can be found in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to Brazil including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Some quick facts about King Mackerel: King mackerel are iron-gray on the back...

Hubbard's Marina Fishing Report Inshore - The sheepshead are biting well this past week around the pass. We’re seeing great action on the pompano still. Lots of mackerel in the pass and just off the beaches. Plus, the snook are still very prevalent around the passes and starting to head onto the beaches. Finally, the red fish are showing up on the flats and the bigger reds are hanging around the bottom around the dock lights of johns pass areas at night. Trout action has been pretty steady around the flats and around the lights of Johns pass at night. The sheepshead are the biggest story this past week especially with the little cold front that came this past Tuesday and Wednesday they were really fired up. The fiddler crabs are the best bait recently for these great eating unique fish that hang around the docks and structures of Johns pass. They will also eat small pieces of shrimp, cut pieces of clams or oysters and even some barnacles. Scraping the barnacles off t...

We offer a 3-hour beach shelling cruise which departs from Hubbard’s marina. This leaves at 9am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. (Feb. 15th – Sep. 2nd) We highly recommend reservations for this trip, since the trip leaves early in the morning. This tour takes an hour to get to the island, an hour on the island and about 45 min on the way back. On the way there we take you down the protected intercostal, and on the way back we run down the beach to take in the sights! The shelling on this island is incredible. Includes all the free shells you can carry! The Shell Key Preserve is an 1,828-acre preserve, which includes a 195-acre barrier island known as Shell Key. With white sand and warm water, it’s the perfect fix for sunbathing, swimming, superb shelling, bird and dolphin watching or just loafing around. This is the only Shelling Trip that leaves from Hubbard’s Marina. If you are looking to go to shell key when this trip is not operating, we also offer trips t...

Fishing report Inshore- The weather has been a roller coaster this past week with high and low pressures bouncing around our area, but the sheepshead and black drum didn’t seem to mind. Besides those species we did see a nice redfish caught from the jetty and heard of a handful of whiting. Other than that, it was a little slow this past week inshore and along the pass. The redfish hit a slow moving gold spoon being retrieved around the John’s Pass Bridge on our warmest day this past week on the beginning of the incoming tide. Whiting and black drum were hitting the same bait with the same technique just a live shrimp weighted to bottom with minimal weight around the sandy areas along the north jetty and beaches. The black drum can also be found around the docks and back bay areas while the whiting typically hang along the beaches. Sheepshead still loving the pieces of live shrimp, fiddler crabs or cut up oysters. The water have been very muddy though so stinkier bait helps a...

Fishing report Inshore - Big pompano caught this week from the Jetty at Johns Pass, sheepshead showing up, black drum are starting to be more prolific and overall lots of bait in the area. The big pompano we are referring too was so large it broke the anglers rod lifting him over the rocks measuring over eighteen inches to the fork! He caught him on a live shrimp weighted to the bottom on the first half of the incoming tide. Big sheepshead are starting to become more and more common place around Johns Pass around the pilings of the bridge and docks in the area, I love to fish the seawalls and docks on the North east side of Johns Pass when fishing by boat or fish the south seawall of Johns Pass when fishing from shore for the sheeps or the Hubbard’s marina dock is a great place to fish as long as our office is open and were not loading and unloading boats you are more than welcome to fish on the dock, and we have all the bait, beer and ice you need in the shop!   Triple t...