I went out for the first time today specifically to take pictures with my new Canon Rebel XSi. Here’s some of the shots with some post editing in Lightroom.

I had not been out on the kayak in a while so I decided to take it out this morning. I got to the boat launch at Weedon Island just after 6AM. I didn’t have as much luck as I was hoping. I wound up fishing from the launch all the way to Mile 2 Marker of the trail, but going backwards. There was one are that I thought I saw a bunch of tailing redfish so I got a pinfish on and chased them down. I could see the school’s wake in the water moving around. At first I didn’t get a bite but they came back around and they one took it. I found it for what seemed to be 5 minutes…probably more like 2 or 3. It was pulling me all around which was pretty fun. It wound up being a pretty big Jack Kravel. The next and only fish I caught was a 20 inch snook. I was following the trail backwards just exploring and I came out of some mangroves into an open area that had 3 boats (not kayaks) out fishing. I cruised in really slow close to one of the mangrove lines just checking out the water. As usual there was mullet jumping all over the place. I found a nice point right where the mile 2 sign is and anchors away from it. On about my third cast I was under and I realized it was a nice snook. He put up a really good fight and I must say, it felt pretty good just to cruise up there and pull in this snook. I saw all the other boats looking over checking me out. THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE! After that I worked my way back. I had another couple of nice bites but missed them. All in all, it was great to get out on the water. I didn’t get back until a little after 1PM and used up all 24 pinfish I came out with. Here are a couple of pictures from today. Click here to view all of the pictures.

22 Inch Snook

My kayak and the sandbar I always stop at. Someone put an American Flag in it which you can see way behind my kayak.

My friend, his fiance and I went out Friday on his boat for the first time in a while. I thought we’d be a little rusty but I was able to get great bait fairly quick, even though the cast net got stuck on a pylon which sucks. I caught two snook, a jack and a lady fish. I missed 5 MONSTER fish. One was in a new spot and we’re thinking it was a big snook because of the speed it was taking the line out but we didn’t see it. Another one I saw was for sure a giant jack that popped off after a minute or two. All in all, it was a great day. Definitely good to be back on the water. Click here to check out the pictures.

Jack Cravel

Snook

MY friend, his brother and I went out yesterday to try and put his brother on some fish. We went out in the afternoon to fish the outgoing tide. I picked up some pinfish on the way just to make sure we had some bait. We went to a spot we normally pull something out of and didn’t get much of a bite at first. I pulled in a nice trout but the bite was really slow. We headed out to check some other areas and wound up getting some nice greenbacks of the old faithful pylon we normally check for bait at. We wound up heading back to the original spot with the new bait and the action was a lot better. I pulled in 3 redfish and 2 trout. My friend got an Tampa Bay inshore slam with a trout, snook, and a red. He caught a few more and almost had a double. His brother wound up catching 3 snook and a catfish. Before this trip he had only caught one snook so that was pretty cool. I wish I would have gotten a snook to get my own Tampa Bay inshore slam but the fishing gods didn’t allow it that day. Maybe next time.

Click here for all the pictures.

Nice Refish

Yesterday I was determined to go fishing and try some night time dock fishing from the kayak for the first time. I went by Tampa Bay Outfitters and picked up a few things. I got some glow in the dark gulp bait and I picked up a new Mirrodine XL lure. I kept an eye on the weather and the radar as it didn’t look too promising as the day progressed. After I got him it seemed to be just overcast so I got the truck loaded up just in case. After looking at the radar again for a few minutes I decided it looked like I’d be ok so I headed out. As I was launching it was barely drizzling but the wind was really strong. A guy walked by and asked if I was just coming in and I said no, I’m going out. He shook his head and said be careful. I told him it was all about to pass but I don’t think he believed me.

So I paddled down a few docks and started fishing a hole I’ve caught mangrove snapper in before but only pulled in a few catfish. That’s when the sun came out and I realized I didn’t have to worry about getting rained on anymore. I fished a few docks as well as some bait schools out in the open but wasn’t getting anything but catfish but they were big. I got to a shallow area and got out of my kayak and saw something tailing. Again, big catfish. I saw something a few feet past the school of catfish so I cast over there and right when the lure hit the water it was getting hit. It look a few casts to realize it was a school of ladyfish playing with it. I’d through all the way back to them and as soon as the lure hit the water I’d start reeling in quick and they would just attack the bait on top the water. I didn’t actually land any of them, they all threw the hook but I thought it was fun.

I moved on to a hole we’ve been to before with the monster fish. It was just getting really dark as I got there. I anchored up and on my first cast something hit the bait and then got off. I couldn’t really see but I felt like it was a snook. After that I hear things attacking bait behind me so I cast into them and once again, a big catfish. At this point I’m thinking they are just following me around! After landing him I didn’t get any more bites out of that hole. I must have spooked everything in there. So I just headed back the way I came, fishing a few spots on the way back pulling in nothing but catfish.

I must have caught at least 15-20 catfish yesterday but all in all it was a good trip. I only got hits on that new Mirrodine XL. Even though it was just catfish and ladyfish, I think that tells me it was matching the baitfish in the area pretty well. I swung by TFO again today and picked up a few more. I’m hoping to hit it again this evening if the weather lets me which it looks like it will. I forgot my camera yesterday so no pictures but I’ll be sure to bring it tonight.

Yesterday I went fishing early on the kayak but all I caught was big catfish. I had live pinfish but they didn’t seem to be swimming around much. They would just swim to the bottom and sit there like they were about to die. But I kept live bait on one rod and artificial on another. I got anchored up in one spot where I had fish all around me. It looked like tailing redfish all over. There were some other people fishing close by that looked like they wanted to be where I was cause they could here all the activity. But I couldn’t get a bite. I threw live pinfish and almost every artificial I had on me and nothing. But I finished out the morning and headed in around lunch.

Then I went out in the afternoon with my friend on his boat. We managed to get some bait and then scouted around trying a few new spots. We found decent place where his fiancee caught her first snook which was pretty cool. He pulled out a few mangrove snapper but once again I couldn’t get a bite. I got one nibble on a gulp bait as we were running low on decent live bait. So we decided to hit one more spot we had in mind to look for some monster snook. As we pulled up it seemed the hole was filled with fish. This time we weren’t sure it was snook but I started casting. After a few passes we finally hooked up…and we hooked up BIG! Right as I saw the cork go under I started cranking and pulled back to keep him from running back into the hole and popping me off as they have done in here before. Then he jumped and I think we all sighed as the same time. This thing was a monster. We are thinking at least a 50 inch snook. That’s when I started yelling at my friend to get off the tower and get the net. Well, IT DIDN’T FIT IN THE NET! I got him to the boat, he ran again and as my friend tried to net him he turned and slapped the line with his tail and popped off. Again, we all sighed in unison. I think I was shaking for the next hour. We tried a couple more times but didn’t have any luck and decided to leave them alone.

We’re going back today but we’re going to be prepared. We’re hitting the tackle shop to get new rods, a bigger net, and heavier leader. We’ll see if we can pull another big monster and actually land him this time! No pictures, my friend has the camera but I’ll post some later.

TAMPA – Thousands of dead fish are floating along the shoreline on the south side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway, stretching from Hillsborough to Pinellas County.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission is working to determine what caused the fish kill.

Crews will be out Wednesday sampling the water.

In the meantime, the City of Tampa has temporarily closed Ben T. Davis Beach.

Source: MyFox Tampa Bay

My friend and I were thinking of trying out some dock fishing from the kayak at night but wound up just going out on his boat in the afternoon. And I’m glad we did. We headed out with some pinfish that I put in his bait hotel the day before and were just scouting around. On our way in we decided to hit a spot that I got a monster hit on a few weeks back. It was right at low tide and we could see way back into the hole. As we got up close I heard my friend who was on the tower saying, “Do you see that???” I thought it was a cobia cause it was big and looked redish. I cast into the hole..nothing. Reeled it in and made a better cast and BAM! He took it…fast! That’s when I knew it was a big snook, just like I had mentioned on the way there. I was able to pull him out of the hole before he look off behind the pylons like last time. My friend was rushing down off the tower as I as yelling to get net ready. He made about 3 really nice jumps. Then we got him to the boat. Man, that’s my biggest snook yet coming in at 28 inches! What a fight. I definitely have a new favorite fish.

This weekend was the first time I got a change to go out in my new kayak and do some serious fishing. I had taken it out for a quick paddle the other day and caught some large pinfish but that’s all. Saturday I woke up pretty early, picked up some pinfish, and headed to Weedon Islands. I managed to hook up with 3 snook which I was pretty happy about. I really enjoy the new kayak. It is just a lot more stable and easier to fish out of. I actually had so much fun that I decided to go back out Sunday morning. This time I hooked up with 1 snook and 1 redfish. My rod broke as I got the redfish to the boat so I just fly fished the rest of the way in and called it a day. I was honestly so happy about the redfish I didn’t really care about the rod. But I have to saw the best part of the weekend was catching most of the snook and the red on first casts to where I thought there would be fish. Each snook I caught were sitting right in the middle of openings between mangroves that had a nice current coming in of the main channel. I figure they are sitting there waiting for some baitfish or other food to get brought there way. This is how I caught 3 out of the 4 snook. I just paddled until I found what I thought was a good inlet and tossed a pinfish right in the middle of it. Similarly, I caught the redfish by making an awkward cast behind me over my shoulder into a pod of baitfish that I heard being spooked by something. After sitting for a couple seconds my line shot back toward the mangroves. I realized I had a nice redfish on right away as it started pulling my kayak towards the mangroves. I was actually testing out a smaller anchor today which I won’t be using anymore. That redfish was pulling my kayak and anchor across the water a couple feet. But man, that was a fun ride.

Click here for Saturday pics and here for Sunday pics.

After going fishing in my kayak a few times I realized I wanted a sit-on-top instead of the sit-in that I had. They just seem to be more stabled and are geared for fishing. I found one I was interested in on Craigslist so I put mine up for sale to see if I could basically trade it out. Well within a week I had sold mine and bought a used one for about the same amount I sold mine for. It was in great condition, all rigged up for fishing, and a lot of accessories. The model is a Ocean Kayak Prowler 13.