The tarpon crowds have thinned but the fish haven’t all left — there are still strings of silver rolling at the Skyway on the hill tides. Meanwhile the bay has shifted into its true summer program: dock-light snook after dark, mangrove snapper on every piece of hard bottom, and redfish sliding under the mangroves at midday.
What’s Hitting
This week on the water, tarpon remain catchable at the Skyway and along the beach edges at Egmont and Passage Key, mostly on the early outgoing. Snook — catch-and-release on this coast, so handle them well — are feeding hard on the dock lights from St. Pete to Apollo Beach after 10 p.m. Mangrove snapper to 16 inches are on the bridges, rockpiles, and range markers, and Spanish mackerel are harassing glass minnows around the shipping channel edges.
Where to Find Them
Tarpon: the Skyway pilings on the outgoing, and the swash channels off Anna Maria at dawn. Snapper: the Gandy and Howard Frankland fenders, plus any residential rockpile in 6 to 12 feet. Reds are laid up under the mangrove shade from Weedon Island to Fort De Soto on the higher stages of tide.
Tides & Conditions
Tides strengthen into the month-end full moon, which means real current at the bridges — the snapper will feed best on the first half of the moving water. Bay temps are near 90 by afternoon; the fishing day effectively ends at 10 a.m. and restarts at sunset.
Tackle & Tactics
Skyway tarpon want a live threadfin or pass crab drifted on 60-pound leader. Dock-light snook are keyed on small white baits — a 3-inch paddletail or a free-lined greenback on 30-pound fluorocarbon. Snapper: knocker rig, 20-pound fluoro, live shrimp or fresh-cut threadfin.
Local Intel This Week
Fort De Soto’s ramp is the south-bay workhorse; Demens Landing and the Salty Sol (Gandy) ramps cover St. Pete and Tampa sides. Skyway Fishing Pier is producing snapper and mackerel for the land-based crowd at night. Fish are concentrating on structure with shade and current — open flats are a midday dead zone. Snook are closed to harvest; check current FWC regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
On the dock lights, cast past the light and work the bait through the shadow line, not the bright pool. The biggest snook sits at the dark edge, facing the current, letting the small fish chase in the glow.