Lakewood Ranch Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Phil Pegley
Ruskin, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Fall and early winter fishing fishing here in Tampa Bay is truly a great time to get out there This year was no exception. The redfish bite had been hot all summer, and carried right on into the fall with numbers and big fish as well, transitional fishing for Snook...

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Phil Pegley Ruskin, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Fall and early winter fishing fishing here in Tampa Bay is truly a great time to get out there This year was no exception. The redfish bite had been hot all summer, and carried right on into the fall with numbers and big fish as well, transitional fishing for Snook was also strong as the air and water temps fluctuated, dropping with each front, and then warming again. It created some great opportunities for site fishing for Cobia, and brought the speckled trout into their cooler water haunts. The water has been crystal clear and catching bait has still been plentiful setting up for an awesome January hit me up and let's get out there . tight lines until next time

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Wade Osborne
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

El Nino has had a major impact on our weather patterns lately, and I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. The worst part is that it seems to rain mostly on the weekends. This El Nino weather system also causes a huge fluctuation in temperatures. We’ve been getting two...

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Wade Osborne Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

El Nino has had a major impact on our weather patterns lately, and I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. The worst part is that it seems to rain mostly on the weekends. This El Nino weather system also causes a huge fluctuation in temperatures. We’ve been getting two to three days of a cold front out of the north and El Nino pushes right back with the same out of the south.
What does this have to do with fishing, everything!
First off, catching baitfish can be difficult to nearly impossible. Cold water temperatures push baitfish into deeper water and around structure, like bridge pilings and range markers. Even on a relatively clam day catching baitfish in the winter can be challenging, add 15-20 knot winds and fuhgeddaboudit. I’ve been stopping at my local bait shop and buying medium-size shrimp lately just in case I can’t catch any baitfish before my charter. So far, that’s only happened once, but fortunately we caught plenty of fish anyway using only shrimp. Everything in Tampa Bay will eat a shrimp. That’s why it’s called the “Sara Lee” of baits.
Sheepshead especially like shrimp and they are very active right now. Most anglers think of sheepshead as living only around dock and bridge pilings, but they also hang out in deep sandy pot poles and around drop offs along mangroves. The latter are the two main areas that I prefer to pursue them. Fishing for sheepshead in the back bays has its advantages. Not only does it give you a better opportunity at catching other species of fish, but it can also give you shelter from the wind.
Just like chumming with baitfish activates fish, so does chumming with shrimp. That’s why at the end of the day, I never throw out my leftover live shrimp. I always bag and freeze it for my next charter. The next day when I’m running a charter and I arrive at my first fishing spot, I pull out a bag and start chumming the area with pieces of shrimp. Doing so draws in redfish. seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle and occasionally snook.
One thing that I always tell people is winter fishing can be very inconsistent and rewarding at the same time. No two days are ever the same, but if you keep an open mind and not be hell bent on catching only big fish, you can have a good outing.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Catching a ton of fish in the bay and when it’s nice offshore we’ve been able to get into some nice cobia and plenty of sharks!! Fun times for all ages!

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Catching a ton of fish in the bay and when it’s nice offshore we’ve been able to get into some nice cobia and plenty of sharks!! Fun times for all ages!

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Cody Beckman
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Cold weather has the redfish, snook and trout fired up! Water clarity is improving and water temps are dropping in the bay so sight casting big redfish and snook in shallow water is awesome right now. Big tides and prime water temps have our big predatory fish active and eating...

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Cody Beckman Tampa, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Cold weather has the redfish, snook and trout fired up! Water clarity is improving and water temps are dropping in the bay so sight casting big redfish and snook in shallow water is awesome right now. Big tides and prime water temps have our big predatory fish active and eating all day. 30-40 fish per trip right now is the norm so inshore fishing is on fire right now.

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Dustin Lambert
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Lots of amberjacks and cobia!

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Dustin Lambert Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Lots of amberjacks and cobia!

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Fishing has been productive. We are catching kings and cobia off the beach. Snook and redfish are chewing in the passes.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters Sarasota, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Fishing has been productive. We are catching kings and cobia off the beach. Snook and redfish are chewing in the passes.

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

The holiday season is upon us in Sarasota, Florida and the fish seem to know it. Our fishing charter customers had success targeting Snook, Redfish, Trout and Jacks in the shallow flats of Sarasota bay. As water temperatures dropped we found fish congregated on low tides in deeper mud holes...

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James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

The holiday season is upon us in Sarasota, Florida and the fish seem to know it. Our fishing charter customers had success targeting Snook, Redfish, Trout and Jacks in the shallow flats of Sarasota bay. As water temperatures dropped we found fish congregated on low tides in deeper mud holes in the buttonwood bay area on the back side of Longboat Key. On higher tides we found fish on top of shallow oyster bars around the bully creek area near the Sarasota airport. The nearshore fishing in Sarasota was also hot on the public reefs in front of Siesta, Lido and Longboat Key. Our customers enjoyed catch and clean fishing charters catching Kingfish, Triple tail, Cobia and Snappers.

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Joe Burruezo
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Micro tarpon bite has been on fire for the 8hr trips

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Joe Burruezo Tampa, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Micro tarpon bite has been on fire for the 8hr trips

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