The Daily Catch | Fishing Report – April 2026

What a month it has been out here! As April winds down, the spring break crowds are starting to thin out, the water keeps inching warmer by the day, and you can feel the whole Gulf shifting gears around us. We had one stretch where the wind absolutely refused to lay down for five solid days, but outside of that, the weather has been about as good as it gets. Slick mornings, sunny skies, light breezes coming in off the beach, and fish to catch! The kind of day that reminds us exactly why we do this.

Spring Trolling and a Solid Bottom Bite

The spring trolling action is in full swing on our shorter 4–6 hour trips. Spanish mackerel have shown up, and the king mackerel are starting to crash our spread here and there too. The macks are fast, fun, and great for all ages, it’s the kind of bite that keeps the whole deck busy and everyone laughing through the doubles and triples. When a king does show up, those runs kick things up another notch.

When we’re not trolling, we’ve been parking on the bottom and putting together some really tasty mixed bags. Key West snapper, porgy, mangrove snapper, juvenile red grouper, and pufferfish have kept the rods bent. The biggest surprise this month has been the gag grouper. We thought their bite would taper off as the water warmed up, gags love that cooler winter water — but with the closures they’ve been under, the pressure on them is way down and they have been chewing harder than ever. Even though we’re catch-and-release on them right now, the fight alone has made them one of the most fun bites of the month.

Pushing Offshore for Cudas and Red Grouper

On our 6 and 8 hour trips we’ve been mixing it up, a stretch of bottom fishing first, then dropping the trolling lines for barracuda. The cudas are officially back. Early in the season they’re an easy trick, they’ll chase down just about anything flashy you drag past them, and the bites are explosive. As the season rolls on they get a little smarter and we usually have to start switching up our techniques to keep them honest, but right now it has been about as fun as it gets out here.

On our longer 8-12 hour trips we’ve started pushing out farther to find the resident red grouper. These guys get a little lazy through the winter, but once the water warms up they really start to chew. After such a long winter it has been a little tricky to dial them in, but we’ve been finding some absolute studs out there, and every long day has come back to the dock with quality fish on the deck. Here’s the wrinkle that surprised us most: they have not wanted the big chunk baits at all. They’ve been a little shy and are absolutely preferring a piece of squid with half a sardine. Like they say, elephants eat peanuts. Once we figured out what they wanted, the bite tightened up fast.

Looking Ahead to May and Red Snapper Season

May is right around the corner, and we’re expecting the trolling and bottom fishing to get even better. The barracuda action should keep ramping up, the Spanish mackerel should stay hot, and the red grouper bite should keep building as the water continues to warm.

And then it’s go time, red snapper season opens June 1st! We’ve got a great long season lined up this year and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Having that runway gives us so much more flexibility around the weather on our offshore trips and lets us spread the action out instead of cramming it all into a short window. That means we can pick our weather, put guests on quality fish trip after trip, and keep our crew fresh from start to finish. It’s still going to be a long, busy summer, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Book Your Trip

Whether you’re looking for a quick nearshore run for some mackerel and a cooler full of bottom fish, a mid-range trip with a little of everything, or a long day offshore chasing those red grouper studs, the crew at Stella Fishing Co. is ready to make it happen. Click HERE or give us a call at (727) 496-3474 to lock in your trip. The fish are biting, the weather is beautiful, and we’ll see you on the water!