Tampa Bay fishing report for the week of September 10, 2026. The bay is starting to shift from summer patterns to fall, and this is the week that shift became obvious. Redfish are grouping up into the big fall schools, snook are eating hard at the passes with the season reopened, and the tarpon that stayed for the summer are still lingering around the bridges and the Skyway.
What’s Hitting
What’s hitting this week is redfish first. Schools of 20 to 100 fish are forming on the flats from Weedon Island down through the Fort De Soto area and around the mouth of the Manatee River. Snook are in the passes and around the bridges feeding through the baitfish that are thick right now — Bunces Pass, Pass-a-Grille, and the Skyway have all been good. Spotted seatrout are on the deeper grass in 4 to 8 feet, and mangrove snapper are still on the docks and rock piles.
Tarpon are in their last act. There are still fish around the Skyway and the Gandy Bridge at night, but the numbers drop every week now.
Where to Find Them
For the redfish schools, start at Weedon Island on a rising tide and work the mangrove edges, then check the flats behind Fort De Soto and the bars off Pinellas Point. Look for pushes of water and mullet getting nervous. Snook are at the passes on the outgoing tide, and around lighted docks and bridges after dark. The trout are on the grass flats off Apollo Beach and around Cockroach Bay in 4 to 8 feet. Snapper are on every rock pile and bridge piling in the lower bay.
Tides & Conditions
Strong new moon tides this weekend will move a lot of water through the passes, which should light up the snook. Mornings have been calm with a light easterly wind, afternoons bring the usual storms. Water temps are still in the mid-80s, so the early morning and evening tides are the productive ones. Clarity is good on the flats except after heavy rain.
Tackle & Tactics
Live scaled sardines are the bait for everything right now, and they are easy to net around the bridges and grass flats at dawn. For redfish, a gold spoon or a soft plastic paddle tail on a 1/4-ounce jig head cast ahead of the school works well. For snook, free-line a sardine on a 3/0 circle hook with 30-pound fluorocarbon at the passes. Trout are taking popping corks with a shrimp or soft plastic. Keep a topwater rigged for the first hour of light.
Local Intel This Week
Public ramps: Fort De Soto Park ramp gives you the quickest access to the lower bay passes, the Gandy Bridge ramp on the Tampa side covers the middle bay, and Williams Park on the Manatee River is a good starting point for the south shore. The Cockroach Bay ramp is small but puts you right on the trout flats. Fish are concentrating on the mangrove shorelines and flats on a rising tide and at the passes on the outgoing. Snook season reopened September 1 on this part of the Gulf coast, but check current FWC regulations, slot limits, and any local closures before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
When you find a redfish school, do not run the boat into it. Shut down well upwind and let the school come to you, or pole in quietly. One boat blowing through a school can scatter it for the rest of the day. Cast to the front edge of the school where the fish are competing for bait, not into the middle where they spook.
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