A look back at Manatee’s best fishing stories of 2025. What will 2026 bring?
2025 has come and gone, and with it, a year of angling stories that some will tell for a lifetime.
The Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America and its name still causes divisiveness. I tend to just call it the Gulf as I care more about what comes out of it and not its name.
In January, the Gulf was still reeling from hurricanes that came through near the end of 2024. Water was dirty and finally started to clean. Angler Jamie Brown boated a large 32-inch dog snapper while fishing off St. Petersburg, something rarely seen this far north. In shallower water, angler Angel Cruz had a surprise at the Skyway Fishing Pier causeway when he landed a bonefish on a light jighead.
In February, the Gulf continued its surprises when Tim Lehman had a great white shark circle his boat in 70-feet of water off Anna Maria. Great whites tend to come closer to our coast when it’s colder, so the start of 2026 may bring more of the same.
March brought some sadness to the fishing community, when diver Drake Sweet never surfaced from a dive in 140-feet of water. Along with the recent disappearance of anglers Randy Spivey and Brandon Billmaier, it should serve as a reminder that no trip offshore is guaranteed for a return. Every moment and trip we as anglers need to be vigilant as much can go wrong quickly, and help is not close by.
April saw one of the most bizarre stories of the year when a captain jumped on the boat of another angler, cussed him out and threatened violence. The captain, Brock Horner, became virally infamous as a result.
May ushered in a nice stretch of weather and the biggest offshore field in the history of the Crosthwait Memorial Fishing Tournament as more than 20 tried their luck in the Gulf. The offshore division was won by Team Seaveeche while inshore was once again Team Richardson Stinton Roofing.
Richardson Stinton Roofing continued their dominance into June when they won the 19th Annual Fire Charity Fishing Tournament. A week later captain Ryan Harrington caught a tarpon that measured out to an estimated 244.2 pounds, which would have beat the Florida state record of 243. That fish may still be around to catch in 2026, as it was released to fight another day.
In July, Team Plan B / Cortez Cove showed up to the scales at the Sarasota Offshore Shootout with perhaps the biggest fish caught this year, a 335-pound warsaw grouper. Captain Dion Davis landed another one recently that may have been as large, showing giants do exist in the deep.
In the heat of August, captain Tyler Feijoo had a $25,000 bracelet fly off his wrist while fishing offshore in 160-feet of water. After a desperate plea the bracelet was recovered the next day by diver Dalton Conrad on the bottom at the same spot.
The beginning of September was one of the busiest times of the year on Tampa Bay. It was the opening of gag grouper season, which lasted only 15 days. Anglers found plenty of the closely protected gags and toward the end of this year divers have told me they’ve seen more gags than they can ever remember while diving in shallow spots of the Gulf.
October was a sad month for many of those same bay anglers. The southern Skyway Fishing Pier saw its fishing area nearly cut in half. 2026 may be some of the last opportunities at either fishing pier.
November and December have seen almost no rainfall and as a result waters are clean. Anglers say hogfishing has been as good as any previous year, a big change to how the previous year ended.
2025 was quite the year for bizarre stories, great catches and some unique ones as well. What will 2026 bring?