Weather or not to go fishing in Tampa Bay

Charter fishing in Tampa Bay and St.Pete Beach is not for the light-hearted. With Summertime weather patterns in full effect it can be difficult knowing how, when and why to cancel, or delay a scheduled fishing charter. This past Wednesday we made the right call...but just barely!..

After putting our 7am start on hold until "further notice" I had the luxury of conferring with good friend, and great Captain, Dave Zalewski- on Madeira Beach. "it really looks decent out there Dan, better than we thought it would...I would go for it." Well, we went for it, and all was good.

Leaving the Marina at 10am, we were greeted by a light Westerly breeze that was sure to pick at some point in the day, and did several hours later. A stop in 40 feet produced keeper Gag Groupers from the first bait down and everything felt right. Noah, Bill and Ben were all pinned to the gunnel of the Jawbreaker at the same time and it was obvious, this was the kind of fishing they had planned on...oh, except for the sore wrist and bruised armpits!

After just 3 stops on this 4-hour fishing charter, the fish box was looking pretty impressive. Beautiful Gag and Red Groupers, along with a few Mangrove Snappers and Porgies, I'd say this was a done deal, except the ride home. Heading back to land, and into very ominous looking skies, the wind picked up to a solid 15-20 knots and all we could do was race the storm that was tracking South and trying to head us off at the pass. Well, we made it without one drop of rain falling on us...check out the Murdocks(from the left Ben, Bill and Noah) with some of their catch...tight work boys!

After a few swipes of the fillet Knife, Will delivered some fresh Grouper to the kitchen at Maximo Seafood Shack to be prepared for the guys while they waited for the rest of their fish to be cleaned. Yes, Jawbreaker is now located at the Maximo Marina main dock, right in front of the best Seafood/Beer shack in St.Pete-Maximo Seafood Shack...come check it out! Happy fishing, Capt.Dan