The Tampa Bay fishing report, straight from the boat: what is biting this week from Tampa to St. Pete, Clearwater and Crystal River. New report every week from Captain Jarrod.
Mackerel stacked up on the towers, glass calm water, and the first real cold front lands Friday
Glass calm out of Palmetto, 6 Nov 2026A full table, 6 Nov 2026Apollo Beach crew, 3 Nov 2026
Several groups got out on the water with us this week and the Spanish mackerel were chewing. Out of Apollo Beach the rods stayed bent around the platforms most of the morning, with a rainbow over the bay on the ride in. Out of Palmetto it was the day you dream about: glass calm, the mackerel stacked up around the towers, and the dock tables covered by lunch. One angler was on his first saltwater trip ever and left with a story he will be telling for years. He picked a good week to start.
The pattern is classic November. The Halloween weekend blow dumped more than five inches of rain on the bay and pushed everything around, then the water cleared and the bite turned right back on. Spanish mackerel are thick on the bait around the towers, channel edges and range markers from Apollo Beach to the Skyway, with a bonnethead shark or two usually mixed in. Redfish are schooled up on the flats and oyster bars on the falling tide, speckled trout are on the deeper grass in the mornings, snook are tight to the mangroves and starting to slide toward the rivers and canals with a few weeks left in the season, flounder are on the sandy edges, and the sheepshead get thicker on the pilings every week. Kingfish are running the beaches nearshore.
Now the weather, and it matters this week. Monday through Wednesday is as good as November gets: light north wind, highs near 80, cool mornings in the low 60s and a flat bay. Thursday the wind swings west and builds to 15 with gusts over 20 ahead of the front. Friday the front comes through on a northwest wind near 20, and Saturday wakes up to the first real cold morning of the season, lows in the low 50s and a high in the mid 60s. That is the kind of front that drops the water temperature a few degrees in a day, kicks the sheepshead into gear, and makes the next calm stretch a hot one.
Trips run 4, 5 and 6 hours, everything included, pickups around the bay. Monday through Wednesday are the days to be out here ahead of the front, and there are open dates all week. Fishing by yourself? The shared trip list is open too.
The front blew through, the water cooled, and the fall bite is on
Snook off the mangroves, 22 Oct 2026Flounder off the flatsA small shark, released
Thursday’s trip on Tampa Bay was the last calm day before the blow, and the fish knew it. A snook came off the mangroves on a live bait, a flounder came up off the flats, and a couple of small sharks, including a bonnethead, rounded out the box before the wind arrived. A 13-year-old did a lot of the catching. That is October on the bay: a little of everything, and all of it hungry ahead of a front.
Then the front hit. Saturday and Sunday the northeast wind blew 25 knots with gusts into the mid 30s and small craft advisories on the Gulf of America, so the open bay was a no-go and the smart money fished the rivers and the lee shorelines. The payoff is this week: cleaner, cooler water, bait pushed tight to structure, and fish that feed hard between fronts. Redfish are on the flats and the oyster bars, trout are back on the grass in the mornings, snook are tight to the mangroves, and the first sheepshead of the season are showing on the pilings. Spanish mackerel are still running the bait schools.
The wind stays northeast and breezy through Wednesday, 15 to 20 with gusts near 30, so early in the week is a protected-water week: the rivers, the mangrove shorelines and the flats out of the wind. From Thursday it lays down, highs climb back into the mid 80s, and Halloween weekend looks like the best water of the month, light wind and a long bite window.
Trips run 4, 5 and 6 hours, everything included, pickups around the bay. Halloween weekend and the first weekend of November are filling, the weekdays after Wednesday are open.
Spanish mackerel are blitzing, and the first real front just lit the fuse
Two for the table, the rest went backSpanish mackerel, 10 Oct 2026
The Spanish mackerel showed up in force. On the 10 Oct trip out of Tampa Bay the first bait hit the water and the rod loaded before the bail was closed, and it stayed that way: fish after fish, fast, hard, and the kind of fight that makes first-timers yell. Two of the biggest came home for the table, the rest went back to keep the party going. If you have never felt a mackerel take line, this is the month to find out.
Under the surface the fall pattern is setting up. Water temperatures are sliding out of the summer range, redfish are schooling on the flats and around the oyster bars, speckled trout are back on the grass in the mornings, and the first sheepshead are showing on the pilings. Nearshore, kingfish are following the bait schools down the beaches.
Now the weather. The first strong cold front of October crossed Tampa Bay this weekend with a north wind and a few showers, and that is the best news in this report. It is the switch that turns on the winter bite: cooler, cleaner water, bait pushed tight to structure, and fish that feed hard between fronts. This week’s calm days after the blow are the days to be on the water.
Trips run 4, 5 and 6 hours, everything included, pickups around the bay. Weekend dates for late October are going fast, and the weekdays after the front are wide open.
