Snook and redfish stay active in Sarasota Bay as fall settles in
Tampa Bay water sat at 82.4°F this morning at NOAA CO-OPS station 8726520, with the Clearwater Beach station reading 81.5°F, still solidly summer-warm for late September. Inshore, Capt. Kelly Kurtz of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key reports an active bite on snook and redfish in Sarasota Bay this week. Capt. Brandon Naeve notes the Gulf Coast fall snook season, which opened September 1, is drawing anglers south toward Fort Myers. Florida Sea Grant also flagged a rare rust tide algae detection in nearby Charlotte Harbor, worth watching before a trip that direction.
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What's biting
What's next
Today's tide at the St. Petersburg gauge bottoms near 9:55 a.m. and builds to a 4:25 p.m. high; the Clearwater Beach station peaks near 1:34 p.m. and falls back by 7:06 p.m. Plan snook and redfish drifts around those swings, since Capt. Kurtz's Sarasota Bay bite has been coming on moving water.
Capt. Rick Grassett's outlook into October expects snook to keep staging around docks and bridges in the ICW and on shallow flats as they work toward wintering areas, with live shrimp and pilchards around structure producing best. Tarpon are thinning out of the coastal Gulf per Grassett, holding around bridges and deep grass flats in inside waters before their fall migration south, so that bite is fading fast.
With the moon waning gibbous, expect a lighter tidal push than around the full moon, making early and late-day windows the most reliable time to fish this week.
Context
Late September sits at the heart of the Gulf Coast's fall snook season, which reopens statewide September 1 after the summer closure, and this year's pattern is running on schedule: warm water is holding fish tight to structure and passes as they begin the move toward wintering grounds. Tarpon numbers typically taper through September as the bulk of the migratory push exits the coastal Gulf for deeper or more southerly water, consistent with this week's reports. Redfish and snook activity in the back bays is typical for this transitional window between summer and the cooler months ahead.
Synthesized from real-time NOAA buoy data, USGS stream gauges, and current reports across regional fishing blogs, captain updates, and angler forums. Check local regulations before keeping fish. Never trust a single source for a trip decision.
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