May 27th, 2012

"The sea was angry that day, my friend."

Despite the steady 15 knot wind with gusts over 20, Kelly and I decided to give fishing a go today. We launched at the south pier of the Skyway Bridge around 2pm, fishing the Miguel Bay area. Some of the swells we encountered were a good three feet.

Needless to say, the fishing was terrible. I was able to ward off the skunk with one ladyfish to boatside, while Kelly took a full skunking. The wind was terrible, the water quality was nil, and the only person I saw catching anything was a guy chucking hundreds of threadfins into the water to net a trout and and a red.

We were determined to stick it out till sunset, but had an unfortunate near-miss where a boatful of drunkards came hauling full-throttle through the mangroves, and had I not paddled quickly out to of the way, I might be chum myself. I looked at Kelly after that and said, "That's it, let's head in."

May 22nd, 2012

I left work Tuesday afternoon and tried a quick hit at the mouth of Coffee Pot Bayou. I launched from the beach adjacent to the North Shore Pool parking lot. It was an easy paddle to the right depth of water.

The reason I wanted to fish this area is due to the multitudes of mullet that I usually see in the area. Today would be no different. I anchored up near an area where schools were moving through, and tossed my She Dog topwater around the edges.

Using this technique, I was able to catch two trout, both in the 15" range. I had another five blow-ups without a hook-up. The bite was slower than I expected, but I'll definitely return in the near future, especially considering that I went from my desk to casting in under a half hour.

May 11th, 2012

True to form, the wind was fierce today, 15-20mph out of the east. The sunrise was pretty much the highlight of the day.

We fished Fort Desoto at Bunce's Pass. After a windy paddle out, we got in behind an island and threw everything we had at a few schools of mullet. Kelly hooked up with a redfish about 30 minutes in, which would be his only fish of the day.

I eventually gave up on the mullet and drifted out to one of the channels where I bounced a gulp shrimp along the bottom. I was rewarded a few casts later with a 15" flounder. It self-released at boatside so I didn't get a photo. I was glad to get the skunk off, and even happier at the end of the day when it proved to be my only fish.

April 28, 2012

Kelly and I met up at the Rally at 6:00am and were launched at Mullet Key at Ft. Desoto by 7:00am. For the first time in months, the weather was epic. The wind was around 5mph at the start, and fell to a light breeze by the time we got off the water.

Though the weather cooperated, the fish didn't. 

Kelly and I both picked up a a trout on topwater on our first casts, then I followed up with another trout on my second cast, a 26" gator trout that was my biggest of all time. But the sun came up a few minutes later, and with it, the bite died. 

I finished with five trout and five ladyfish on the day, and Kelly didn't manage much better. I packed it in at 11:30am, but Kelly fished on at Bunce's Pass for a couple of hours and caught a nice redfish on a gold spoon just before quitting time.