Fishing with Mom: Tampa Bay Ocean . Any advice?

After almost two years of being stuck on this side of the border, I am finally off to FL to see my mother in October. My Mom, who is now 85, has always enjoyed catching fish,and she has had some epic fishing trips in her life catching Halibut, Marlin, Grouper and Salmon to name a few.  Key word being "Catching". She has found a like minded lady in her retirement community who has the same passion. So next step they call me to see if I can arrange something for the week I am there in October. Her friend is of the opinion that there is no fish to be had until March, but Mom would like to see if there are any options/opinions.

I am guessing that there are Florida  fishermen on this forum who know the lay of the land. I put forth a trip to Isla Morada, but that did not fly, they would rather it be a day trip.

Wait till March or just Google up fishing charters in the area?

Pete

Fish gotta eat.  They may not be running in huge schools, but there's fish in them thar waters.  Talk to some local charter captains.

Edit:  Found this in a quick google.  It's old, but I can't guess things have changed that much.

https://www.tampaflfishingcharters.com/tampafishing/2010/tampa-bay-fishing-october-report/

We've done some fishing charters.  Find a private captain and research them.  We were hanging out at the marina waiting on one and were told by the marina operators that our captain had a reputation for not showing sometimes.

He did and we had a great time, but the marina guys were legit surprised to see him pull up.

Edit: also, we wore light jackets and damn near froze our asses off.  Prep for windchill.

What's the latest on snook season on the western coast? I think you'll be in it. That's a fun one to chase with a knowledgeable local captain.

Check Facebook for local charters with decent luck. Any charter out of tampa area should at least keep you in snapper if doing near coast. I'd check on redfish season, too. Might be good timing depending on when they move inshore/upstream in the area.

When I lived there we used to go up to the Crystal River area for inshore charters, but the Tampa Bay fishing is much better than it was in those years. 

Redfish would do. Truth be told I am afraid a big fish might pull the arms off these two nice old ladies, but they both want to go fishing again before they die, so I will start looking for a charter. No idea how to vet them, but lets see what I find. Open to suggestions if anyone has used one in the Tampa area.

Dude.... so happy you get to see your mom after all this craziness.

I have nothing much to offer other than this reminds me of fishing with Pappy and Dad.  Pappy lived in Ruskin and we used to put his boat in off the end of Cockroach Bay Rd and wind our way out to the bay while dodging Manatees.  I'm not even sure if we caught anything or what they were, but thanks for the pleasant memory.