Kayak fishing the Tampa Bay area for the month of November was a “boom or bust” situation. It can be that way any time of the year, but normally the month of November has some of the more predictable fishing of the year. Regardless, we’re very fortunate in this area: fish populations are in good shape and odds on intercepting a quality fish are always very high. Water temperatures have finally dropped a considerable amount.
Without a doubt, a big part of the story for the last few weeks has been about Flounder. Decimated in parts of this area by a HAB (Harmful Algae Bloom) in 2005 and 2006, flounder were one of the species hardest hit. They were also the slowest to make a recovery. Other areas that weren’t hit as hard didn’t have such a big impact on that fishery. In the area around Hurricane Pass in the Dunedin/Palm Harbor area, I didn’t hear of a single flounder caught in a two year span of time. Now, about two are caught per outing, as accidental catch and in 2010 they will probably be a targetable species in this area again.
Speckled trout are on the verge of their wintertime invasion. With the size of the trout last winter, expect many fish getting close to that 30-inch mark to be reported. Redfish are still being caught on almost every outing but they’re more likely to be found in the smaller groups instead of the larger schools of Fall. Snook were caught on the flats but with the dip in temperature most of the fish will take up residence in the rivers and canals for the months to come.
Large black drum made a brief appearance, oddly enough, mixed in with a pod of manatees. Similar in size to the massive school seen in the spring, one hook-up on the 3-inch “Mullet” eventually led to a breakoff by a fish that was probably a 50 to 60-pound fish. I’m relatively certain the line wrapped around another fish when the breakoff occurred. Drum will “make a run” then “rejoin the school.”
The kayak fishing of the negative low tides led to some terrific sunrise action, when the weather has allowed it. The deeper sand or mud bottom troughs inside the flats have held bluefish, flounder, ladyfish, trout and some redfish. Access to many of these spots is “kayak or not at all.” In fact, on any tide that’s below a Minus point Four, many of these locations require a kayak angler to get out and drag their boat across some short stretches to get to these pools of water. As the tides are rising, the action shifts from the trough pools to the areas that start to get covered with water. Redfish will jump up to those areas to search for easy meals. Often the water will be shallow enough to see tailing redfish in this situation. With redfish spread out in smaller groups, these negative low tides and the first hour and a half that follows has been best for connecting with this species. The theory’s pretty simple: With so many other areas completely dry, there are far fewer areas where they can be. As the tide gets up a ways, these fish have a lot more options.
Though the forecast looks as if it may be a rough start to the month, December will have some great fishing!
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