December 14th, 2011

Kelly and I hit the Rally for coffee and a donut before heading down the road to the 4^th Street launch. We were paddling away a short time later, just at first light—about 6:30am.

Both Kelly and I had been anticipating this trip for two weeks. After such a huge day our last time out, we were eager to see if the gator trout and reds would still be at the Backyard. Add to the mix that the moon and tide were just right, the wind was down, and that a high pressure front was coming through later that afternoon, and you can imagine our anticipation. The recipe was right.

The water was calm but not glassy, and surprisingly quiet. No mullet jumping, no signs of bait, and the birds were still roosting in the mangroves. Just south of Steve’s Hole we saw some mullet moving along the shoreline and threw a couple of topwaters, but after a few casts and not a hit, we paddled on to the Courtyard.

At the Courtyard, Kelly went around behind a mangrove island and anchored up, and I drifted in toward the same spot and threw my super spook. Right around the same hole where I caught a trout and red last time, I got a couple of follows and short strikes, but no real commitments and no hook-ups.

As I drifted around the backside of the island, I heard Kelly let out shout and saw his rod bent over. A short time later he brought a nice trout to hand. Moments later, a fish crushed my topwater lure, and I brought in a 19” trout. Then, just as I released my fish, I hear Kelly’s drag going off and I can see that he’s got a heavy fish on, so I paddle over to see him pull in a fat 24” redfish. Not only was he happy to catch the red, but he caught both fish on a gold spoon.

Side note: Both Kelly and I spend a lot of time reading fishing reports, blogs, and anything else about catching fish in our area. From time to time we’ll read a report where some guy has caught a crap load of redfish throwing a gold spoon. So naturally, Kelly and I both had bought gold spoons, but neither of us had ever caught a thing using them. This morning, Kelly had committed to throwing a gold spoon, so catching a trout and a red back-to-back was pretty significant and interesting to both him and me.

We might have stayed in the Courtyard longer, but after getting the skunk off, we were pretty anxious to head over to the Backyard, so we paddled off. A few minutes later we drifted in and set up exactly where we had been just two weeks before.

Ten casts later, we were scratching our heads. Not a bite. No action. Kelly was alternating between a spook and his spoon, and I was alternating casting a spook and a 1/8^th chartreuse jighead with a DOA shad tail.

We kept at it, and I don’t know who hooked up first, but we spent the next hour catching fish at a pretty steady clip. I caught five trout, the shortest at 18” and the biggest at 22”. My biggest trout came on the jighead/shad tail combo. I also got into a school of small reds, catching three. Kelly also brought in 5 more trout, all in the same size range, and another rat red. We also both had notable big misses. I had a big fish hit my topwater like a bomb going off, but missed the hookset, and Kelly had a fish on that took off like a rocket and was screaming drag, only to have his loop knot fail. Unfortunately, he lost his bone colored spook as a result. That thing had caught a lot of fish.

The tide changed over and the wind died shortly after, and with it, so did the bite. We kept fishing pretty hard, but didn’t bring another fish to hand. I did scout out a nearby area that looks great for redfish, and both Kelly and I spooked a bunch of reds, but they weren’t really biting.

I didn’t take any photos of my fish, but I did take some video of most of them. Upon looking back at the footage, I noted that several of the fish were lacking in the girth of the fish from two weeks ago. I’m taking this as a good sign that they have dropped their eggs. November and December are closed to trout harvesting for this reason—they are spawning, and to take a fish with roe is like taking 100 fish. There is talk of opening up the trout season to harvesting year ‘round, and for the sake of the fishery (and common sense) I hope the measure is dropped.

December 4, 2011

Kelly and I met up at the Rally on 4th Street at around 6:15am, got our coffee and donut, and shot down the road to the 4th Street launch at the Howard Frankland.

Our goal today was to redeem ourselves at the Courtyard, and after loading up the yaks, we paddled out. The wind was not too bad to start, maybe 7-8mph, but within twenty minutes, it was over 10 and it would steadily increase throughout the day.We stopped a few times to throw the spook at our usual haunts, but we couldn't even muster a hit.

We finally paddled up on the Courtyard and after rounding the mangroves, got a respite from the wind. Kelly and I set up about 50 yards apart and started a slow drift as the incoming tide pushed us in. I alternated throwing a weedless DOA shad tail and my spook topwater. Kelly worked topwater exclusively.

I fanned casts out 360 degrees around me, just prospecting. After about 10 minutes, I got my first hit in the middle of the Courtyard. The fish missed the hit, but I kept at it and after a couple more blow-ups, finally connected with a nice 24" redfish. Interestingly, it had one spot on one side, and two on the other

At 24", he was right in the middle of the slot, so I put him in my cold bag and stashed him in the hatch of the yak. Kelly had paddled around to take the photo of my red, so I pointed him in the right direction and we both started throwing spooks in area where I had hooked up. A few casts later, I had a truly enormous redfish take my lure and run for the hills. I held on and got him turned, only to have the hook pull.

There was much cursing.

Kelly and I paddled over to another part of the Courtyard, but couldn't get a bite. The whole time there were pelicans diving back over where I had hooked up with the red, so we paddled back over, and in short time I caught a 20" beauty of a trout.

After a few more casts, we decided to paddle off to a new location that I will now call the Backyard. I'd been eying the spot on Google Earth for some time, and it didn't disappoint. I trolled the weedless DOA shad tail on the way in, and as I paused to throw my first topwater, I heard my rod bump around in the rod holder and the fight was on. To my surprise, I would pull in my second 20"+ trout of the day:

Kelly and I set up in the Backyard and started throwing topwater. The bites came fast and furious. I would soon pick up another 24" trout on topwater, and then another that was the biggest I've ever caught, a truly epic fish that unfortunately, I forgot to measure.

In the meantime, Kelly had at least a dozen blow ups on his spook without a single hook-up. I started making fun of him and eased up on my casting to get him in the zone. Just as his inability to hook-up bordered on the absurd, he finally got lit up by a 20"+ trout.

We would continue casting in the Backyard for another hour, and Kelly added three more gator trout and I added two. He topped off the session with a nice redfish around 27". Not included in that total were at least a half dozen big trout and reds that came unbuttoned after hooking up. Keep in mind that we were working the topwaters in a half-foot of chop, so imagine what might have happened in better conditions.

As we paddled back toward the launch, we both were just stunned by the quality of the trout that we had caught. To catch one gator trout can make your day. To catch ten or so between the two of us made our year.

We stopped in Steve's Hole on the way back where I caught three more under-slot trout on the DOA shad tail, then we finally got off the water.

Epic.

November 19th, 2011

I had been looking forward to fishing all week, partly because I had missed fishing last weekend due to a bad cold, and partly because I had just bought a new (used) kayak from my neighbor, Bruce. I debuted my Ocean Kayak Trident this morning at 7:00, just as the sun was beginning to rise. I'll leave the description and yak comparison for another entry so we can move along to the fishing.

Kelly and I had committed this morning to paddle out to a new spot he's dubbed "The Courtyard." The last time he had fished it, he had caught three redfish in short time, so I was onboard for some tailers. The tide was high and there was a nice cloud cover as we paddled out. The wind would increase throughout the day, starting around 10mph and peaking around 15mph.

Once we reached the Courtyard, we both started throwing our topaters--Kelly his bone Spook and me...well...I was throwing a super ugly Mirrolure She Dog that one of the guys at Mastry's had convinced me to buy. After Kelly caught three gator trout to my none, I switched back over to my bone spook.

It was really fishy back in the courtyard, but nothing was biting. I liked the protection from the wind and the nice muddy bottom, which is good for the fish to warm up on over the winter. The bugs were pretty horrendous, though.

After not getting any bites for a couple of hours, I told Kelly we had to paddle back to our usual haunts so that I could get the skunk off my new yak. We stopped in what we call "Steve's Hole" and I caught three trout on back to back casts, and the yak was officially a catching kayak. I paddled back to catch up with Kelly, and he had reeled in a nice flounder.

We made a quick run down to the Redfish Hole and caught a couple of trout, then back up to the Howard Frankland underpass, where we split up. I went over to one of my good producing spots and caught ten trout on topwater and popping cork with live shrimp, then got off the water.

Kelly stayed out a bit longer and netted a few more trout, and we probably caught over 20 between the two of us, but the reds eluded us for this day.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Location: 4^th Street

Tide: Outgoing

I was on the water by 7:15 this morning, and the first guy out. I couldn’t blame everyone for getting a later start, the wind was 15mph with gusts to 20mph, and it was a little over 60 degrees.

I fished two rods today, one with a Zara Spook and the other with a popping cork and circle hook for chucking live shrimp. My other pole is at the shop to have a guide replaced.

My first stop was at the south end of the Howard Frankland overpass. I anchored up in a spot where I could cast to the right at the rubble that runs along the seawall around the bridge, and to the left at a flat that always seems to be popping with action.

I alternated throwing shrimp and topwater, but it was the shrimp that performed best at first. On consecutive casts near the bridge, I caught a 15” trout, another 15” trout, a 15” redfish, and followed that up with a 16” flounder.

When that spot cooled off, I switched over to throwing at the flat, and caught twelve more trout on both shrimp and topwater, the largest going 18 inches. I might have continued catching them all day, but a dolphin came in and scattered the school, so I packed up and paddled off to the next spot.

Next stop was the westernmost point of the mangroves where a couple of creeks come in. I put my first cast right over a submerged oyster bar, and after a couple of pops, the cork went under and the line came tight on a real drag screaming fish. Five minutes later, I brought to hand my personal best redfish to date, a 24” one spot beauty. A manatee came by to see what all the commotion was, and hung out with me for about five minutes while I was fishing.

I kept at it in the same spot, and managed two more 15” trout, but overall the location was not what it was the last time Kelly and I were out, so I moved on.

The paddle was a bear getting back, waves crashing over the bow and the wind full in my face. I anchored up on the north side of the overpass and threw my topwater for awhile, but nothing doing. I tossed a few more shrimp and hooked up with another trout, but I wasn’t really feeling the spot, so I went back to the south side of the overpass to see if the trout were still around.

I anchored up and threw shrimp out over the flat. I brought in a 15” trout first, and then followed it up with a 20” gator trout that put up a hell of a fight. To my count, I was up to 19 trout on the day, so I decided I’d stick it out until I caught the twentieth. Instead, I caught six ladyfish. It was a bummer to not hit that 20 mark, but I didn’t have much to complain about at that point.

I was off the water at 1:00pm and there were still fish busting everywhere.

October 16, 2011

Location: 4^th Street

Tide: Outgoing

The wind was blowing hard out of the northeast this morning, averaging around 10mph with gusts to 15mph. For this reason, and because of a tide that wouldn’t have worked at Ft. Desoto, Kelly and I launched at 4^th Street this morning, just as the sky was starting to lighten.

We paddled out and set up our first spot just past the Howard Frankland. For most of the day, I threw my Spook Jr. and a popping cork with live shrimp. I’m not normally a big bait fisherman, but with the weather so bad, we decided to pick up a few dozen shrimp at I.C. Sharks before going out.

The first spot netted me a trout on topwater and a trout on shrimp. Kelly had paddled up further, and I caught up with him on the southern flat just outside of “The Cut.” I had a few hits there on shrimp, but no takers.

We spent the next hour on a full-out assault of The Cut. I anchored up in a good spot out of the wind and casted my popping cork and shrimp in and around a bunch of glass minnows that were raining on the surface. This technique picked me up another dink trout and a big grunt.

We started to drift out of the cut at that point, and Kelly finally got the skunk off his yak by hooking up with a ladyfish.

As we exited the cut, I drifted a shrimp off the back of the yak while throwing a topwater off the front. The typical walk-the-dog action wasn’t really enticing the fish today, so I tried to mix it up by really crashing the lure through the chop. On my first try with this new retrieve, I saw a big tail come out of the water right behind my lure, which was immediately followed with a crushing hit.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

My drag was signing at the fish took off full speed in the opposite direction. I scrambled to get my other rod and bait bucket out of the water before the fish tangled up in it. After two more drag-burning runs, I got the fish close enough for a look, and was pretty sure it was a juvenile tarpon. Moments later, the fish gave up and I saw that it was a HUGE Spanish mackerel, the biggest I’ve ever seen.

I was looking at all those teeth and wondering how to get my lure back when the line suddenly went slack and my lure drifted to the surface. I looked at the hooks and saw they were all bent to hell, with one of them nearly straightened. I didn’t mind too much that I lost the fish—the fight was so good that the hero shot would have just been gravy.

We continued to drift the flat all the way down to our Tarpon hole, where we anchored up for a few casts. Nothing doing there, we paddled down to the westernmost end of the mangroves where a creek flows into the bay. There were a ton of fish in there, and Kelly and I lit up the dink trout, baby reds and ladyfish. I caught four ladyfish and two or three more trout. I only caught one red, maybe 15”, but it felt awesome to pull a red in.

It was past noon at that point, so we packed up paddled back to the launch. Not a bad day, considering the weather. I ended up with 5 trout, 4 ladyfish, a redfish and an epic Spanish Mack.

October 12, 2011

Location: Coffee Pot Bayou

Tide: Dead Low

I went out for an hour and a half tonight and hit spots down the seawall from the Vinoy Basin all the way to the pullout at Coffee Pot Bayou. I was throwing a Zara Spook Jr. the whole time, and didn't net a single hit.

The good news is that the snook were stacked up in Coffee Pot. I saw at least two per dock, and at the Crescent Lake outflow, watched two high school kids reel in three snook in a row under a green dock light. They were throwing silver dollar size greenbacks. A higher tide and a Yo-zuri Crystal Minnow, and I'll be in business.

All the snook I saw were between 20 and 24 inches, which is the first stock of juveniles coming back after the freeze two years ago. It's good to see the snook population coming back.

October 11, 2011

Location: Coffee Pot Bayou

Tide: Outgoing

Today I left work a little early so I could do a quick hit and run at the inlet of Coffee Pot Bayou. Reports from area captains had recently reported trout were moving in, so I wanted to do a little scouting along the seawall. Though my go-to topwater lure lately has been a Spook Jr., today I opted for a full-size She Dog in mullet color. The She Dog is my heaviest topwater lure, and I needed the weight to get the lure out over the flats to deeper water.

When I got out there, there were mullet busting everywhere and I had the seawall to myself. I started casting and on my third attempt, had a trout take the lure under. It was a sure set, and in moments, I brought the trout over the wall. A guy jogging by offered to take a few photos for me.

I continued down the wall, getting another four or five fish to hit the lure, but no more hook-sets. Thirty minutes later I was back in my car and on my way home, a smile on my face and trout slime on my hands.

October 2, 2011

Location: Ft. Desoto – Mullet Key

Tide: Outgoing

I hit the Rally at 6:15am for coffee and a doughnut, and then drove out to Ft. Desoto. For the second trip in a row, the primary deciding factor for my location for the day was WIND. After a week of nary a breeze, it was blowing 10-20mph as a cold front pushed through.

Though it’s a bit early in the season for 4^th street, I was temped to load up on some shrimp, find a calm spot, and fish the mangroves. The wind app on my phone showed the wind trending below 10mph, so I decided to head out to Mullet Key at the

Fort. I paddled out right at sunrise.

The waves were nil at the outset, but as I got into deeper water, they picked up. I finally anchored near the channel marker and the seas were about a foot—just at the edge of my comfort zone. I started throwing topwater and really chugging it hard through the waves, and right away jumped a ladyfish, and on the ensuing cast, another.

A few casts later, a larger fish came out of the water and really whacked my spook. I thought it might be a snook. My next cast to the same spot picked up an instant and aggressive strike. The fish stayed down and had a few headshakes, and I thought it was a big trout. I was a little surprised to see a big Spanish mackerel instead.

Knowing I was into the macks and ladyfish, I tied on a 1/2oz gotcha lure and started to fan out some casts. I quickly brought two ladyfish to the yak and another, smaller mack, as pictured here.

The bite died down after that as the wind picked up, and I decided to paddle back in to the north side of the key and try my luck. I threw a couple of topwaters around Conception Key (that’s what Google earth calls it) and then worked my way around the mangroves to a series of large potholes that I didn’t previously know were there. A couple of guys throwing shrimp under popping corks were lighting up the small trout, but I had nothing to show. I did get a lot of follows, but the fish weren’t committing to the bite.

After an hour the wind died down and I paddled back over to the channel to try my luck again at the marker. I trolled my Yo-Zuri crystal minnow on the way out and caught a ladyfish and perhaps a world record lizard fish, but nothing else.

By then the flat was nearly out of water so I paddled in fifty yards, anchored up my yak and hopped out to stalk the flats. Right away I saw a large fish working a sandy patch, so I started creeping my way over into casting distance. Then I saw a big grey dorsal fin pop out, and reversed my course. I don’t mess around with sharks.

I threw a weedless shad tail for a bit and had a legion of pinfish and needlefish chasing it around, but nothing big enough to get my attention.

By then it was 11:00am and I decided to throw in the towel. The flat was totally devoid of water at that point, so I tied my anchor rope around the front of my yak and walked it back a few hundred yards through the grass.

Overall, not an ideal trip, the wind and tide played the primary factor in my catch to cast ratio, but I had a lot of fun and got some good scouting in.

Fishing report September 18, 2011

Location: Ft. Desoto – Bunce’s Pass

Tide: Outgoing

Kelly and I met up at the Rally at 6:00am and decided to head out to Ft. Desoto. The wind was blowing over 10mph out of the north, and we were hoping that the unusual wind direction would not effect our new favorite fishing spot out at Mullet Key.

When we rolled up on Mullet Key it was still dark, so we had to get out of the car to check the wave action. The waves were down as we expected, but the wind was blowing onshore at such a rate that we knew it would be a tough day of fishing. We decided to drive back to our more sheltered launch by Tampa Bay Watch.

The launch was deserted when we arrived, and we were out on the water by about 6:45, about thirty minutes before sunup. With the wind at our backs, we made a quick paddle over to our favorite mangrove island and started throwing topwaters. I focused on the edges of a big pothole, and Kelly threw toward the mangroves.

His site selection was the better of the two, as he caught a trout and then a snook on back-to-back casts. The snook was a healthy 24” and put up a great fight.

It wasn’t until we went around the other side of the island that I picked up my first fish—a trout on a chartreuse jig head and rootbeer shrimp tail. I would catch another two out of the same spot and that would be the end of my catching for the day.

We spent most of the rest of our time trying to find tailing reds amongst all the tailing mullet. We tried everything from gulp shad tails to cut bait, but didn’t have any success. At one point I trolled a weedless gulp shad tail through some shallow water and had several hard hits, but I think the pinfish were the culprits.

It was good to get back on the water, and it was a fairly satisfying fishing session, considering the weather. Looking forward to getting back out there in a couple of weeks.

Danger: Skunks ahead

Location: Mullet Key and Mullet Key Bayou

Tide: Outgoing

Kelly and I tried for an afternoon session today, and you could tell our lack of confidence by how many beers we packed.

Fishing is tough in the summer, and toughest in the afternoon. If the storms don’t chase you off the water, the piss warm water will send the fish into deeper water or a lockjaw coma.

We hit the water around 5:30pm at the same launch as Saturday and paddled out to the same water where we lit up the fish on Saturday and generally threw the same lures we threw on Saturday, except today was Tuesday, not Saturday, and so the fish were on their weekday schedule.

In short, we caught nothing. I had a follow from a ladyfish on my Yozuri, and if the ladyfish aren’t biting, nothing is. (Except pinfish. They are always hungry.)

The wind was brutal and the weeds were bad and so after a half hour, we packed up the kayaks (without breaking them down first) and drove down the road a bit to try Mullet Key Bayou East.

The mangroves gave us a good windbreak at MKBE but the only fish to be found were pinfish and mullet. I might have been satisfied to tail-hook a mullet, but nothing was doing. Kelly and I got double skunked.

At least we had the beer.

Fishing report - July 31, 2011, Afternoon Session

Location: 4^th Street

Tide: Outgoing

After an excellent morning session, Kelly and I decided to push our luck and go tarpon hunting over at 4^th Street. We stopped at the bait shop on 4^th for some shrimp and pinfish. The shrimp were pitifully small, but since we were low on options and time we bought 5 dozen from Brittany the bait hag. Griping aside, while I was in there I noticed a familiar sight – some rootbeer-colored shrimp tails, so I bought a pack, but that is another story for another time.

We were on the water by 5:30pm and the tide was the highest I’ve ever seen it. As we paddled out I noticed some commotion over by the westernmost mangrove line before the Howard Frankland Bridge. There were so many mullet jumping it looked like bombs were going off. I was tempted to investigate, but we paddled on.

Right before the bridge, I saw what I thought was a snook busting bait right at the seawall. It took me three casts, but I finally landed my Spook Jr. right at the wall. I got a hit right away but the fish missed. Subsequent casts were ignored. I paddled on.

Kelly and I fished The Cut first. We each caught a junk fish (Kelly: catfish. Me: Ladyfish) on a shrimp under a popping cork before giving up and paddling over to our tarpon spot.

It took me awhile to catch a pinfish for bait, and meanwhile, Kelly’s shrimp died of lameness, so it put us in a tough spot. Kelly caught a couple more catfish on my remaining shrimp, and then we decided to set up in the tarpon hole with about 45 minutes until dark. The bugs were fierce. I floated a pinfish under a cork while Kelly threw his Spook Jr.

While we fished, a manatee kept flirting with Kelly. It would pop up behind him, go under his yak, pop up on the other side, and then do it all over again.

After only 10 minutes, we saw tarpon rolling along, a big single fish in the 100lb class and three juveniles in the 30lb class. We threw everything we had at them, but they sniffed up their noses and swam away. I might have done better if my second pinfish didn’t flop in the water as I went to hook it on.

Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be. We were under-prepared, tired as hell, and eaten to distraction by the bugs. We packed it in and paddled back to the launch just as the sun was beginning to set.

You know it's a good day fishing when you see the sun rise and set from your kayak.

Fishing Report - July 31, 2011

Location: Mullet Key

Tide: Incoming

Kelly and I launched at 6:45am just as the sun was rising. The water was glassy and would remain that way our entire session. In fact, with the heat aside, the conditions were near-epic.

We paddled out from the point toward Egmont Channel and started fishing in a few feet of water just inside the channel marker. Kelly throws his Spook Jr. topwater out and hooks up with a trout on his first cast. I followed up with a Spook Jr. cast of my own, but couldn’t get the lure to work properly as there were seagulls dive bombing my every walk-the-dog effort. Eventually the seagulls departed and we settled in to a topwater throwing bonanza.

I was keyed up to throw the topwater because I had taken the time to rig my Spook Jr. weedless with a couple of 1/0 circle hooks. The weedless Spook worked perfectly as far as keeping the weeds out, but after missing the hookset on trout after trout, I pulled out my split ring pliers and put the original treble hooks back on.

Meanwhile, Kelly was lighting up the trout. He eventually hooked into something that pulled some drag, but it turned out to be a big ladyfish. Unfortunately for him, the ladyfish also broke off his bone-colored Spook Jr. right at the side of the yak. Those bone Spooks are hard to come by. Tough break.

He would make up for it a short time later with a big topwater strike from a big trout. The way it came out of the water on the initial hookset made me think it was a snook, but once he landed it, it turned out to be a huge 24” trout.

I eventually set up in a good spot and caught two trout on topwater, one pushing 20”, and then when I felt the fish were getting wary of the topwater, started throwing a DOA Cal rigged weedless on a weighted hook and caught two more trout on back-to-back casts. I was pysched to finally catch a trout on DOA Cal. I know a lot of people fish well with them, but I have never caught anything but ladyfish.

We continued to pick up trout here and there until 11:00am, when the bite shut off like flicking a light switch. We tried the bay around the other side of the point, but nothing doing there either. We were off the water by noon, the water still as glassy as when we started.

All told, we caught a baker’s dozen of trout and a half dozen ladyfish between us. The water was teeming with life, with tons of cow-nosed rays, sharks, and maybe a tarpon or two. The mullet and other baitfish were thick out there as well. There weren’t many people out there with us, just a few guys wade fishing and a family of three in a canoe.

Mullet Key has turned into my go-to spot for the summer. I can imagine that the fishing will get even better as we learn the area. The only real strike against it is the wind—when the wind is blowing, it makes the spot very difficult to fish.

Fishing Report – July 17th, 2011

Location: Fort Desoto, Mullet Key

Tide: Incoming

Overall, a decent day on the water.

My friend Brad was in town with his family and was able to join me on today’s outing. Brad met up with me over at my house at 6:00am sharp, and we drove out to Ft. Desoto. Passed the Bunche's Pass launch and it was vacant. Drove all the way out to Mullet Key and parked on the beach side to launch. We were on the water by 6:30am for the last hour of a low tide before a good incoming tide that would raise the water from 1.1 to 2.3 feet. The wind was between 5-10 mph the whole time, blowing east to west, which of course is not optimal. We had to deal with choppy water the entire time.

Started out by going around the point of the key and straight out to the north in search of deeper water. The water was less than a foot. We paddled all the way past the end of the spoil island and the water just wasn't getting any deeper. This was confusing to me because I remembered the water there having a gradual slope. Eventually we got to the end of the grass where there is a rapid drop off to a sandy bottom in 4-5 feet of water. I saw some commotion on the surface and threw my pearl colored Spook, Jr. and an under-slot trout nailed it. Brad and I looked at each other like it was going to be on, but that fish would turn out to be a red herring (pun intended).

We threw everything in our arsenal at that spot and the surrounding area for a good thirty minutes but couldn't get anything to the boat. The weeds were thick there and everywhere we fished today, a good 9 on a scale of 1-10. I can't say that I brought even one cast back to the yak without some weeds on the hook. I have been meaning to try a single J-hook or circle hook on my topwater to see if it makes a difference.

Next up we paddled over to the spoil island and threw some gulps and topwater over there. I knew there were a few deep spots around the mangroves, that spot gets a lot of pressure. No bites.

I was sort of getting desperate for some good deep water over grass, so I suggested we paddle out to the marker to the east over by Egmont Channel. As we paddled out, the wind freshened and the chop turned to waves and we couldn't reach the marker. We paddled back toward shore a bit and anchored up in some rough chop and despite the conditions, saw a lot of action. Spooked some big reds, lots of rays and bait popping. I was facing the wrong way to where I wanted to cast, so I unclipped my anchor and switched it to the other side and started to cast. Next thing I knew, I was twenty yards away from Brad and I realized I was drifting. I looked down and NO ANCHOR. The carabiner that I use to connect my anchor rope to my yak had popped open and my anchor was lost. Major FAIL. As you know, not having an anchor is a major pain in the ass, especially on a windy day in strong current. I set up a couple of drifts to try to make up for it but nothing to show for it but pinfish.

Brad didn't have any luck either, so I signaled for him to pull anchor, and right at that moment, there is this loud crash and like 100 baitfish go fleeing and flying out of the water right next to his yak. I don't know what was chasing them, a tarpon or shark maybe, but it was pretty awesome.

By then, the tide had come back up and we paddled back to the bay side of the key, about 50 yards out. The bite started heating up and I picked up another under-slot trout on a 4” new penny Gulp on a 1/8oz red jig head. Brad soon caught his first and only fish of the day--a catfish. Bunk.

We got frustrated and just decided to drift all the way back to the mangroves over by the park access road. On that drift I picked up another under-slot trout on topwater, and then a short time later, a big bronze backed trout on topwater. Great fight, I thought it was a red all the way up until it got to the yak.

We fished the back mangroves after the drift, but it was dirty water and an 11 out of 10 for weeds. Paddled back up and fished the previous spot once more. I caught another big ass trout on topwater, again with the bronze back. I was drifting with my legs in the water, and as the trout approached it thrashed and stuck one of the trebles in my leg. It was in past the barb, but not too far, so I just yanked it back out. TROUT 1, BRIAN 0.

We paddled out after that, and of course the wind died right as we pulled to the launch. I hate summer fishing.

It wasn't too busy out there all day, though there were two guys wading who didn't stop talking the whole time they were out there. There was some excitement at one point when one of the two hooked into what he thought was a giant redfish. It ended up being a three-foot bonnethead shark.

On the drive out, I passed by the Bunche's Pass access spot and there were at least 30 cars parked there, bumper to bumper.

Not much else to report. It was great to get out there and I did okay with five trout, considering. Oh, I forgot to say that at some point I caught a ladyfish on a DOA paddle tail that didn't fight at all. No jumps, no thrashing, no pooping. Strange.

Fishing Report – June 24th, 2011

Location: 4^th Street

Tide: Incoming

Today, Kelly and I bailed of work early to try our hand at som

e afternoon fishing. We headed out to 4^th Street out of convenience, and I beat him there by about 15 minutes since he stopped for bait. I launched quickly and just as quickly, a rainstorm ran up on me. I parked my yak under the Howard Frankland Bridge to wait it out. Just as the storm passed, I saw Kelly launching. While I waited for him to paddle over, I half-heartedly threw my Yo-zuri and Gulp around the bridge pilings, but nothing doing.

We paddled east toward The Cut. There was a lot of action in the water, so we stopped to throw a few topwaters along the way. I got a hit, but not hook-up, and we both had a few follows after that, but nothing to the boat.

We fished The Cut hard for the next hour and a half. I got totally skunked, but Kelly picked up two under-slot redfish on a live shrimp suspended under a popping cork.

At some point I anchored up to throw at a downed tree in the water that was holding glass minnows. Just before I made my first cast, I saw a red tailing around the tree. I commenced to place one beautiful cast after another at that bastard but his mouth was slammed shut.

Annoyed, I paddled over to Kelly, told him the story and said he could probably hook up with the red with a well-placed live shrimp. He obliged, and on his second cast, came tight on the red. After he boated the red and let it free, he awarded me an assist.

Fishing Report – June 12th, 2011

Location: Fort Desoto, Mullet Key

Tide: Incoming

I did a lot of planning in advance of this trip, really trying to think out the best way to get on some fish. Basically it came down to site selection, and being as close to the gulf as possible without fishing the actual beach. The spot I picked was the easternmost point of Mullet Key on Ft. Desoto: 27.638162,-82.700164. My plan was to throw topwater in the cove for the first hour, then to soak some pins in Egmont Channel for the rest of the time to try to hook up with a tarpon.

Those plans were shot to hell when at 5:30 this morning I couldn't seem to castnet any pinfish at Coffee Pot Bayou. There were a lot of weeds in the water and made it impossible to net any bait. From there, I hit the Rally for coffee and a donut and then drove out to Ft. Desoto. The Bunce’s Pass parking spot already had six cars parked and yaks launched when I rolled by at 6:15. I ended up on the water right at 6:30, just as the sun was coming up. I was thinking I should have brought along some Windex, you know, for all that glass.

It was low tide at 3:45am, high tide at 11:00am, so I was in the middle of the tide. It was moving, but not too fast.

I paddled out about fifty yards into about two feet of water over eel grass and started throwing my pearl colored Spook, Jr. There were a lot of weeds in the water, but not so much that I couldn't work with it. I found that if I made a long cast and then walked the dog slowly, I could get 4-6 good moves in before catching a weed. That was enough to coax a trout to bite on my fourth cast. The first trout was my smallest of the day, maybe 14". Next cast, BAM! Another trout, just a tad larger. I just took a little pause at that point and had a smile. After two recent skunkings, it was good to get my mojo back.

At this point I had a little equipment malfunction with one of the eyes on my topwater pole, which was aggravating. Basically, I could put the eye back in and it would last me a couple of casts before popping out again. Eventually I gave up on the pole and just decided to fish with my Gulp, but not before catching another six trout on topwater, all at the top of the slot, a couple maybe over 20". For every fish I caught, I had twice as many fish that either knocked the Spook out of the water or generally swiped and missed the lure.

So I switched over to the Gulp and caught another two trout, both big yellow mouths. The tide was still rising, so I paddled back in a bit to get back in that two-foot range of water. As I was paddling back in I saw what I thought was a tarpon, but it was really a 40" plus snook tailing. I reached for my topwater...arg...

It was 9:30am at that point, but I decided to tie on another topwater and hunt around for that snook. Put on the Bomber Badonk-a-donk. Didn't catch the snook, but caught two more trout over the grass (with plenty more hits) and then another monster trout while casting at the mangroves right where I put in. That one surprised me. Last trout on topwater was at 10:15am. Crazy they were hitting that late.

I took my last 45 minutes and paddled out toward the channel just to check it out. A lot of eel and turtle grass, pristine water. Shit loads of mullet. The water was about 7 feet at the channel marker, and only a 10 minute paddle to get there. There were some nice big sandy patches mixed in, but no classic potholes. I kept wishing I had some live bait to put under a popping cork. In fact, that whole area out there is prime for drifting with a popping cork and a shrimp. I threw the Gulp and topwater a few times but didn't really take the time to work a spot over. Had the pinfish pecking at my Gulp, but that's about it.

Tried a mangrove spoil island on the way back and nothing was going. A bunch of yahoos had just waded all over it, so the fish had shut down.

Went back for a half dozen more casts in my original spot and got a trout to hit on topwater one last time, but missed the hookset. Paddled back to the car and was off the water by 11:00am.

A few other notes: it was busy out there, boats, yaks, waders, jetskis, you name it, but there is so much water, I never felt intruded upon. The water clarity was good, the grass beds were thick, and there was some good depth variation within just yards, so it was easy to get to a different depth without paddling all day. I only focused on maybe a 40 square yard area out there, so there is a lot of water yet to explore. I think it makes a good summer spot, but don't know how it would be in the wind. The wind laid down for me all day, can't say that it ever broke 5mph, though the true glass conditions only really lasted the first hour or so.

All I can say is that I love throwing the topwater, and it was topwater-palooza today!