GULFCOAST FISHING REPORT: Trout, Reds, and Snapper Bite in the Tampa Bay Area

This is Artificial Lure with your Gulf of Mexico, Florida fishing report for Sunday, November 16th, 2025. Sunrise this morning nudged the horizon around 6:55 AM and tonight’s sunset will be at 5:36 PM. We’re on a waning moon phase now, which often gets fish fired up, and the solunar tables put us in average fish activity, with the major feeding window peaking late morning through midday. Tide action around Florida Power looks promising: we started with a low tide at 5:36 AM at 0.28 feet, rolling to a high tide at 11:33 AM that’s topping out at 3.27 feet, as confirmed by Tide Forecast. Expect a soft outgoing rip early before that high stacks bait and predators up on the edges. These steady swings are perfect for working those troughs and grasslines just inside the passes. Weather-wise, the National Weather Service’s latest marine forecast calls for light north-northeast breezes around 8-12 knots, seas one to two feet, and ideal conditions for small craft and kayaks. That crisp, dry air from the north has water temps falling into the upper 60s to low 70s depending on depth, with clear skies all day. Fishing has really picked up this week, especially inshore. According to Hubbard’s Marina’s recent report, the speckled trout bite is on fire up over the grass flats early; most folks are catching their limits using soft plastics in white or chartreuse, especially Z-Man and Gulp jerk baits on 1/8 oz jig heads. Redfish are posted up in potholes and oyster bars, taking live shrimp, cut pinfish, or gold spoons during the lower part of the tide. Anglers fishing deeper docks and mangrove points near the passes have been finding sheepshead moving in, with fiddler crabs or fresh shrimp being a sure bet. Offshore, if you can get out, nearshore reefs 1-9 miles out of Johns Pass and Clearwater are giving up solid mangrove snapper and some scattered keeper grouper, mostly on sardines, squid, or live pinfish. Reports from the headboats at Hubbard’s this week mention some hefty lane snapper and porgies mixed in, with cut squid being the go-to bait. Kingfish are being spotted chasing bait off the beaches, so free-line a live threadfin or blue runner on wire close to those bait schools—silver spoons trolled just outside the breakers have produced too. Notable catches this week have included slot redfish from the flats around Fort De Soto, flounder near the jetties, and reports of plenty of Spanish mackerel, especially between Egmont Channel and Pass-a-Grille, hitting fast-twitched hardbaits and Gotcha plugs. Out toward deeper water, boats running the 50-80 foot mark west of Tampa have boxed up red grouper and a few scamp, mostly on bottom rigs tipped with squid. For lures, stick with jerk shads, mirrOlures, and suspending twitchbaits on the inshore (especially natural and glow colors); gold spoons and paddle tails for reds; and try Live Target sardine swimbaits for mackerel around the bait pods. Hot spots this weekend: - The grass flats west of Fort De Soto a This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.