I'll be in Tampa this coming week for work and was curious if anyone was familiar with the area. Since we're in N Tampa off I-75, my colleague and I were thinking of going N then W to the Tarpon Springs area rather than drive thru afternoon Tampa traffic.
We're not bringing a boat and will only have mid-afternoon to early evening to pier/bridge/shore fish. One place we're eyeing is Howard Park. If you know of any good areas to fish around Tarpon Springs, we would appreciate the advice. We could find a charter but we're cheap and only have a few hours. Thanks.
Fishing in N.Tampa/Tarpon Springs?
Moderators: bman, Tom Keels, Chalk
Don't know where you'll be entering Pinellas from but for these directions I'm going to assume Courtney Campbell (SR60).
Go north on 19 until you get to SR580 (MainStreet) in dunedin. Go west until to get to Alt-19. From Alt 19 go north until you get to San Jose Dr. Turn left and you are now facing St. Joseph's Sound. Here is a pretty decent shore spot. Does not look like much but it has worked for me in the past. If this spot does not pan out continue north until you get to Curlew Rd. Just before and at this intersection you will find bait shops. Once at Curlew go west again and you will be on the causeway to honeymoon island. Here you have two bridges to fish from (I prefer the second) and a nice long stretch of beach. I prefer the north side of the beach 1/2 to 3/4 of the way across.
If your still looking for more, enter the state park. There is great fishing at the pass and off the beach in from of the northern most bath house (not gay so your safe.) Snook fishing can be great here.
Hope all of this helps. Google Earth or Maps will help.
If your short on time, forget the San Jose Dr. location as it is my least favorite of the spots.
Go north on 19 until you get to SR580 (MainStreet) in dunedin. Go west until to get to Alt-19. From Alt 19 go north until you get to San Jose Dr. Turn left and you are now facing St. Joseph's Sound. Here is a pretty decent shore spot. Does not look like much but it has worked for me in the past. If this spot does not pan out continue north until you get to Curlew Rd. Just before and at this intersection you will find bait shops. Once at Curlew go west again and you will be on the causeway to honeymoon island. Here you have two bridges to fish from (I prefer the second) and a nice long stretch of beach. I prefer the north side of the beach 1/2 to 3/4 of the way across.
If your still looking for more, enter the state park. There is great fishing at the pass and off the beach in from of the northern most bath house (not gay so your safe.) Snook fishing can be great here.
Hope all of this helps. Google Earth or Maps will help.
If your short on time, forget the San Jose Dr. location as it is my least favorite of the spots.
I'd try Honeymoon Island.
http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeym ... efault.cfm
I never had much luck at Fred Howard. Honeymoon is just south of Tarpon Springs and is a local favorite for Snook (use live greenbacks if you can get them).
Good luck!
http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeym ... efault.cfm
I never had much luck at Fred Howard. Honeymoon is just south of Tarpon Springs and is a local favorite for Snook (use live greenbacks if you can get them).
Good luck!
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Tarpon Springs report from Woods 'N Water Magazine
Here is Capt. Wade Osborne's report from the soon-to-be-on-sale Woods 'N Water Magazine for March. He is one of the guides that provide monthly "Best Bets" for every region of the state.
If you can find a magazine on sale in your area, pick up a March issue for Capt. Woody Gore's report on the Tampa Bay area also.
March’s Best Bets:
Almost every species
comes to life in March
by Capt. Wade Osborne
Seatrout season re-opens this month in the Northwest region, so launching your boat north of Fred Howard Park is no longer a problem.
I suggest targeting trout in the areas that have been closed to harvest for the last month, because the trout fishing in St. Joseph’s Sound was very unpredictable during February. The spoil islands, which normally hold large numbers of trout, did not hold many last month.
On most of my charters juvenile redfish were the predominant catch, and I expect that to continue right though March, with a noticeable increase in snook coming from the same areas.
Anticipate catching redfish anywhere there is water. Honeymoon, Caladesi and Anclote Island all have roaming schools of redfish. Shrimp most likely will be the bait of choice early on, but look for scaled sardines to push on to the flats by the end of the month.
If you’re a fan of plastic baits, there’s a new stink bait on the market! Captain Joe Hebert of “Fish on Luresâ€
If you can find a magazine on sale in your area, pick up a March issue for Capt. Woody Gore's report on the Tampa Bay area also.
March’s Best Bets:
Almost every species
comes to life in March
by Capt. Wade Osborne
Seatrout season re-opens this month in the Northwest region, so launching your boat north of Fred Howard Park is no longer a problem.
I suggest targeting trout in the areas that have been closed to harvest for the last month, because the trout fishing in St. Joseph’s Sound was very unpredictable during February. The spoil islands, which normally hold large numbers of trout, did not hold many last month.
On most of my charters juvenile redfish were the predominant catch, and I expect that to continue right though March, with a noticeable increase in snook coming from the same areas.
Anticipate catching redfish anywhere there is water. Honeymoon, Caladesi and Anclote Island all have roaming schools of redfish. Shrimp most likely will be the bait of choice early on, but look for scaled sardines to push on to the flats by the end of the month.
If you’re a fan of plastic baits, there’s a new stink bait on the market! Captain Joe Hebert of “Fish on Luresâ€
"This is almost as much fun as being there!"
Not much luck at Honeymoon. Constant 7-10 wind out of the N made the N side of the causeway difficult to fish. I caught a pinfish and used him for bait. We moved to the S side near the first bridge. People were lined up towards the pass but we were just out of the decent spots. They were catching jack. Dolphins feeding was a nice sight. Any catch would have been great at that point. We then went into the park and fished the first bay area on the N side. Friend caught a few ladyfish, I hooked into a sm trout. We really could have used a canoe or kayak for that area. It looked really fishy around there. We couldnt wade out due to the seawall. Was nice to get a line wet even though it was our worst outting thus far.