The good, the bad and the ugly described the conditions the past two weeks. Record heat gave way to record low temperatures. The benefit was a significant jump in the feeding activity of redfish and snook prior to the front’s arrival; the bad was the blustery conditions that 15 plus knot winds bring that lasted for six days. The ugly is how the water looks after that much wind for that long. But as things stabilized, the air got to a comfortable temperature, the waters cleared up and the fish are very cooperative.
Just before the “blow” Mike, Joe and Paul Stein had an outing for Paul’s birthday. With the approach of the front, the winds rose from the southwest. It narrowed the window of opportunity for these men. Paul connected on a redfish pretty early on. Then two trout for (father) Joe. West winds pushed more and more water in and things just flooded in upper Tampa Bay.
Kate and Steve wanted to tangle with some redfish. Always a competitive thing with them. Steve took the early lead, catching the first one. Then he was hooked up to another when Kate also had the rod double over. After that it was “all Kate.” The final tally was 5 to 2. One of Kate’s reds was. 26 spots-26 inches, one spot per inch
Nevin booked a trip to break the “redfish jinx” he’s had since moving here a year ago. We did that, then some. Nevin caught about five redfish, with his last one being a goofy “spot at the bottom of the tail” fish. This fish took him on a little “ride” towing the Ultimate boat around.
Ed and Josh wanted to try out the evening fishing. This was their second trip with me. Josh caught his first red on the initial outing. This time out? He got his first snook on a beautiful Florida evening.
Bobby “BTrain” wanted to get as much instruction he could to help him with his kayak fishing. He’s been trying it for a while and had a base of experience to draw from. I gave him some philosophy and technique instructions for using the 12 Fathom 3″ mullet. As soon as we arrived to the area he would be fishing, he got strikes. He had action the rest of the day. Bobby’s 19 inch trout was his first “keeper fish” caught in Florida. He never switched from the mullet tail and he caught a variety of species: Flounder, trout, ladyfish, lizardfish and grouper.
Bo, Rick and Vin got out for a morning trip this week. Rick, visiting from California, had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Vin and Bo (father/son) are local. Vin connected first on two redfish. Bo and Rick tangled with a couple of sharks. What happened next was humbling. Rick connected with and fought up to the Native Watercraft the two biggest redfish of the day. The first broke the line when I was trying to secure the fish for the photo. Charged up by the experience of fighting the red, Rick didn’t even seem to mind. The second fish, I was also making the effort to get in my boat when I bumped the fish on the edge of my boat and saw the hook pop out. One hand under the fish for several seconds, I tried to “get a grip” but with one thrust of the tail and half a gallon of water in my face: His fish was gone.
Vin (who should be a motivational speaker) said to me “Why don’t we look at it this way: if you didn’t take us fishing, we’d have never found these fish to begin with.” Bo closed out the day with a fat redfish of his own. All three caught upper slot redfish. Rick just doesn’t have any photographic “proof.”
As always: Be careful out there!
Neil Taylor
Guide Services-Tampa Bay Region
Adventure Kayak Fishing
www.adventurekayakfishing.com
(Cell) 727-692-6345
LivelyBaits@aol.com
Thanks for the article. You have a real way with words. I sent it out to my friends and family to read.
Don’t forget to send me information on any decals you want.
Nevin