Can I Catch Snook and Redfish in Tampa Bay? | Daybreaker Inshore Charters

Hey folks, Captain Matt Hilliard here. Sixth generation on these waters, running Daybreaker Inshore Charters out of St. Petersburg. People ask me this every week. Can you catch snook and redfish in Tampa Bay? Short answer is yes. Both of them live in this bay year round if you know where the tide is dumping bait.

I have watched redfish tail across the flats off Fort De Soto more times than I can count. Same fish sliding under the mangroves at Weedon Island on a falling tide. Snook hug the structure. Docks. Points. The edges in Boca Ciega Bay and around Pass-A-Grille. When the water is moving they eat. When it sits slack they sulk. That is just how it is down here.

Redfish stay legal to harvest year round in our Tampa Bay zone. Slot is 18 to 27 inches, one per person, two per boat. Snook is a different animal. Harvest here is open March 1 through April 30 and again September 1 through November 30. Closed the rest of the year, catch and release only. Slot is 28 to 33 inches, one fish, and you need the snook permit on top of a license if you plan to keep one. On a charter, captain and crew cannot keep a bag. We follow FWC to the letter. I hate seeing folks get chewed up by a ticket because somebody guessed at the dates.

Summer heat and those afternoon squalls push snook tighter to shade and current. Cooler months they slide into deeper holes and canals. Reds still work the grass and oyster edges near the Skyway and Bay Pines when the sun warms the flats. I run a 22-foot boat on purpose. No herding. Families from Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, Tampa, and the rest of Pinellas within about 30 miles get a real trip, not a cattle run.

Want an honest shot at both? Call or book a 4, 6, or 8 hour inshore trip. I will put you on the water that is actually fishing that day.