Out of town visitors have a very real possibility of catching quality redfish by employing a Tampa Bay fishing guide. This beautifully colored specimen was one of several caught on this early spring trip. After spending the morning catching large sea trout on deeper grass flats, the captain quietly maneuvered onto a shallow grass flat with his trolling motor, so as not to disturb the school of feeding redfish that he suspected were there. Once on the flat, everyone's confidence was bolstered when several good sized redfish were seen swimming under a nearby dock. This particular grass flat was selected by this Tampa Bay fishing guide as it receives a lot of early morning sun and also holds bait…two major factors that draw redfish to a grass flat in the springtime. After putting out several lines with a variety of baits…shrimp, pinfish and cut bait…the fish moved in and the action began. First, a thirty inch fish was caught, followed ten minutes later by the 31 incher pictured above. Although these large fish were too big to keep as they exceeded the 18 to 27 inch slot limit, they both put up a great fight and made for a memorable trip.

Even local residents, who both own boats and consider themselves good fishermen, realize the value of hiring a Tampa Bay fishing guide. They recognize that schools of redfish may be here one week and gone the next and, unless you are on the water every few days, it's extremely difficult to know where these fish are. Most full time fishing guides are on the water three to four days a week and closely monitor the activity of these fish so they know where the fish will be on a given day and tide. Although most large redfish are caught on or near shallow grass flats, these fish have the ability to live in a broad range of environments. On days when fish cannot be located on the flats, a good Tampa Bay fishing guide will have the ability to change his game plan and find fish in alternate locations, such as residential docks or along oyster bars.

Redfish are available in the Tampa/ Clearwater/ St Petersburg area year round so any time you're in town and want to pull on a fish that pulls back hard, give your favorite Tampa Bay fishing guide a call and he should be able to give you a range of days, based on the tides and weather, when the redfish will bite.