Tampa Bay fishing charters out of Holmes Beach put you on different fish depending on the month, and the smartest trip is built around whatever's actually happening on the water that week. We run our Tampa Bay charters out of the lower bay year-round, and the pattern shifts enough between seasons that a July redfish trip looks nothing like a January sheepshead trip. Here's how the season breaks down on this water, month by month.
Fall on Tampa Bay Fishing Charters: Snook Reopens and the Bite Turns On
September flips a switch on Tampa Bay. Snook season reopens September 1 in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay regions and runs through the end of November — one of only two windows all year you're allowed to keep one, and the fish has to measure between 28 and 33 inches, one per person per day. Redfish don't have that on-again, off-again rule. They're open year-round here inside an 18- to 27-inch slot, one fish per person and two per vessel, but the fall cooldown pushes them shallower onto the flats and mangrove edges, which is where most of our fall trips find them.
Trout and mangrove snapper round out most fall charters here too. If you want a mixed bag instead of one specific species, fall's the easiest season to book an inshore fishing charter and let the day sort itself out.
Winter on Tampa Bay: Sheepshead Take Over
Snook close again December 1 through the end of February, so winter trips lean hard on sheepshead. They're open year-round with a 12-inch minimum and an eight-fish daily bag, and this time of year they stack up thick around the bridge pilings, dock pilings, and rock jetties scattered through the bay as they move onto structure to spawn. It's a patience bite more than a finesse one — light spinning gear, a sharp hook, and fresh shrimp or a piece of fiddler crab worked tight against the structure.
Redfish and trout don't disappear over the winter, either. They just slow down on the cold fronts and feed harder in the warmer stretches between them, so a winter trip usually mixes a morning of sheepshead around structure with an afternoon working the flats once the day warms up.
Spring on Tampa Bay: Cobia Move In and Snook Reopens
Snook reopens March 1 and stays open through April, the second of the year's two keeper windows before the summer closure. Cobia start showing in the bay from March into June, cruising the surface along channel edges and around markers before easing off for summer with a smaller run again in the fall; they have to measure 36 inches to the fork, and the limit is one fish per person or two per vessel, whichever is fewer. Spring is also when the first tarpon start working their way into the passes, though the real push doesn't arrive until early summer.
Summer on Tampa Bay: Tarpon Season Peaks
May through July is tarpon season here, the stretch when migratory fish flood the passes and flats around Tampa Bay in real numbers. It's why we run a dedicated tarpon fishing charter through early summer instead of folding it into a mixed trip — sight-fishing rolling fish all morning takes the whole boat's attention. Snook close again May 1 through August, so if you want to target them specifically, book the shoulder months on either side instead.
Redfish and trout keep biting straight through summer too, usually best worked early before the heat and the afternoon storms build. There's no wrong month to fish Tampa Bay, just a different plan depending on when you come down — tell us what you're after when you call or book online, and we'll build the trip around whatever the season's giving up that week.
Ready for a day like this on the water? Book an Anna Maria Island fishing charter with Captain David White or compare our guided trip options — trips run year-round from Holmes Beach.
