May 5th, 2012 
Captain Brian Epperson 
TARPON TIME!
The tarpon bite is on! Recent night time trips are producing anywhere from six to 12 hook ups per night. The fish are varying in size from 20 to 120 pounds. No livebait is necessary as they are eating swimbaits, DOA baitbusters, and white flies. The tarpon bite will run into fall and we can expect to catch fish on any given night weather permitting.
May 1st, 2012 Captain Brian Epperson January 5th, 2012 Captain Brian Epperson
The recent cold front has really turned on the redfish bite! Schools of up to a hundred fish are roaming the shallows. I had the pleasure of fishing the last three days with Chuck a long time friend, who is in town from Alaska. Fishing with artificials, today we hooked close to 20 redfish w several double hookups. The fish ranged from 22-32 inches. We used the Hewes tailfisher shallow water skiff to pole right up to the schooling fish. As soon as we were in range, we would cast Gulp shrimp to the outer edges of the school. We had instant hook ups about every other cast.
If this sounds exciting to you, call and book a trip while the waters cool and the fishings hot! 813-610-7899
www.tampafishguide.com
October 15th, 2011 Captain Brian Epperson 
gator trout!
Cooling Water Equals More Fish 10-14
The Upper Tampa Bay area is starting to improve. This morning the water temperature at the Courtney Campbell Causeway was just 78 degrees. This area of the bay experiences algae blooms every year during the summer months. The water turns a thick coffee brown color and in some places is starved of oxygen. This equates to poor water quality and lesss fish. Seventy-five seems to be the magic number when the algae blooms dissipate. I expect cleaner water within the next few weeks.
Despite the stained color, trout and redfish are showing up in good numbers. Each trip is producing multiple seatrout over 20 inches with several in the 15-30 inch keeper size range. Best baits are anything you have. Scaled sardines, live shrimp, and artificial jigs or lures, all work equally effective.
Upper and over slot redfish are beginning to show in small schools of 3- 8 fish. As the water temps drop throughout the winter, these schools will combine into large groups upwards of 50-100 fish. Fishing in the area will only improve for the rest of the year. Good luck.
April 5th, 2011 Captain Brian Epperson I did my first snook trip of the year this weekend. I knew any fish alive from last winter would go crazy at the first sign of whitebait.With the recent rain it was tough to come by, but I eventually loaded the well in 6 feet over sandy bottom. With the wind blowing like crazy, my only option was deep in the canals. It paid off as the fish were thick and hungry. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for our beloved snook populations.
April 1st, 2011 Captain Brian Epperson Tampa Bay bow fishing is here! 
The skiff is ready to go and trips are going great. Recent outings have produced flounder, sheepshead, and mullet. I have a set of PSE barracuda bows that are working great. I went with the muzzy arrow rest as it feels the most comfortable w the setup. Give me a call if this interests you. Here is a link to the recent report.
http://forums.floridasportsman.com/forum/west-central-fishing-reports/bowfishing-tampa-bay-2-20
December 10th, 2010 Captain Brian Epperson This week I had to have a basal cell skin cancer removed from my face. The reason I am telling you this is I never thought this would happen to me. I am fairly dark skinned and rarely get any type of sunburn what so ever. It is believed that most of the damage is done as you are a child.
December 10th, 2010 Captain Brian Epperson We have some exciting stuff planned for 2011. I will soon be offering bowfishing trips as an alternative to hook and line fishing. Jeffrey Addington has put together a great new web site here and we hope to use it to its full potential.
December 10th, 2010 Captain Brian Epperson The cooler weather has finally herded up the redfish in the N end of the bay. Schools of anywhere from 20 to 50 fish can be found on a middle tide on at least three different flats from the Gandy bridge north all the way to Safety Harbor. These fish are new to the area and are not totally spookish, but you must still approach them as quietly as possible. Best bet is set up in front of them and have them come to you, or to quietly pole up to the herd.
December 10th, 2010 Captain Brian Epperson Flat Out Good Fishing.
This year I have seen more flounder caught than I can ever remember. It seems they are being caught everywhere. Flounder are being pulled in offshore while grouper fishing. On the flats while trout fishing, and even under the bridges while jigging for pompano.
I am not sure for the abundance of these delicious fish this year, but I for one am not complaining. The red tide the Tampa Bay area recieved a few years ago definitely took its toll on the population, but it seems numbers are rebounding better than before.
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