Looking for some Florida Fishing Info

[Bondar]

I have the Itch to go fish the salt again , so at the end of october I'm planning a 4 day weekend to the St.Petes/ Tampa Bay area

If anyone has ever been to the area or has done something similar can share some Info it would be great

Cheap Flights ?

Good guide experiance ?

Good place to eat?

Places to stay away from ?

I will be mainly Fly fishing , but will be bring some gear rods as well , mostly interested in sight fishing Flats and mangroves

 

Thanks for any help !

[bare foot wader]

I know you did your cuba trip, so needless to say fly casting 70-90' is key...casting in the wind too

 

I did a day trip to everglades national park from miami, tough fishing, little early for the tarpon run but still one of the best trips of my life, really amazing place, just beautiful

 

I used the same captain 1 full day, 1 half day and 6 hr night trip, more affordable that most captains i found...pm if you want his number, he's closer to miami but he guides everywhere...if you have a rental car you could meet him or easily find a captain to charter from the inside of the gulf

 

stay off the beaches after the bar...LOL they ain't like up here at wasaga or at any resort i've always wandered off the resort and never had an issue...i got jumped/mugged on south beach, miami...fought back and the cops treated me like a criminal, figured it was a drug deal gone bad or why else would i be on the beach at 2 am? just wow, finally a detective from seattle who spent time in vancouver made things easy for me, said the beaches here aren't like van haha got all but a few hundred cash back

 

the next time i go south i'm going to buy a quality 4 piece spinning rod and bring my own jig heads/gulp/plastics, topwaters and some other lures, my own spinning reel with braid and fluoro leaders....i walked around the docks and chatted to a lot of captains, i noticed that most were using lower end gear, i guess they get trashed a lot guiding but it was a real downer fishing with cheap gear...plus you can catch a lot of fish from the docks...a lot of bass/pike lures/flies work well for seatrout, snook and reds

[gordy28]

We fishing with Captain Rick Knox out of Tarpon Springs/Dunedin area-and were very pleased

We only did spin fishing in the flats for sea trout-think he also does snook, redfish and tarpon-not sure about fly fishing though

Google him he has a website

Cheers

Gordy

PS-if you go with Cptn Rich the little restaurant at anclote Marina does an amazing fish 3 ways meal-with fish you caught if you like-second to catching lots of fish that was our highlight

[OhioFisherman]

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en

 

I spent 5 weeks in Largo in 2009, it seemed a nice area, I had no problems getting around. Ulmerton Road which runs off of I-75 will take you right to the gulf, it`s maybe a 20 minute drive depending on the time of day.

 

There is a road that runs along the gulf once you pass over the inland water way, there are places to eat all along it, I didn`t have a bad meal at any of them. There are also plenty of places to eat right on Ulmerton, but more of your typical fast food places.

 

The coastal road mentioned is the typical tourist area, restaurants, hotels, gift shops. I didn`t fish at all while I was there, no interest in Salt water fishing, and when I mentioned looking around at some of the fresh water lakes in the area I was told that any of them might have a gator. LOL since I can`t move faster than a turtle? I passed.

 

I drove down and stayed with an ex wife, so I can`t help you on airfare or hotels, although the area is loaded with hotels.

[Sandbag]

Wiser...

 

For flights I would look at Allegiant airlines out of Niagara Falls NY airport. I recently priced to Tampa for my family of three and it was going to be $399.00 for all three of us direct, taxes in to Tampa. That was in October as well.

 

I see you are in Niagara anyhow so to e that would be a no-brainer.

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[chrismarkz]

I've beengoing down to that area for the last 7 years, beautiful area. I was recommendedto charter with Captain Jim Huddleston; great guide beautiful boat and reallyknows his stuff. First time i went out with him we hit the coldest cold frontof the winter season. We fished for about 6 hours landing 10- 15 reds andtrout, not the best day on the water but still not the worst. Jim only chargedus for half the charter price. 3 days later, Jim called me up and told me thereds were on fire and told us to meet him on the dock at 7am for a day on thewater free of charge. we worked tailing reds for 6 hours and he still didn’twant to come in. this captain is a full time captain on the water 6 days aweek, a little pricier but well worth it. BTW if you find a cheap guide morethen likely you’ll be fishing on a weekend with all of the other weekendfisherman on all the well known spots with live bait. Full time captains followthe schools of drum and reds around on a daily basis. Jim Huddleston= class

 

 

 

I now bring my boat down there if need a few spots pm me and i could give you a few gps cords, around the pinallas point area <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;">

 

Jim Huddleston

546 8th Street

Palm Harbor, FL 34683

[email protected]

[Fang]

Not sure if you're open to other options but you can fish really cheap in Cozumel. I did full day fly fishing for bonefish, a boat, guide and beers(and lunch) for 250 usd. Best months for fish are May and April. Lots of bonefish, permit show up in May as well as baby tarpon (up to 20 lbs). You can fly and spin fish all day and no winds in the spring. I'm working on a trip back there maybe this year but things are getting very busy for me, maybe 2014.

[Bondar]

Thank you for the help !

[Bondar]

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Edited September 17, 2012 by Wiser

[Bondar]

Not sure if you're open to other options but you can fish really cheap in Cozumel. I did full day fly fishing for bonefish, a boat, guide and beers(and lunch) for 250 usd. Best months for fish are May and April. Lots of bonefish, permit show up in May as well as baby tarpon (up to 20 lbs). You can fly and spin fish all day and no winds in the spring. I'm working on a trip back there maybe this year but things are getting very busy for me, maybe 2014.

 

 

Thanks Fang

 

Not really looking for bonefish though , more looking to cross some more fish off the list , I have 2 maybe 3 weeks planned next year chasing bones, permit and tarpon again in cuba . I've been to Mexico as well but didn't get to fish much , I want to do the florida thing cause I only want to go for 4 days max not a whole week