Bartow Fishing Reports (July 2026)

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...

Wade O. 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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Steve N.

St. Cloud, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

We have had a lot of group trips on pontoons lately and the big bass have been biting on the wild shiners The temps have been lower and the winds high some days but all in all it is a great time to be fishing as the bigger bass are getting ready to go on beds So bring your family and friends book a bass boat or pontoon and come join in the fun

Steve N. St. Cloud, Florida Reported 1 year ago

We have had a lot of group trips on pontoons lately and the big bass have been biting on the wild shiners The temps have been lower and the winds high some days but all in all it is a great time to be fishing as the bigger bass are getting ready to go on beds So bring your family and friends book a bass boat or pontoon and come join in the fun

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Cody B.

Tampa, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

Inshore fishing and backcountry fishing has been extremely productive, averaging 30 fish days and the cooler water has redfish, trout and big snook fired up. The nearshore wrecks are holding good numbers of mangrove snapper and sheepshead with some spanish mackerel mixed in Weather has been ideal and looks to stay that way for the next few weeks. Definitely a great time of year to get on the water

Cody B. Tampa, Florida Reported 1 year ago

Inshore fishing and backcountry fishing has been extremely productive, averaging 30 fish days and the cooler water has redfish, trout and big snook fired up. The nearshore wrecks are holding good numbers of mangrove snapper and sheepshead with some spanish mackerel mixed in Weather has been ideal and looks to stay that way for the next few weeks. Definitely a great time of year to get on the water

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Phil P.

Ruskin, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

People in West and Southwest Florida will not take the term hurricane season lightly .After the hit we took from Helene and Milton .as we patch up and pick up the pieces we quickly realize beautiful mother ocean still surrounds us and has so many positives to offer the water cleared quickly, and our Amazing fishery got right back on track booking through Captains experiences we got to meet Kai and Zach, snook , redfish, and trout. We're all first for them, and they were up for the challenge. Fall patterns have concentrated our fish. And persistence has paid off...

Phil P. Ruskin, Florida Reported 1 year ago

People in West and Southwest Florida will not take the term hurricane season lightly .After the hit we took from Helene and Milton .as we patch up and pick up the pieces we quickly realize beautiful mother ocean still surrounds us and has so many positives to offer the water cleared quickly, and our Amazing fishery got right back on track booking through Captains experiences we got to meet Kai and Zach, snook , redfish, and trout. We're all first for them, and they were up for the challenge. Fall patterns have concentrated our fish. And persistence has paid off with some of the nicest Snook of the year . and this past full moon has been stellar on resurging numbers of large speckled trout Get with Captains experiences and get your trips booked today

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Wade O.

Tampa, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

Fall Has Finally Arrived Until recently, we hadn’t had any typical fall weather here in the Tampa Bay area, but it’s finally here. Most of November’s water temperatures remained in the mid-70’s. Usually, by now the water temperature on the grass flats is in the low 70’s to upper 60’s Snook are still open to harvest until the first of December, so you only have a couple of weeks to take advantage of it. My clients are still catching plenty of snook. Some are in the slot of 28 to 33 inches, but most are just under or over the...

Wade O. Tampa, Florida Reported 1 year ago

Fall Has Finally Arrived Until recently, we hadn’t had any typical fall weather here in the Tampa Bay area, but it’s finally here. Most of November’s water temperatures remained in the mid-70’s. Usually, by now the water temperature on the grass flats is in the low 70’s to upper 60’s Snook are still open to harvest until the first of December, so you only have a couple of weeks to take advantage of it. My clients are still catching plenty of snook. Some are in the slot of 28 to 33 inches, but most are just under or over the keeper slot. Oscar Santana and Kinh Shiau fished with me earlier this month and Oscar caught and released a 34” snook unharmed. It turns out, Oscar had never fished before and this snook was the first fish he’d ever caught. Unbelievably, he continued to out fish Kinh during the rest of the charter. Talk about beginner’s luck, now Oscar is ruined for life… The redfish action continues to please. Schools of redfish are still plentiful, but now I’m encountering more rat reds. I don’t have a problem with that because they’re still fun to catch and if you never have, they’re a blast. Riley found that out himself recently when he caught his first redfish. When looking to take one home for dinner though, I move on in search of bigger fish. There are still larger fish around, I just have to do a little looking. Seatrout, out of all the inshore species, remain the most dependable, as far as, fish for dinner. It’s been a banner year for seatrout, and I look for that trend to continue right through the end of the year.

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Steve N.

St. Cloud, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

Fishing has been very good lately ,there are a lot of weeds on toho but when you find a school of bass they are ready to eat we have had 15 to 30 bass in most trips with bass up to 7 pounds

Steve N. St. Cloud, Florida Reported 1 year ago

Fishing has been very good lately ,there are a lot of weeds on toho but when you find a school of bass they are ready to eat we have had 15 to 30 bass in most trips with bass up to 7 pounds

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Jarrod W.

Dover, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

Snook and Snapper have been fire lately!

Jarrod W. Dover, Florida Reported 1 year ago

Snook and Snapper have been fire lately!

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Phil P.

Ruskin, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

September fishing. Well, we are back from our trip to Key West with some amazing catches and experiences we would love to have you aboard next July and August. Fishing beautiful waters of Tampa Bay in September generally brings light winds and great fishing conditions. Our short gag grouper season was filled with some great action. Now that the season is closed. Our focus has switched back to our Amazing inshore fishery here Redfish have dominated our catches with some great snook and trout in the daily mix This is a time when Fishing Charter generally slow down a bit...

Phil P. Ruskin, Florida Reported 1 year ago

September fishing. Well, we are back from our trip to Key West with some amazing catches and experiences we would love to have you aboard next July and August. Fishing beautiful waters of Tampa Bay in September generally brings light winds and great fishing conditions. Our short gag grouper season was filled with some great action. Now that the season is closed. Our focus has switched back to our Amazing inshore fishery here Redfish have dominated our catches with some great snook and trout in the daily mix This is a time when Fishing Charter generally slow down a bit before our big October push to the end of the year, taking a bit of pressure off of our local fish You get your trips booked with.

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Wade O.

Tampa, Florida

Reported 1 year ago

It’s been a long hot summer, but relief is just around the corner. The days are getting shorter and soon the water temperatures will be dropping back into the 70’s. Once the water cools, the redfish and snook fishing will heat up. Mid-to-late September, and especially,… Read more

Wade O. Tampa, Florida Reported 1 year ago

It’s been a long hot summer, but relief is just around the corner. The days are getting shorter and soon the water temperatures will be dropping back into the 70’s. Once the water cools, the redfish and snook fishing will heat up. Mid-to-late September, and especially,… Read more