May and June are great months to book a fishing charter in Bradenton and Anna Maria Island Florida. The traffic is lighter as it is not prime time tourist season, the weather is beautiful, and the fishing is awesome. Now that the weather is warming for summer we try to get out in the morning and back in before it gets hot in the midafternoons.

Tarpon are here and they are hungry. This is prime time to catch a full-grown tarpon in Tampa Bay. The migratory fish are showing up more and more every day especially as we get closer to the full moon. They are all over Tampa Bay and in all the major passes in our area from Sarasota north to St Pete.  The fish also like to hangout around the Sunshine Skyway Bridge pilings and rock piles. Fishing around the Skyway for Tarpon also yields bycatch such as gag grouper, mangrove snapper, a variety of small sharks, Spanish mackerel, cobia, and more! When conditions are right this can add up to be an action-packed day. The tarpon also like to frequent the edges of the sandbars in Tampa Bay and out around Egmont Key. On our fishing charters when targeting tarpon we like to use live and fresh dead threadfin herring and small blue and pass crabs.

The mangrove snapper bite is starting to get better as the water warms in Tampa Bay. The artificial reefs in the bay, the bridges, and deeper mangrove edges with good current flowing are good areas to target these tasty fish. The minimum size limit is ten inches long and you can harvest five fish per person. The snapper has great eyesight so scaling down the leader to twenty pound or even fifteen pound can trigger more bites. Using live pilchards, cut dead pilchards, and live or dead shrimp are great baits to target mangrove snapper in Tampa Bay.  

There has been a lot of snook coming out of the Manatee River and heading towards the passes and beaches to spawn this summer. Snook are catch and release during the summer but provide great action on our fishing charters. They can get quite large frequently over thirty inches long and upwards of ten pounds. They are great fun on light spinning gear and test your angling abilities. On our fishing charters when targeting snook we like to use live pilchards and pinfish.

If you are looking for a fishing charter in the Bradenton/Anna Maria Island area, give me a call or text at 813-220-8725. You can also book online directly through my website at onamissionfishing.com.  On our fishing charters we fish in Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay. We fish with light tackle and live bait. I catch bait early in the morning before picking up customers for our fishing charter. I offer very family friendly trips and also cater to the pros. We are just a short thirty-minute drive north from Sarasota and Siesta Key. We are about the same distance from St Petersburg just over the famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge.