Lakewood Ranch Fishing Reports (December 2025)

George Hastick
St. Petersburg, Florida
Reported: 10 months ago

Trout and redfish have been on fire fishing the docks and the backwaters with some snook mixed in. Shrimp, artificials and scaled sardines have all been working. Fiddler crabs and shrimp have been catching sheepshead.

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George Hastick St. Petersburg, Florida Reported: 10 months ago

Trout and redfish have been on fire fishing the docks and the backwaters with some snook mixed in. Shrimp, artificials and scaled sardines have all been working. Fiddler crabs and shrimp have been catching sheepshead.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 10 months ago

Keep em coming bites on fire.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters Sarasota, Florida Reported: 10 months ago

Keep em coming bites on fire.

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Christian Lugo
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 10 months 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: 10 months 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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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 10 months ago

Winter reef fishing.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters Sarasota, Florida Reported: 10 months ago

Winter reef fishing.

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 10 months ago

The redfish, sheepshead and Trout have continued to stay consistent as temperatures continue to drop.

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James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 10 months ago

The redfish, sheepshead and Trout have continued to stay consistent as temperatures continue to drop.

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Ron Finger with Fish Hawk Charters
Tierra Verde, Florida
Reported: 11 months ago

gag grouper and most folks think ??? Offshore w/Federal Permits & Credentials No Problem - plenty of reefs and rocks in 60-plus feet of Gulf of Mexico waters hold progressively more and bigger fish, coastal rocks in 50-100 feet of water host impressive populations of adult gag grouper (many keeper...

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Ron Finger with Fish Hawk Charters Tierra Verde, Florida Reported: 11 months ago

gag grouper and most folks think ??? Offshore w/Federal Permits & Credentials No Problem - plenty of reefs and rocks in 60-plus feet of Gulf of Mexico waters hold progressively more and bigger fish, coastal rocks in 50-100 feet of water host impressive populations of adult gag grouper (many keeper size) that will absolutely blast a bait well within eyesight. Live offerings are easiest and our Pelagic TEAMs know that a well full of pinfish usually equates to a day of arm-stretching, eye-popping fun. Considering how an Offshore Angler’s first look at a gag grouper generally amounts to a whipped fish languishing at boat side, the Gulf water deal shows you the true beast the dwells within this fish.

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Ike Carrasquillo
Tampa, Florida
Reported: 11 months 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: 11 months 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: 11 months 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: 11 months 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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