With water temperatures in the morning in the high 60′s and near 75 by day’s end, the fish are aggressive and will eat even large baits. Unfortunately, the water is still not crystal clear like it should be this time of year. It is clear enough to see the fish though. Most of the month, we experienced extremely low water levels. The water has risen this past week and with it came tons of floating grass that had been washed up on the shore. Weedless jerk baits are a necessity when the grass gets to be too thick. Color has not seemed to be too important as we have caught fish on a variety of shades. Presentation, however, is very important. Trying to catch tailing redfish means you are casting at a stationary target but your bait must get within a foot or less of them or they will not see it.

Ray had an excellent day on the Lagoon before he had to go to a job in Iraq. He landed double digit redfish, mostly on the 3″ DOA CAL tail and a 1/8 ounce jighead.

Joe wanted to try his hand at fly fishing for redfish. A steady 10 mph wind was a bit much for him to overcome with the fly but he did manage several nice reds on the 3″ CAL.

Jim fished Mosquito Lagoon with me the following day. He threw the fly all day long. We tried feeding some uncooperative black drum. We never convinced one to bite. Jim used a small tan shrimp imitation fly of his own creation to catch several redfish.

Mike was my next fly angler last week. We began the day throwing a bendback to some very shallow schools of redfish. While he came close a number of times, 10 feet more on his fly cast would have resulted in some hookups. Again we tried a multitude of flies on some black drum. The only bite he got ended when the leader broke on the hook set. Mike was able to get his first redfish to eat a fly he tied on a #4 hook with some orange/brown chenille, small lead eyes, and a tan wing. With shots at hundreds of fish throughout the day, we called it a success.

This Monday I took a trip to the St John’s River for some fly fishing for shad. While others I spoke to reported catching 30-40 shad, I caught that many fish but only 8 or so were the target species. The rest were a mixture of crappie, bass, bluegill, sunfish, and redbreast. The shad are there, however, and it seems to be a good run of them this year.

Tuesday, I fished with Jeff and Jim on their first flats fishing trip. We found the black drum a bit more willing to cooperate and even got a double header.

Tailing redfish were our next target. The tails were easy to spot as the water was smooth as glass. Soon we had tail in every direction. With lots of floating grass to deal with, I elected to go with a weedless CAL in melonback color. A Woodies rattle inserted near the tail helped the fish find the bait. The next few hours were filled with shots at hundreds of reds and some bent rods resulted.

We ended the day completing a Mosquito Lagoon slam by using the DOA Deadly Combo to catch numerous seatrout off the outside edge of the flat.

Wednesday was nearly a carbon copy of the day before. The only improvement was we had much clearer skies making it even easier to spot the fish when the sun came up. Rick and Cynthia started off the day bringing a few black drum to the boat before we moved on to tailing redfish. The first red came on a DOA shrimp but the weedless CAL bait proved to be a better choice with the heavy floating grass still around.In addition to landing numerous redfish, both caught a seatrout as well to complete a double slam for the second day in a row.

As long as the weather remains stable, the fishing will continue to be outstanding. Should a cold front blow through and drop the water temperatures significantly, the fish will drop off the flats for several days. If you must fish during those times, target the deeper edges of flats and sand troughs with jigs. As long as the water remains warm, however, the fish will be happy, schooling, and feeding.

Capt. Chris Myers

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Guide

The fishing the past couple weeks have been pretty productive. The past couple weeks we have also caught some pretty strange fish. The picture above is one of these weird fish that I have never seen before in the shallow waters of Southwest Florida. We actually caught this guy on the Mirrolure Lil’ John. These baits are proving they can catch any kind of fish. When one of my clients hooked this fish it fought quite like a flounder, hugging the bottom and leaving a dust trail. When the fish got closer to the boat it was quite apparent that it was by no means necessary a flounder. We all had  puzzled looks on our faces as we have never seen one before. Just before the fish got to the boat it came off the hook. After that it then laid on the sand bottom and froze. It gave us good opportunity to study this thing and to try and figure out what it was. When I got home I quickly did some research and this is what I could find. I guess this thing is called a Flying Gunard. It most defiantly looks like something out of a Si-fi movie. Besides all of that, the fishing has been really productive. With the warm weather we have had the past couple weeks and the increasing water temperatures the big trout have been showing up on our flats. Along with the big trout, we have also been seeing a big number of tailing Redfish. Normally we don’t see much of this when the water temperatures are real cold. But when the water temps start to rise these fish start waving the tails everywhere.

You’ll start to see them waving at you most likely when the tide turns and starts coming in. Try an look for them around low tide staging areas like sand holes, troughs, or even bar edges. That is where you should find them first. Once you do find them, it will be sure to get any fisherman’s blood pumping!

If you guys would like to fish the Charlotte Harbor area. Please visit www.nativesaltcharters.com

Last year I visited a local tackle shop to get some supplies and I saw a bright orange pipe hanging on the wall. I asked what it was and they said it was a landing net. There was no net that was visible to me, just an orange pipe. But then, I grabbed it off the wall and saw how it worked.

The Frabill Hiber-Net completely retracts into an aluminum tube. Absolutely amazing. You just slide the black handle away from you and the net pops out of it’s hiding place. I had to buy one.

I’m embarrassed to say this but I had lost more than a few fish at the side of the boat with clients on board in the past because I didn’t have a landing net on board. But, to me, the fish that were lost were worth it to avoid all the tangles and messes that having a net on the boat caused. Well, I don’t have to worry about that anymore and my clients can rest easy knowing I’ll get every fish they bring boat side into the boat for a picture now.

I’ve used the net for about a year now and here are my thoughts on the pros and cons of the net.

Pros:

• You can store this thing just about anywhere.
• When retracted, there’s no netting to get tangled up in anything, including hooks.
• It fits in most rod holders.
• It is built to last. Some times I lay it in the floor in the back of the boat where saltwater tends to pool at times. It’s been drenched in saltwater and there isn’t one speck of rust anywhere on it.
• It operates as designed flawlessly. It retracts and extends easily and without fail.
• It has a deep net and a wide “loop”. It has handled fish up to 39.5″ (22lb redfish)  for me with no problem

Cons:

• Though I like the flexibility of the netting, it is some sort of braided and un-coated material. It will get your hooks tangled in it at times when landing a fish.
• I had one spanish mackerel that had no trouble cutting through part of the mesh. The mesh doesn’t seem real resistant to sharp objects.
• Price. With a retail price of $79.99 it isn’t for the budget minded angler. However, if you value quality and convenience like I do, the cost is no issue.

Hit up your local tackle shop and check one of these out. If you have been frustrated by the “necessary” inconvenience of having a landing net on the boat, you owe it to yourself to get one of these nets by Frabill.

***Note: Frabill makes a 52″ and a 72″ version of this landing net. I personally own the 52″ version.

There are as many choices in braided lines these days as there are rods and reels.   For every angler, it comes down to choices.    These items are put to the heaviest test by fishing guides who put the equipment and tackle to the harshest test:  Handing it to a client.   It has been a few years since I first heard about Tuf-Line and back then, the comments were very good.   So I tried it after buying it at the local tackle shop.   The price was right and it worked very well.  

When I entered the guiding business, I fell into another sponsorship for line.   When years passed and it was time to find a different sponsor for line for my fishing reels, I did my research but in the back of my mind, I was still thinking about the Tuf-Line.    After consulting with Joe Hebert of Fish On Lures (The Edje and Silly Willy), I was introduced to some people at Tuf-Line.   Before long, I was supplied with Tuf-Line XP and Duracast to spool up and put to work on a daily basis to evaluate and see if I would like it to be what I use.   The company?   Western Filament, Incorporated dates back to the 1930’s.   Originally in “shoe laces”, now 60% of WFI’s revenue comes from fishing lines.  

Keeping in mind that my fishing is light tackle and lures for inshore species, the lines that I am using are the thinner diameter and not the really high pound-test lines that others may be using for other kinds of fishing.    The basis of my evaluation, I am interested in was the performance, the presence of “problematic situations” and the durability.    Ultimately, I can tell you that I consider all three to be incredibly important.   I do not want to be replacing line all the time (durability).   I want the line to have a nice fine feel to it and allow the average casting client to get good distance (performance).    The final piece of the puzzle, the “problematic situations”- those who have used braided line can remember back to their early days.    Braided lines can twist, particularly for people with little or no experience (for instance, some of my clients).    With different lines, there are different propensities for these problems.   

After use of the Tuf-Line XP and the Duracast, it is obvious that these two products score very well in all categories.    Castability: The lines rate just fine.    Durability: Months later, in some heavy use in some harsh conditions, the spools of line still look like new and there have been zero “failure incidents” with breaking.   The line tangles of the “Problematic” category have been very few and can be attributed to angler technique and not the product.    (As a side note:  All of these tangles were “resolved.”    The bunching up of line that has been commonly called “a wind knot” has been something that has occurred but in all cases, I was able to untwist and save the line, something that wasn’t always possible with other lines I used in the past.)

Strike Three Kayak Fishing reels, spooled up with Tuf-Line

Again, with clients being the main users of this equipment, their behaviors would be more likely to create more trouble than my own technique and this was not a problem with these products.   In my own use of the reels with this line:  Without any problems and great results.   The “feel” is very good.  Anyone who has used cheap braided lines will tell you that it is stiff, noisy and somewhat coarse.   Tuf-Line products feel smooth and round to the touch and the line rolls off a spool smoothly.  

I clearly marked the spools of the different lines I put on my reels.   I wanted to be able to draw comparisons between the Duracast and the XP.   What I found was that both rate out well in performance, durability and overall “value”.    I like the Duracast line but as a person who likes the test of time, I think that the XP is a great first choice for anyone.   

Find this line: And use it! Tuf-Line XP

The concept of value is very simple: You won’t be sorry if you buy either of these lines.   Compare prices, and then give it a shot.   For me, the updated “test of time” is complete for me. This is all I will use for my charter business because I am comfortable with knowing what I will get with value:  Performance, durability and rare, solvable problems.     
Other product notes and observations-

“Knot a problem!”   Leader to line connections are strong, unlike other lines that may be too slippery for tying knots.

Color options:  White, Green, Yellow and Red.  Take your pick; they’re all excellent choices.   My recommendation: Go “Green”.  

Test options:  6-pound up to 250-pound.   Useful for a variety of fishing situations.   For light inshore fishing, my recommendation: 15-pound for the beginner, lighter and lighter for the advanced angler.

For more information, visit  http://www.tuf-line.com/

Good luck and good fishing!

Neil Taylor
www.strikethreekayakfishing.com

There have been a couple of cold fronts that shut the bite down for a few days at a time but for the most part, this has been a really great winter as far as the fishing and the weather has gone.

The speckled sea trout fishing has been phenomenal. It’s absolutely amazing at how big our average fish has gotten since the red tide 7 years ago put a damper on things. The numbers are better than ever and the size is more impressive than I can remember. The best bite for trout has been on the really low tides around the new and full moons. They drop off into low troughs and cuts around Anclote key and make it easy for us to find them.

The redfish bite has has stayed strong, especially on the high tide from the Anclote river all the way up to Hudson. The areas just north of the Cotee river has really been productive. Most of the creeks and coves in these areas have held good keeper sized fish. Keep in mind that we need to hit these area on high water as the whole area is very shallow.

Snook are generally taking their normal break this time of year but we’ve had a few surprise catches of tarpon and cobia in the last week or so. The one tarpon we caught was caught on a live, free-lined shrimp and looked to weigh about 20lbs. It was a really cool surprise as we rarely ever catch tarpon this time of year.

Sheephead have invaded the flats and though we don’t target them much, we’ve had some great by-catches of 3-5lb fish. They taste great and are great fighters in shallow water.

Many people don’t realize what a great fishery we have here in the winter time. The trout fishing on our coast is some of the best in the whole country. I’m often asked, “I know it’s winter, but, is there anything to catch this time of year?” I answer with an emphatic, “Yes!” This is the only time if year where we have days of catching 75-100 trout; all keeper size or better. The redfish are still cooperating and you never no what other surprise might be awaiting at the next fishing spot! This is an awesome time of year to fish here. Don’t mis your chance to get out on the flats during this mild winter! Be sure to give me a ring to discuss your next fishing adventure.

The Pilot waders from Frogg Toggs are made from poly microfiber material that is both lightweight and breathable. They start at the bottom with 4mm neoprene feet which transition to reinforced material on the shins, knees and seat. The three chest pockets are both waterproof, which I found extremely useful, and large enough to carry all the equipment you will need. A safety belt doubles as a place to hook your kayak so you can tow it along while wade fishing.

On a recent kayak fishing trip, both the morning water and air temperatures were in the 50′s. While paddling long distances, I was glad not to have the cold water soaking me but was also sweating much less than I did with my old neoprene waders. By the days end, the water had warmed into the 60′s and the air was pushing 75. Even with the warmer temperatures, the breathable material allowed me to remain comfortable. I have worn both jeans and sweat pants as a base layer and have been comfortable with both.  Getting in and out of the Kayak throughout the day was also much simpler with the Frogg Toggs. With my old and tight nepoprenes, it was difficult to lift my leg high enough to get in.

If you are looking for a pair of breathable waders that will last you for years and provide excellent performance, check out the Frogg Toggs line. Perfect for Florida flats fishing during the cooler months. With the thin material, they pack small enough that you can travel with them on your trout and salmon fishing trips as well.