Anna Maria Island Fishing Report June 18, 2025
Just Reel Fishing Charters
Keep an eye on the sky to have success on the water
Anna Maria Island anglers are becoming proficient in watching the weather and dodging storms as frequent rainfall and thunderstorms pop up daily over our local waters.
Despite all the running around and rerouting, anglers are finding success when fishing both inshore and offshore.
Inshore fishing for spotted seatrout remains the most consistent bite available for another week. You may notice a high volume of smaller trout throughout our region most likely due to the full moon triggering the larger examples to move into the Gulf to spawn, but nonetheless there is still plenty of action to be had.
Catch-and-release snook fishing is a good bet if you know where to look.
Many of our snook are preparing to spawn and will be staying in areas where bait is readily available as they need to fatten up before it’s time to get down to business. Good opportunities for linesiders should present themselves in the passes and along the Gulf beaches as we proceed towards July.
You might find some reds mixed in these areas too, but the real action will be on the flats where schools of reds should be starting to appear.
And, if you’re looking for fishing experience of a lifetime, you still have a few weeks to hunt the elusive tarpon. These fish should be on their long trek back from their offshore spawn during the full moon. And when they return, you can bet they’ll be hungry.
Moving offshore American red snapper seem to be a hot topic. Although the limits are stringent, there’s plenty of other fish out there to make the lengthy trip offshore worthwhile. Limits of red grouper, mangrove snapper and yellowtail snapper are quite attainable, which can fill the cooler quickly if you’re on the right numbers.
Just remember while you’re offshore try to avoid the sharks and keep a keen eye on the sky as pop-up storms can become quite intense.
On my Just Reel charters, I’m seeing plenty of spotted seatrout on the daily.
Limits are being caught on most charters, although on the tail end of the full moon I’m noticing a larger mix of smaller fish, which just means we have to catch more to get a limit of slot-size fish.
Catch-and-release snook fishing is starting to heat up, especially along the beaches and passes.
There’s also a mix of migratory fish such as jack crevalle, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel on the deeper grass flats in Tampa Bay, which provides some good action as well as some excellent shark bait. Black tip and sandbar sharks are frequent along the beaches and western Tampa Bay, which can provide some great rod-bending action for my anglers wishing to test their strength.
