Tampa Bay Charter Fishing

I met Russel Grant through a mutual friend back in the mid seventies. We fished for tarpon, trout and kingfish back in the day. As time went by and I retired from teaching and started guiding full time Russel would use my services to entertain guest and relatives from the UK when they came to visit. Such was the caase Monday when Russels nephew Patrick, his son Charlie and daughterinlaw Joanna were booked for a moring charter on Tampa Bay. I wanted to try for kimgs and mackerel off St. Pete Beach but there was no bait to be had on the beach and the water was a little dirty out there. We went to a flat near the Skyway to look forbait where I had found it a few days earlier but no luck there either.

For a day trip they decided to try a fishing trip on Tampa Bay in the morning and visit the Dali Museum and a few other local sights in the afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff Delp and good friend Jim Jordan recently booked a half day charter with me out off O'Niell's Marina in St Petersburg. The weather was a perfect "chamber of commerce" day. Days like this are why people move to Florida. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I had a boat load of "Bobs" that enjoyed another beautiful day on Tampa Bay. .... The first fish of the day was a nice Spanish mackerel whose sharp teeth somehow managed not to cut Bob K's leader. Read the rest of this entry »

Fishing in windy conditions can be very frustrating if you don't do a little preparation first. One of the most obvious things you should do is become familiar with the area in which you fish so you can determine which places are fishable under various conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

Group charters are great fun. Since someone else is usually paying the bill the participants show up in a good mood ready to enjoy their day on the water and poke a little fun at their fellow anglers. Read the rest of this entry »

Hooking those mackerel today (the first of the season) reminded me of why I love to fish for them so much. Their strike is ferocious and when hooked they pull like crazy. Tampa Bay is set to break in to some great springtime fishing. Man I love this time of year! Read the rest of this entry »

The day of the tournament arrived with near perfect conditions. Captains Tim Drummond, Rick Frazier, Brent Gaskill, Chris Haught and I combined to carry 15 anglers out for a 4 hour charter. Everyone caught plenty of fish with trout, sheepshead, redfish, grouper and flounder being reeled in. Read the rest of this entry »

The guys sent off an email to fiends back home that included a Jimmy Buffet quote, "the weather is here wish you were beautiful". That pretty much sumed it up. Read the rest of this entry »

Forty eight hours ago a strong cold front ripped through the Tampa Bay area with 75 mile per hour winds, hail and tornado activity. How do you pull of a successful fishing charter after that? Read the rest of this entry »