Archive for October, 2010
Got Mike and Nate out today to do some low tide pothole fishing. We put in at 9:30 and paddled out to my spot. Using Mirrolure golden bream ‘lil john’ baits rigged on Slayer Inc jigheads we managed to catch 50+ trout up to 24″
(5lbs) as well as a handful of redfish. Mike and Nate also hooked into a couple of big snook that bested them, breaking their leader before we could land them. They each brought home plenty of trout for dinner, and at the end of the day I made quick work of the trout fillets for them. Another beautiful day of kayak fishing in Tampa Bay, Fl!
Headed down south to fish with my long time fishing buddy and tournament fishing partner Cameron Schurlknight in his home waters of Venice yesterday.
We launched our kayaks several hours after sunrise into the Gulf of Mexico and paddled out to catch bait. Our bait of choice today would be small, juvenile spanish mackeral. We paddled out to the first school of bait we saw getting hit by mackeral and soon had a couple baits out the back of the kayaks on stinger rigs. We proceeded to catch mackeral and the hard fighting bonita until I hooked up the first king of the day. After a short fight I had him boat side.
This process continued for much of the day, catch a small mackeral, rig it up on the stinger rig behind the kayak, proceed with catching mackeral and bonita until my big rod went off. Aside from kingfish we also hooked into sharks, mackeral, bonita and had several shots and tarpon as well.
Now is the time to go kingfishing! With water temps in the 70’s, with light winds the bait will stay close to the beach bringing in the predators that eat them (spanish mackeral and kingfish). Enjoy the pics!
Put the kayak in this morning inside of Tampa Bay hoping to target some transitioning snook. I chose to target snook this morning because of the good moving outgoing tide which I prefer for snooking fishing. Bait was plentiful, especially finger mullet which is exactly what I wanted to see. The lures I had chosen today would imitate these bait fish very well.
Working mangrove islands, points, cuts and oyster bars I was able to catch at least a dozen or more underslot, ”cookie cutter” snook on topwater and subsurface plugs. I also lost a much larger snook that broke my leader after swallowing my plug deeper, as well as several follow ups from large fish as well.
If you like to snook fish now is the time! With winter bearing down on us, these fish will be actively gorging themselves for the upcoming winter until cooler temps force them into their winter time hide outs where they will become extremely inactive until spring.
Tackle used today, 6′6″ and 7′0 TFO 8-17 lb rods with 10 lb braid, and 30′ leader. The lures of choice were Super Spook Jr’s and Sebile stick shads.
Sorry no pictures, forgot to charge my camera the night before!
Got Clyde, his son Drew and nephew Shane out in the kayaks yesterday to do some low tide fishing in Tampa Bay.
The day started early when Clyde and Drew doubled up on two perfect slot sized redfish out of a school of roughly 40-50 other tailing reds… first two casts of the day too, can’t beat that! We continued to trout fish some deeper flats while waiting for the tide to fall.
Once the tide had bottomed out we proceeded to fish the potholes and troughs I believed the fish would be trapped in during the low tide. It didn’t take long to kick things off with some low slot red fish and trout mixed in. We worked the hole for a couple hours bringing in several dozen reds and trout before the incoming tide had finally gotten high enough for the fish to escape the confines of the hole and move out onto the flat.
Tackle used today: TFO spinning rods 7 & 71/2 ft w/ 3000 Shimano spinning reels, 10 lb braided line, 20 lb leader and goldenbream DOA paddle tails on 1/4 oz jig heads.
Enjoy the pics!
With winter time upon us we will begin to see very low tides, some times even negative (below mean low water), that provide excellent sight fishing opportunities for the kayak angler in Tampa Bay.
Mike and myself launched our kayaks into the waters of Tampa Bay around 7 am and paddled to the area I expected to find redfish tailing. Mike picked up a couple trout on topwater on the way, until we finally reached the spot I knew the fish would be in. We began slowly and thoroughly inspecting the flat for signs of tailing redfish and it wasn’t long before we saw tails breaching the surface. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story, enjoy!
Tackle used today: TFO 7 1/2 ft 6-12lb rods, 10 lb braided line, 20 lb leader, and the bait of choice for the tailers were exude’s fan tail shrimp.
With our first season’s cold fronts and summer officially behind us, kayak fishing remains hot and steady here in Tampa Bay. Negative low tides in the morning will produce great opportunities for kayak anglers in Tampa Bay to access and fish areas otherwise impossible to reach by other means.
Tactics have changed some, but here’s what to expect:
Snook: In Tampa Bay snook will begin to leave their summer haunts along the beaches and passes and head towards their back country refuges where they will stay throughout the winter. This means targeting them almost exclusively on the flats, where they will remain to gorge themselves on the still readily available bait, until finally being forced into warmer waters of canals, creeks, rivers, marinas, etc. This will make them much more easily accessible to the kayak angler here in Tampa Bay. Snook fishing will slow down as the weather cools off more as they are a subtropical species of fish that are quite sensitive to the cooler water temps.
Redfish: Large schools of breeder sized “bull reds” (fish typically of 30″ or ten pounds or greater) will remain on the flats of Tampa Bay gorging themselves before they eventually leave with the start of winter. Likewise, resident fish not yet part of the breeding population will remain here year round (specifically through the winter) and readily available to the kayak fishermen in Tampa Bay. The negative lowtides of winter will allow for some great opportunities to catch serious numbers of redfish trapped in potholes, troughs and tidal pools created by the extreme low water levels… double digit days are not uncommon.
Trout: With winter brings the best trout fishing Tampa Bay will see all year. Large “gator” size trout, over 5 pounds, will move into the area in force. These fish are highly sought after by inshore fishing enthusiasts in Tampa Bay, and are readily available to all kayak fishermen.
Pelagic Species: Spanish Mackeral, Bluefish, and King Mackeral will all be readily available to kayak fishermen in Tampa Bay along all of the areas beaches. These fish will be passing through the area during their migration south, and though the window for opportunity for them is fairly small, concentrations of these species will remain available for several months.
For any questions, booking information, or any and all other inquisitions or comments you can reach me best by phone @ (727) 742-4736 or by e-mail; tampabaykayakcharters@gmail.com
Thanks for reading and tight lines!
