Indian Rocks Beach

Capt Hansen · December 2021

Hi all! I will be on a family Christmas Vacation over the Holidays, staying on the inside at Indian Rocks Beach. I plan to fish, but it will be low-key--I'm bringing one rod and a box of lures. I'll have a kayak to use, I'm hoping to catch some trout or reds or whatever is around there this time of year. Any pointers as to what kind of fish I should expect to find, general areas, and techniques are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

FastEddy · December 2021

In regards to the beaches in the area...
I fished the beaches yesterday morning just a few miles south of IRB... I caught 1 small Pompano,some Mackerel and lots of lady fish & whiting. This time of year I throw Doc's Goofy Jigs size 3/8th & 1/2oz (jig colors ,white , pink ,yellow & gold) with teasers (colors white,pink,orange,chartreuse). Also 1/4oz white bucktail jigs can produce well when conditions are somewhat calm and 1/2oz when we get heavier west winds. Those are basically my winter beach baits that I use.

I target trout,snook & reds in the inter-coastal this time of year - if you have a kayak you'd be better off hitting some of the grass flats in the inter-coastal along with mangroves,oyster beds and docks around residential canals. You can typically get away with just throwing small white paddle tails to cover water. I like to use a 20lb leader this time of year - it tends to get more bites then using 30lb.
Any of the gulp stuff can work well -from their paddles to their shrimp.

Also keep in mind - one thing that get's over looked is the afternoon bite this time of year can be better then the morning bite at times if the tides line up. It's been warming up later in the day and the fish seem to be more active later in the day. As far any other advice - check the tides and solunar times - if you can find peak times at the warmest part of the day - that's the time to be out there.

Also if you need a nearby place to launch your kayak in the inter-coastal ,Belleair Causeway Boat Ramp is a nice place(google it). You can either launch it off the dog beach and fish that backwater area or on the boat ramp side.

Capt Hansen · December 2021

Thanks for the great info, this is what makes this website so great. We're staying about a mile south of Bellair with a dock on the water, so I'll probably base my trips in that area, google shows some promising flats around there. Trying to decide if I should bring a fly rod. As it is now I'm bringing one 7' spinning rod and a small box of lures, jigs, and plastic.

RennieRae · December 2021

Great advice from FastEddy there Capt. Yes, bring the fly rod! If nothing else, the ladyfish will be pretty cooperative and can be good fun on fly. Also don't overlook the docklights in that area after dark... there will be plenty to choose from and the fly will get you bit consistently from many species. The yak will be perfect for that. Enjoy your trip and be sure to give us a report.

Reel-Lucky · December 2021

Snook are all over the docks right now, have fun!

drgibby · December 2021

Lots of good fishing around the oysters at the mouth of McKay creek. It's about a mile south of Bellair.

Capt Hansen · January 2022

Thanks to all who responded, I was able to get out a couple of mornings in the kayak. I got into some nice trout on topwater [Rapala Skitter Walk] on grass flats on high tide. Caught lots of small trout, lady fish, jacks and lizardfish on jig plastic and bucktail jigs in some deeper cut/channel areas. Caught a few on flies too. One brief session on the beach resulted in a zero, but the waves were a bit bigger than I'd like and there was a lot of grass. Never did try for snook around the lights, could quite get myself motivated to go out in a kayak in the dark. I did see a couple of snook hanging on the edge of oysters, one was about 30".