January 13th, 2012

Kelly and I went back to the scene of the crime today on an unseasonably warm January morning. As we paddled out to DTB's secret spot, I was concerned that the heat would make the snook move out of the area.

My concerns were mostly confirmed a half-hour later when we were fishing the usual spots as hard as we could, but no snook could be found. I finally got the skunk off with a trout caught on a jig head/shad tail combo, and Kelly did the same with a jig head/paddle tail combo.

We fished mostly with those two lures. Mine tended to catch trout, while Kelly's was bringing in more snook. By the time we were ready to paddle out, he had caught five snook to my two, though I held an edge on him with the trout, at five.

We paddled out and fished some of the bay outside of Bishop's Harbor. At one point I tossed my jig into a distant sand hole, and after one pop, got a nice trout on the line at 21".

Ultimately, it wasn't nearly as epic as our last trip out, but considering the warm weather, we did fairly well.

(No photos again. This time I couldn't find my camera.)

Sunday, December 23rd, 2012

Kelly and I launched on a good high tide and paddled straight out to DTB's secret spot. From the very first cast, the bite was on. I caught snook after snook on the Flat Rap, and in a few hours,  had brought in 30 snook. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them were over 15", but it was good catching nonetheless.

Kelly was at it as well, opting (as he is wont to do) to throw mostly his topwater Spook. His dedication to that lure almost paid off with a big snook catch, but after several attempts the fish just couldn't get the lure squarely in its mouth. Kelly managed to pick up a half-dozen snook with other lures once he gave up on the topwater.

It felt good to finally have the epic snook day that I had known was possible in this spot. Looking forward to getting back.

If you are wondering where the photos are...I didn't take any. I was too busy catching fish!

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

Headed back to DTB's secret spot today for some additional snookin'. I launched at 10:30am, and after a good 30 minute paddle, was able to access the snook hole on a good high tide.

The conditions were generally unfavorable, mostly due to a 15 knot wind whipping across the water. In addition, it had rained heavily the night before, which made me think the fish would be uncooperative, and they were.

I was a good 100 casts in without a bite before I was able to get the skunk off with a topwater hook-up with a very angry jack crevalle. The location that was holding big schools of small snook on my last time out did not produce anything, so I went to the windy side of the hole and started throwing my big She Dog topwater at the shore. It was tough fishing. The chop on the water made it nearly impossible to walkt he dog.

About a dozen casts in, I had a huge blow up through the chop, and a sizable snook took hold of my lure. About five minutes later, I brought it to the yak. I don't have any photos of the beast, but it was my personal best snook, coming in at 29".  I've got video of the catch here.

A short time later I had another monster snook follow my lure up to the yak, only to turn back when it got sight of me.

I finished up fishing the area, picking up two more small snook and a nice trout on my Yo-zuri Crystal Minnow. On the paddle back I tried a few casts, and caught another trout on topwater. I also saw a big school of snook holding off one of the spoil islands, but they were uncooperative. Still it's good to see the snook making a nice comeback.

Thursday, December 6th, 2012

'Loaded up my gear and headed over the Skyway this morning to try out my friend DTB's secret spot on the south shore of Tampa Bay. I launched at Bishop's harbor and started the long paddle to the location. Along the way I threw my topwater spook and in a spot that was previously productive for me, got a nice hook-up. At first I thought it was a redfish, but as it got closer saw that it was a nice gator trout that measured in at 22".

I spent the next hour and a half consulting my google maps app and paddling around in complete frustration. I did, however, paddle through some really interesting water.

Eventually, I located DTB's secret spot and started casting, alternating between a Yozuri Crystal Minnow and a Flat Rap.

About 10 minutes in, the Flat Rap got a good solid take, and after a nice fight with some drag pulling, I brought a 23" redfish to hand.

At this point I knew it was inevitable that I would get a slam today, as the whole purpose of coming to DTB's secret spot was for the incredible snook bite. After a bit of fan casting, I located a school of small snook and in the next hour, caught 16 of them, with the largest coming in at a perfect 24".

Today's slam went: 22" trout, 23" red, and 24" snook, in that order. Pretty cool, and enough to win a lot of tournaments.

Here is what is left of the Flat Rap:

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

This morning I launched solo from the improvised ramp off Bishop's Harbor. Since Kelly was out of commission this weekend, I opted to do some scouting in a new spot. Don, my barber, had suggested trying out Bishop's Harbor, so on a whim I figured I'd give it a shot. With the tide flowing low to high, our usual spots would not have been great today anyway.

I paddled out at first light.

Bishop's Harbor is lined with mangroves, and from the start I had to choose whether to follow the shoreline on the north or south side. I chose the south. A few hundred yards up, I saw another boat on the north side, and they seemed to be having some luck pulling in some fish.

I decided to drift and throw the Spook to try my luck. First cast I had a big trout take three hits on my lure, but with no hook-up. The next cast I got a hit and hooked up right away, thinking I had caught the trout, but when I got the fish in close, saw that it was a 15" snook. I was pretty happy to have a snook to get the skunk off, and was optimistic that the day was going to be a good one.

That was the only fish I caught.

To be fair, I did a lot of paddling and scoping out different areas, instead of settling in to really fish an area. It sure was fishy out there: lots of varying depths of water, some good sea grass concentrations, clean water, good current and plenty of mullet jumping. It was fairly busy with boats out there, and they all seemed to be fishing the north side of the mangroves. Most boats I watched caught a least one fish.

I paddled on, all the way out of the harbor and into the bay. I could see the Skyway in the distance.

No catching for me in the bay either, but lots of pinfish and other bait out there, which is a good sign for the future.

Overall, it was a good, relaxing trip, a beautiful day to be on the water, and I definitely like Bishop's Harbor as a good low tide spot.