Honeymoon Island

[Rik]

HONEYMOON ISLAND

Directions: From Tampa head west on Hillsborough Avenue. Stay on 584 (Curlew Rd.) to the Dunedin Causeway. Launch on the north side of the causeway at the last bridge before the park and the Caladesi Island Ferry.

Honeymoon Island's Website

Paddling Difficulty: Easy(Windy days could present a problem)
Closest Tackle Shop: Get Hooked Bait and Tackle.



Description: If you get to Honeymoon Island on a weekend afternoon, you wouldn’t think that the fishing would be all that good. Jet Skis, parasails, boats, people, and more people are everywhere. It’s noisy and the car traffic is annoying. In addition, the best launch spot is a rocky, slippery stretch of beach. It is not very inviting.

But get there early in the morning and the atmosphere is completely different. Shore birds are picking up an early morning meal. Mullet are running along the beach. It looks like a nice place to fish.

After launching prepare for about a 20-minute paddle to the west. This will put you on the backside of Honeymoon Island. Once you get you will be in a No Motor Zone. The NMZ seems to be adhered to by boaters. The few boats you see will have their motors up and using either their trolling motors or poling.

The zone contains acres of beautiful grass flats broken up by some deep holes. Trout of all sizes abound on these flats. The largest ones seem to cruise the shallower areas. You’ll find plenty of medium sized trout along the edges flats next to the deep holes.

There is an island in the middle of zone that is surrounded by oyster bars. Obviously this is a great place to look for redfish. They also bunch up in the pass between the smaller island and Honeymoon Island when the tide is moving. There are some small sandbars and oyster bars in there that funnel the baitfish.

You can find snook all along the mangroves that line Honeymoon Island. If you are feeling adventurous, you can paddle north to the pass for some outstanding snook fishing. While not as good as it once was, this pass has a reputation for holding some large snook.

Tarpon are seen with frequency in the deep holes in the summertime. Plan on being there early before the traffic gets too hectic.

The flats are not good for wading. Mucky bottom and sharp oyster bars make for rough going. In addition, it’s hard to find a good beach to land your boat and stretch your legs.

A few notes about the paddle are in order. If you return on a weekend afternoon, you’ll find paddling the last stretch a little tricky. Heavy boat traffic from various directions will put a good chop on the water. In addition I would not recommend trying this paddle in the wintertime with a north wind. I imagine it could get very nasty crossing the sound.

[Lutzgater]

To add more detail regarding this large expanse:
The causeway gives you 2 choices:

- Heading north is the large grass-filled flats that Rik mentions on the backside of Honeymoon Island. One can fish an entire day and work both tides with access to the large flats and the pass on the North tip of HMI. Paddle alongside the multi-story condos seawall towards HMI and you find some oyster bars and interesting activity as the HMI park seawall turns north. Backside of HMI is one of my favorite places in Tampa for AM fishing. I like this area because it gives me such a variety of fishing habitats, large flats, oyster bars, pass and the Western beach. On days when the wind is low, this massive flat is magical because you can hear everything… like the sharks and dolphin hammering mullet, snook and trout popping, ospreys dive bombing. My favorite spots are right on the crest of the shoreline where you can view the northern tip of HMI. Fishing on this bend, the water flows strong and the action is excellent in the AM. From the causeway to the Northern tip of HMI is about 2.6 miles even though it does not look that far, but be prepared to work if the pass is your destination and check your winds. Also, the condo seawalls can really amplify the wave action so be prepared to get wet if boat traffic is around or the winds are blowing out of the North or East.

- Heading south, you are looking at Caladesi Island which also provides large flats and of course the wicked pass currents found between Caladesi and Honeymoon. Almost anyone who has ever hunted snook, has fished the Caladesi tip. The pass is a very heavily traveled boat area so you have to be smart and alert as you travel across that wide channel. I rarely head south unless I am on the water before sunrise and don’t have to worry about crazed smoke-pots and water-nats. One last thing, strong winds out of the West combined with an incoming tide make the waters along the tip of Caladesi very treacherous. I have seen more dumps/rolls in this small area because of the tightly funneled currents between the two islands. If you want to avoid this, simply head due south to the flats along the backside of CI instead of heading for the CI tip and the waters calm down and the passage is far less stressful.

[robin]

I'm new to paddle boats, but I have fished the flats between Clearwater and North Honeymoon many times. The specks there are suckers for Love Lure tandem jigs (or the cheaper look-alikes sold at Wal-Mart) and double hookups are common. Drift the flats on an incoming tide and you will catch five times the fish of stationary boats.

They will also hit a clauser minnow fly, and they aren't fussy about presentation.

[LivelyBaits]

[VARick]

I think this is a sign of the times and more will go under.
The one farther south on Alt 19 (east side), is up for sale.

[LivelyBaits]

Yes, that's for sale. Older guy who is probably just ready to be out of it.
DFC is there to stay. He enjoys running that business and he is open from 5:30 AM to 6PM 364 days a year (noteworthy for you Christmas Day anglers)

The building where Get Hooked was is owned by people who have the property behind there. There's no idea what's going to happen at this point but there isn't much structure left inside for someone to step back in and reopen it.

[yaksailor]

Not sure what the name is but there is a bait shop now open at the beginning of the Duneden causeway. The man behind the counter said he has been open now for almost 5 months. Thought you'd like to know

[nemo327]

Barracuda Bobs is the name of the bait shop on the Dunedin causeway.