Our Family Fishing Trip Near Port Richey, Florida

Author:
Holle Abee
Updated:
Apr 10, 2024

Fishing at Port Richey
Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash

Our Fishing Trip to Florida

Several members of my family love saltwater fishing, including me. As a result, we try to take several fishing vacations every year, using all the information we've learned from past saltwater fishing. This summer, one of our Florida vacations was a saltwater fishing trip that took us to Port Richey for some tidal river angling and some flats fishing. We fished from our private Cotee River dock every day, and we went out for several fishing trips on a boat for flats fishing.

Fishing from the dock was fun, especially for the kids. The adult anglers, however, loved the flats fishing! For some reason, I like the idea of being able to see the bottom of the crystal-clear water. You can easily see if you're fishing over grass beds or over a sandy bottom. It's also easy to spot sand bars and other places that are likely to hold fish while flats fishing.

Jonathan was our bait-catcher while we were flats fishing.

Our private saltwater fishing dock on our fishing vacation.

A totem to the saltwater fishing gods near our dock. Notice the huge heads from fish caught from the Cotee River.

Our private saltwater fishing dock on our fishing vacation.

Saltwater Fishing in the Cotee River

With our vacation rental house, we had the use of our own private floating dock in the Pithlachascotee River, referred to by the locals around Port Richey as the “Cotee River.” The water there is brackish, so it’s possible to do saltwater fishing, along with the occasional freshwater species.

We caught a wide variety of species from the dock, including small redfish, black drum, sea robins, toadfish, sand trout, catfish, alligator gars, barracudas, and crabs. We also caught tons of pinfish, which we used for bait for flats fishing. We caught stingrays and a sea turtle, too. My son-in-law, Cory, caught a small cobia from the dock. Even my small granddaughters, who had never done any saltwater fishing before, were able to catch fish. And my young grandsons, who are already avid fishermen at the ages of seven and four, loved catching redfish, along with the pinfish we used for bait.

We hung some really large fish from the dock that broke our lines. I’m sure one was a huge cobia, and the others were probably sharks or big reds. That’s one of the best things about saltwater fishing—you never know what you might catch!

The kids enjoyed catching small redfish.

Flats Fishing Near Port Richey

On the second day of our fishing vacation, we took out a pontoon boat for some flats fishing. Our fishing trip started at Sunset Marina, which is adjacent to the vacation house we rented. The fishing trip took us only a few minutes to get to the flats' fishing grounds.

The water there was incredibly clear and calm. It was easy to see the bottom, most of which was covered with sea grass, with sandy patches here and there. All different sizes of pinfish were everywhere. If we ran out of bait, we could easily catch some more pinfish to use. Just about everything out on the flats eats pinfish.

One advantage that Port Richey has over other areas for flats fishing is that there are visible structures. Several "stilt houses" were built decades ago out in the gulf. Fish tend to congregate around the pilings of these wooden houses.

Cobia Fishing

We had heard from some Port Richey locals that cobia, or “ling” as they’re called in the gulf, were hanging around near the mouth of the Cotee, so we started out with some cobia fishing. I had done a little cobia fishing before, so it wasn’t completely foreign to me. Cory and Johnny used live pinfish as bait and fished near the bottom with a weight. I decided on freelining a mullet minnow. It wasn’t long before I hung a fish. I was using pretty light tackle, so I was in for a struggle.

The fish kept taking my drag, and I kept reeling in whenever I got some slack. The fish finally began to tire, and as it neared the boat, we could see that it was a cobia. It then got a new surge of energy and wrapped my line around the anchor rope. Cory pulled in the rope, along with the fish. We were disappointed to discover that it was only 30 inches long from the nose to the tail fork, and the legal size was 33 inches. If we could have measured the cobia’s full length, it would have been legal to keep. We released the fish unharmed.

The others decided to freeline their baits while cobia fishing, too. We hooked some more fish, but we ended up with broken lines. Next time I go cobia fishing, I’ll be taking some heavy-duty tackle.

Cory and Jade land a small shark while flats fishing.

Trout Fishing

The next day of flats fishing, we decided to focus on seatrout. Trout fishing had been pretty good, and we love to eat trout, so we were ready with jigs, shrimp, and small pinfish. We caught a few silvers while trout fishing but decided we didn’t get out early enough. The local anglers told us that trout fishing was best early in the morning and late in the evening. We gave up our trout fishing and went back to cobia fishing.

Evidently, the cobia were somewhere else that day. We did catch some small sharks, however, so all was not lost.

Another fish caught while flats fishing near a stilt house.

Another fish caught while flats fishing near a stilt house.

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Tarpon Fishing

On the fifth day of our fishing vacation, we took the boat out again. We offered the fish a variety of baits to see what was biting, and it seemed that tarpon fishing was in order. We used live pinfish for bait. After we began tarpon fishing, it wasn’t long before Cory hooked up with a tarpon. It put on quite a show as it tail-walked, ran, and ended up leaping over the boat. It finally tossed the hook.

Johnny hung a big tarpon soon after, and it must have been huge. It took all the line from his large saltwater fishing rod, finally snapping it. The same thing happened several more times that day of tarpon fishing.

I didn’t see anyone fly fishing for tarpon, but I would imagine that flats fishing in the Port Richey area with a fly rod would be very productive. The water is very calm. In fact, at times, it looked more like a giant lake than like a gulf. Fly fishing for tarpon and other species would be entirely possible. We might just have to make some fly-fishing trips to the area on our future fishing vacations.

Fly fishing trips would most likely result in not only tarpon but also redfish, trout, and cobia.

Planning Fishing Trips to Port Richey

If you’re interested in flats fishing, trolling, deep sea fishing, fly fishing trips or other types of saltwater fishing vacations, try the Port Richey area. You can choose from numerous fishing guides who are familiar with the area and know where the hot spots are. Or you could do as we did and rent your own boat for some flats fishing or fly fishing trips.

There are several marinas near the mouth of the gulf, so it would take only a few minutes for you to reach the fishing grounds. We used Sunset Marina and were very pleased with them. They also have live bait, frozen bait, ice, tackle, drinks, and snacks, which makes saltwater fishing trips very convenient.

We had a wonderful time on our fishing vacation. I hope you enjoyed the fishing photos!

Comments

Marcy Bialeschki from Cerro Gordo, IL on May 10, 2020:

I love fishing stories. I don't get to fish much anymore, but I love the water and the whole fishing vibe. You are so lucky to get to take such wonderful trips. Keep going! Keep writing!

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on October 26, 2010:

That's great, Moataz!

moataz on October 16, 2010:

it looks so nice there

we have very nice olaces for saltwater fishing in Egypt too

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 29, 2010:

Cool, Judy! I love flounder and trout!

judydianne from Palm Harbor, FL on July 28, 2010:

Last weekend he caught flounder and trout. He also catches red snapper.

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Hi, Judy! What does he usually catch?

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Nancy, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Awww...thanks, Eth!!

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Garnet, you need to go fishing, girl!

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Yes, Sheila, I think it's in our genes! lol

Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on July 28, 2010:

Bekah, we loved your neck of the woods! We had a wonderful family vacation and plan on returning soon!

judydianne from Palm Harbor, FL on July 27, 2010:

You were right up the road from me. My son, Rob, goes fly fishing on the Gulf in a kayak almost every weekend. He likes to fish at Sand Key.

Great pictures and good catches!

nancy_30 from Georgia on July 26, 2010:

It sounds like you had a really good fishing trip. I enjoyed reading about it and looking at the pictures.

Ethel Smith from Kingston-Upon-Hull on July 26, 2010:

Nice to see those beautiful kids again. This fishing trip would be heaven for Hubby

Gloria Siess from Wrightwood, California on July 26, 2010:

I haven't fished since I left Ohio--it's always such an adventure-lovely Hub and photos.

sheila b. on July 26, 2010:

The photos were so much fun to look at. What I appreciate most about your love of fishing is that it's multi-generational.

rebekahELLE from Tampa Bay on July 26, 2010:

oh what fun you had! look at those fish! I have been on those waters, but not fishing. my dad took me deep sea fishing when I was a little girl and I remember the smell!! my sons fish every once in a while. it is relaxing. aren't the waters beautiful here?

I know I'm so spoiled to be so close to the Gulf, but every time I get to the water, it reminds me to slow down and appreciate the beauty and simple pleasures of life. so wonderful that your family enjoyed such a special time together! thumbs up!

habee, are these hubs on the Florida hubtrail capstone?