The best place in the whole world to book fishing charters: Anna Maria Island
That is a bold statement that I will back up with information and stories about past trips! I have been all over Central America and Florida exploring and have done a bunch of different fishing charters, and there isn’t a place that comes close to Anna Maria Island when it comes to a productive, family-friendly, and safe fishing charter—especially when you book with AMI Excursions, where we provide a top-notch service with a top-notch boat and a top-notch fishing guide.
Why Choose Anna Maria Island for Fishing?
Some things that make Anna Maria Island such a great place to book a fishing charter are the island’s location, the unique backwater bays, the unique wildlife around our waterways, and beautiful, clear sandbars around our fishing areas.
The location of the island is an important factor because here on the west coast of Florida, our
waterways are much calmer than the east coast of Florida, other countries’ waterways, and mostly anywhere in the world. The gulf is super shallow, and so are the bays that surround the island, so 95% of the time the water is super calm.
Abundant Bait and Productive Fishing
Another thing that separates the island from other areas is the bait fish that are on our grass flats and the unique shipping channel and Skyway Bridge close by to the Anna Maria Island Sound. Bait is such an important key factor in running fishing charters, and it’s the easiest place probably in the world to catch bait—at least for the local fishing guides. The Skyway Bridge holds bait year-round, and so do the grass flats around the island, making it very easy to have a productive day of fishing.
Safe, Family-Friendly Backwater Fishing
Anna Maria has a lot of backwater areas that we can fish in the very windy, busy months like March and April that allow us to take families fishing safely and effectively even when the wind is blowing 20-25 knots. These areas are surrounded by mangroves that block the wind with ease and allow us to have a safe, comfortable day of fishing. These areas include Miguel Bay, Palma Sola Bay, the Manatee River, Terra Ceia Bay, Perico Bay, Seven Pines, and many other little areas that allow us to hide from the wind and catch a ton of awesome fish.
These unique backwater bays make for a friendly family fishing experience where you don’t have to be worried about getting seasick, getting wet, or the boat rocking in any way. The water that we fish on these days is super shallow, sometimes being a foot or two deep, and you would be amazed at the size of fish we catch in this super shallow water. It is truly the ultimate sport fisherman’s paradise, and you will be amazed with the experience that we provide.
Diverse Wildlife and Sandbar Fun
The incredible amount of wildlife that we see on a half-day fishing charter is really special. We see a ton of dolphins, sometimes manatees, turtles, a ton of different birds, and, of course, a lot of different species of fish. We counted how many different species of fish we could catch in one fishing trip yesterday, and we got up to 16 different species of fish! It was an amazing day that showed the diversity of our fishery and how you can fish a foot of water for snook, redfish, and trout and quickly switch gears and head offshore for hogfish, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, and much more.
The crystal clear, beautiful sandbars like Passage Key and Jewfish Key make this area very special. There’s nothing better than heading to the sandbar with clients after crushing the fish so everyone can jump in the water and cool down. This is something that a lot of families love to do, especially in those warm summer months, and lucky for us, we have some of the best areas to do that in the world. If you’re down in the area and are interested in fishing charters, Anna Maria Island is a one-of-a-kind place to do one.
