Bartow Fishing Reports (May 2026)

Sebastian Shindel
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Snook fishing has been on fire!!! Fishing docks around the evening has been the best time to hook a big one👍🏼

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Sebastian Shindel Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Snook fishing has been on fire!!! Fishing docks around the evening has been the best time to hook a big one👍🏼

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Ashley Beall
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Recent trips have produced some quality snook and trout, and some Spanish mackerel are showing up also. We have been using artificial lures and live bait and doing very well. There are also some big redfish and huge snook cruising around the mangroves right now.

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Ashley Beall Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Recent trips have produced some quality snook and trout, and some Spanish mackerel are showing up also. We have been using artificial lures and live bait and doing very well. There are also some big redfish and huge snook cruising around the mangroves right now.

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Phil Pegley
Ruskin, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

In like a lion out like a lamb, the month of March is certainly living up to its reputation. We have had water temperatures sore into the 80s, then right back down into the 60s with the numerous fronts we have had. Cooler water means deeper areas for the snook,...

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Phil Pegley Ruskin, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

In like a lion out like a lamb, the month of March is certainly living up to its reputation. We have had water temperatures sore into the 80s, then right back down into the 60s with the numerous fronts we have had. Cooler water means deeper areas for the snook, trout, and redfish inshore and spawning sheepshead and snapper on our Tampa Bay rock piles. With some site fishing for Cobia on the calm days tomorrow we're heading out to the Gulf of America for a little bottom fishing and to see if the kingfish are here yet. Let's get you booked in for some unforgettable memories and another great Captain's experience.

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Phil Pegley
Ruskin, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Warming water has heated up pre-spring fishing With the approach of springtime coming, the fish have been on the move on this warming trend just two weeks ago we were still fixed and a solid winter pattern with excellent catches on hogfish grouper and snapper at winter depth of 45...

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Phil Pegley Ruskin, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Warming water has heated up pre-spring fishing With the approach of springtime coming, the fish have been on the move on this warming trend just two weeks ago we were still fixed and a solid winter pattern with excellent catches on hogfish grouper and snapper at winter depth of 45 to 55 feet. There's literally low tides and high skies made for some nice sight fishing opportunities in shore. For some bruiser size cobia When the water rises after these low morning tides The snook and redfish have been to target in the afternoon Using live greenbacks Speckled chop fishing has kept everything going all winter long with greenbacks and shrimp plenty of keeper trout may December and January a big hit with clients that wanted to keep fish. Well, it seems like spring is right around the corner and we should get into some of our best fishing of the year. Let's get you booked in for another great Captains experience

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Cody Beckman
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Too good not to post… so a client comes in from the eastern shore of Maryland and says he wants to catch snook. Mind you, he has never seen a snook in his life, let alone catch one. So we set out with a clear goal to target big snook...

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Cody Beckman Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Too good not to post… so a client comes in from the eastern shore of Maryland and says he wants to catch snook. Mind you, he has never seen a snook in his life, let alone catch one. So we set out with a clear goal to target big snook but neither us of, especially me, expected to hook into this absolute behemoth. Most people will never get an opportunity to catch a snook this big and if they do, most people won’t be able to land it. This fish did not make it easy on us; we got her boat side and in the net and she immediately shook her head and ripped a huge hole in the landing net with her gill plates. This is when the chaos ensued. She swam through the net and wrapped the power pole and motor and swam completely under the boat while still being hooked. So I immediately jumped in the water and swam under the boat to secure the fish. I managed to get a good grip on her bottom lip and pull her from under the boat and untangle the mess she got us in. Instead of taking this big fish out of the water in the heat of summer, I kindly but sternly “asked” him to get in the water also for the picture. Fish that big in water temps this hot do not survive if kept of out the water for the normal boat picture “photoshoot”. He didn’t hesitate and jumped in and we got this amazing photo of his fish of lifetime. The rest of the day everyone was smiling from ear to ear and in shock of what had just taken place. A day and fish I’m sure neither of us will ever forget.

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Christian Lugo
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Currently lots of sheepshead been biting along with some sharks and sand trout. The cold weather has slowed down some bites but the back creeks have been shows to catch them

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Christian Lugo Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Currently lots of sheepshead been biting along with some sharks and sand trout. The cold weather has slowed down some bites but the back creeks have been shows to catch them

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Ike Carrasquillo
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Pass few weeks have been dead, no Charters for two months because of the hurricanes but it has picked up for me and I have several this month and next month. The Sheepshead action is good on the grass flats, oyster beds and anywhere crustacean grows. The Flounder action has...

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Ike Carrasquillo Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Pass few weeks have been dead, no Charters for two months because of the hurricanes but it has picked up for me and I have several this month and next month. The Sheepshead action is good on the grass flats, oyster beds and anywhere crustacean grows. The Flounder action has been slow for me but the dark muddy waters in tge back country has produced Blackdrum, Mullet and Gar.

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Wade Osborne
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Even though the sheepshead spawning season doesn’t start until February, the cooler water temperatures have them feeding very aggressively. On a recent charter, my clients specifically requested sheepshead, and the day did not disappoint. On the very first cast of the day, they reeled in a 16-inch keeper. Throughout the...

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Wade Osborne Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Even though the sheepshead spawning season doesn’t start until February, the cooler water temperatures have them feeding very aggressively. On a recent charter, my clients specifically requested sheepshead, and the day did not disappoint. On the very first cast of the day, they reeled in a 16-inch keeper. Throughout the charter we must have caught close to 30 sheepshead, along with numerous redfish, seatrout, and snook. At the end of the day, they went home with six nice sized keeper sheepshead. If you enjoy catching redfish, now is the perfect time to catch plenty. Even though most are rats, “under slot-sized redfish” they are still fun to catch. The same can be said for seatrout. Clients have been catching some of the largest seatrout of the year recently. Seatrout schoolup in the winter, so when you hit the right spot numerous fish in the 15 to 19-inch slot range can be landed. Snook are also making their presence known. I’m finding snook mixed in with the redfish and seatrout also. Snook are closed to harvest until March 1st, so it’s strictly catch and release.

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