Hillsborough River Fishing

[rverscharen]

I plan on fishing the Hillsborough next week after Christmas. I've lived here my whole life and have never fished it. I wanna catch largemouth but kinda unfamiliar with the thing. Anybody ever go out there and fish it? What ramp would you suggest, I gotta 21' flats boat and should I go north or south? Is there anything I should be alert out there for? Will the water level be okay? Lastly, what works well out there? Thanks

[davecon]

Anything upriver from 56th st. bridge is idle only. 

 

That size boat best ramp options are Fowler Ave. or Riverhills in Temple Terrace.

 

Try Senkos rigged Texas style with no weight at all. Gold Rapalas can be good early in the morning. Plenty of lures will work but those two should yield success even if the fish are mostly small, which is usually the case there.

[rabidsquirrel]

Do a forum search for Hillsborough River... There are a few posts I made a while back when I was 'new to the river' - I.e. hadn't launched or fished it before. In fact, here's one of my older posts: 

What to throw - 

When in doubt regarding color, go with June Bug. I've had success throwing swimbaits (Bitter's Naked Swimmer and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers), ribbon tail worms, zoom ultravibe worms, and hollow bodied frogs. I know guys catch them with the old school Rapala F11S (Original Floating Minnow with 3 trebles - Silver with Black Back) in the river as well.

Let us know how it goes! I've not been out there in a while!  

[rverscharen]

13 hours ago, rabidsquirrel said:

Do a forum search for Hillsborough River... There are a few posts I made a while back when I was 'new to the river' - I.e. hadn't launched or fished it before. In fact, here's one of my older posts: 

 

 

Yeah I had already read that forum, I just thought it was from a while back, and thought it'd be good to get some new information. I mostly just am interested in on where I should unload from and if I should go north or south. I don't know how long it's been since you were up there but if you wanna share any more info feel free . Thanks though 

[talon]

I live in the hillsbrough road area and am fishing bassically right next to hillsborough road into the river for the first time what lures should i use and what times should i go?

[heyitskirby]

On 5/21/2024 at 10:44 PM, talon said:

I live in the hillsbrough road area and am fishing bassically right next to hillsborough road into the river for the first time what lures should i use and what times should i go?

 

I'm not sure about bass there, but you can catch reds and snook depending on the time of year.  Since its brackish you may not have to worry about pinfish, so just using live shrimp on a circle hook with some weight or gulp on a jighead should produce results.

 

Snook fishing will best at night if there is a light on that bridge.  Best fishing in general will be in the fall.  I've also heard you can catch keeper reds from Lowry Park.

 

In the five years I lived right by there I never fished the Hillsborough, just sharing information I was given from the natives.