Grouper fishing Tampa Bay

Grouper fishing in Tampa Bay and the surrounding Gulf waters is hot right now. Fishing for grouper this time of year usually requires a long run offshore to find the keepers. With water temps in the high 80's around Tampa and St.Pete beach, it is surprising to see so many of these bottom dwellers in their normal winter haunts.

Our first 4-hour charter fishing trip left Pass-a-grille on St.Pete beach around 7am. To my surprise, the wind was up from the reports that I had read the night before. We headed out into the chop and went straight to trolling the St.Pete reef for mackerel. The "macks" were there and willing to eat. Fishing for mackerel has been kind of hit and miss this year, but it was definetly a 'hit' on this charter fishing trip. With about 15 fish in the box, we headed to some grouper fishing spots nearby.

Like I said before, normally fishing for grouper around Tampa requires a longer run offshore to get some real action, but not today. We sort of stumbled onto a decent grouper bite in 32 feet of water. Check out the brothers from Maryland with their first step towards a fresh grouper dinner. Way to go Justin! These guys were brand new to fishing for grouper, but handled it like pros.

 All in all it was a great trip. Grouper, mangrove snapper, grey snapper, spanish mackerel and porgies filled the fish box before we headed back to St.Pete beach. Come fishing with Jawbreaker fishing charters on St.Pete beach and tangle with some grouper of your own. The water is pristine and the fish eager to meet new people. Call Jawbreaker fishing charters today! Happy fishing to ya, capt.dan