Prime Fishing Conditions on Anna Maria Island: Snook, Trout, and Redfish Thriving This Year
The snook, trout, and redfish have been absolutely fantastic on my recent Anna Maria Island Fishing Charters. In previous years, the water was much colder than it is now, and when the water is cold, all the bait leaves the grass flats, and the snook head up the rivers and creeks to almost hibernate during the winter. This year, that hasn’t been the case! In this report, I will explain where these snook, trout, and redfish have been hanging out and what bait I’ve been using to achieve the best results.
Areas that I’ve been targeting on my charters:
These past few weeks, we’ve experienced a lot of very low tides, which many people don’t get too excited about because they can’t access most of the popular fishing spots. However, for experienced fishermen and guides who have been fishing the local waters of Anna Maria Island for years, these low tides actually make it easier to locate fish and narrow down the areas where they hang out.
These low tides push the fish away from the bars, docks, and mangrove lines, causing them to sit in small troughs, ditches, and deep potholes that are easier to target. There are many bars on south Tampa Bay, including the Manatee River, Terra Ceia Bay, Miguel Bay, and every bay and estuary has similar spots where fish get pushed on these super low tides. The advantage of having a tall tower, like the ones seen on guide boats, is that we can see much more and navigate along these bars and dock lines while searching for fish.
It’s very important to know if the fish are present in an area before you start fishing, so you can have confidence in what you’re doing. Many of these fishing spots are very close to the boat ramp I use to pick up my guests, which means minimal travel time between spots and from the dock, allowing us to maximize our fishing time! For December Anna Maria fishing charters, I also enjoy exploring open shallow water grass flats. It’s really fun to see the fish before catching them.
Baits and techniques I’ve been using to run a successful fishing charter:
I’ve been doing a lot of live bait fishing with shrimp and pilchards to attract snook, redfish, and trout. When the water temperature is above 67 degrees, I can run very successful charters using live pilchards and traditional spring, summer, and fall fishing methods.
I’m not chumming as heavily in the cooler months because the birds are more aggressive; if there are 100 birds around your boat, it can scare the big snook and redfish in the shallow flats. In some areas, I’ve had great success catching trout, including many keepers and some over 20 inches. The trout are still sitting in mid-range depths of 3-4 feet and haven’t moved into the shallow water like they do in December. The snook and redfish I’ve been catching are super shallow, often in less than 2 feet, sitting in potholes along the shoreline.
I’ve also been using lots of artificial baits on my charters with guests comfortable doing so. This is a fun way to target fish during these cooler months and offers the excitement of sight-casting to fish in the clear water. I’m also planning to start wade fishing for adventurous clients who don’t mind getting in the water and walking along grass flats while throwing artificials. I’m very excited about this because I think it will be a lot of fun for my guests to step out of the boat and try something different.
