If you are from the Tampa Bay area or if you are just visiting, there is some great fishing to be done, especially if you are out looking around for some Clearwater fishing charters. Sure you can catch fish all day onshore, and their are some great spots for you to do so. Some of these spots include the Fort Desoto Piers, Redington Beach piers, surf fishing Clearwater Beach, Skyway Fishing Piers, Gandy Bridge, and the countless bridges that run through Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay area.

But if you want to get some big game fish such as Mahi Mahi, tarpon, sailfish, giant grouper and snapper, you will have to go offshore to so. You will need access to a boat to do this, which not everybody has, the next option would be to look into the Clearwater Fishing Charters. Clearwater Fishing Charters makes it so that the average Joe that doesn’t have the big boat and the fancy heavy duty fishing tackle a chance to hook up with some big fish. Lets face it, offshore fishing in Pinellas county without a Clearwater Fishing Charter can get expensive. First you will need a big enough boat that is made to handle rough seas, you never know what can happen when you are out there in the Gulf Of Mexico. Next you will need strong enough boat motors to get you out there, both the boat and the motor(s) can cost you well over 100,000 grand. Next you will need the fuel to get out there, which everybody knows these days is not cheap at all. The next money eater will be the fishing tackle, when you are fishing for big game fish like dolphin and mahi mahi, the rods and reels get very expensive, there is no if about it. Even if you can afford all of that fishing gear and the boat with some powerful motors, you will still need to know where and how to catch some fish. This could be beginners luck in some cases, but in almost every case this requires years of experience, something that Clearwater Fishing Charter captains have, since most of them have been fishing offshore in the Gulf Of Mexico all of their lives.

If you can afford all of that, and know tons of fishing holes in the gulf, then you would have no need for even looking into hiring a Clearwater fishing charter. But see there are not many people that are out there that have all of these luxuries, the thing is if you want to go out in the gulf and catch some big fish, it really isnt that expensive at all. Clearwater fishing charters can range from about 100 bucks into the thousands per person, all depending on how long you plan to go fishing, how far, and how big the boat is and how many people it will carry. Some clearwater fishing charters will take out 20 or more people at one time, these are the big boats, and would generally be cheaper than getting on a clearwater fishing charter that only takes out about 5 or 6 people. But which one do you think you will catch more fish on?

There are many types of fishing charters available in the Tampa Bay area, especially around the Clearwater area. Some fishing trips could be for just half a day, some are a full day, some will specialize in night fishing, and other small charters might specialize in snook fishing inshore. Some Clearwater fishing charters will go out fishing for days or even weeks, seeing that the gulf stream holds some of the best big game fishing in the world. A trip out to the gulf stream is going to cost you in the thousands though, but it will be a fishing trip of a lifetime for sure.

Most Clearwater fishing charters will include the gas, the tackle and the bait in the overall price. They will usually charge per person, and the better the captain is the more you should expect to pay, but it will be worth the extra money to get a clearwater fishing charter captain that has 20+ years of experience compared to a captain that has only a couple years of experience under their belt.

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Not everyone has the budget to hire a clearwater fishing charter, but there is an alternative, you may not catch as many fish but you have a good chance of hooking up with some by surf fishing. If you have ever been to clearwater beach in Florida, you will see that it is usually pretty packed, this may not be the best time to do some surf fishing there as you do not want to hook up with anyone. But if you visit clearwater beach in some of the colder months in Florida, such as the winter you will see that it is like a ghost town there on the beach. This is an excellent time to do some surf fishing and I have been successful many times hooking up with snapper, snook, sting rays and small sharks.

Before I even break out all of my fishing gear though I will make sure that the tide isnt too rough, if there are big waves crashing then it makes it more difficult for the fish to find the bait. I also want to make sure that the water is clear, and you can go out on the pier that they got there and check that, hell you can even fish from the pier if you want to, but as for me in the past I have had much better luck fishing from the beach  than I have had fishing from the pier at clearwater beach Florida.

You will need to make sure that you have long rod, the longer the fishing rod the further you will be able to cast out into the water. I also make sure I have a couple of egg sinkers on the leader line to give the line some extra weight, making it easy to get the bait out there where the fish are swimming. The kind of fishing line that I use is 15 pound test braided line, with a 30 pound test fluorcarbon leader line. I choose to use this set up because of the clearness of the fishing line and it has always worked for me in the past.

I use anywhere from a size 2-4 circle hook, and as for bait my favorite kind of bait to use are live shrimp. So you will also need a bait bucket and a small rope to keep the bait alive in the water. Make sure that you bring some chairs, and some surf rod holders because when it comes to surf fishing you will need to show some patience as fish do not always bite right away it could take some time, but once you have that big snapper or snook reeled in ashore it makes it all worth while.

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