The Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing fleet continues to grow. We received our new Heritage Redfish 14s and have rigged them out.
What a pleasure they are to paddle. They're the Cadillacs of sit-on-top kayaks.
On the maiden voyage, we really couldn't have asked for a better morning.
I've always believed that you should take what you can get. Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing was headed for some shots at giant tarpon on Friday at the mouth of the Peace River near Punta Gorda.
However, snook got in the way. We launched shortly before daylight and began casting a Rapala Skitter Walk as we made our way toward the river. Near Colony Point, we started catching snook.
The action was very good for a couple of hours. We landed a trio of snook to 30 inches on the topwater. When that action subsided, we switched to a 19MR MirrOlure MirrOminnow, a very productive new lure. We landed four more snook in short order. That quartet included snook of 26 and 28 inches. In addition, we lost several fish and missed a few more.
Working our way back, we caught a pair of redfish, a mangrove snapper and a feisty jack crevalle. The action was over by 11 a.m., which has been the norm in August.
We've been getting out on the water early and we've heading back home by noon. But the trips have been very productive.
Last week, we fished with Capt. Chris O'Neill of Tail Chaser Guide Services out of Nokomis.
O'Neill is a retired Army 1st Sergeant. He's a cordial fellow and is a lot of fun.
We launched at Ponce de Leon Park at Punta Gorda and head south to an area that O'Neill calls the "Skating Rink." There was a fair topwater bite early and it produced a redfish and a snook. When that ended, we switched to the 19R MirrOminnow. In two hours, we managed nine more snook to 30 inches and an equal number of redfish to 32 inches. All fish were released.
We then headed into the Pirate Harbor canals. We jumped one tarpon on an Enrico Puglisi fly and had two other hits.
On the way back to the ramp, we encountered large schools of Spanish mackerel and ladyfish. We caught and released about a dozen Spanny macks and several ladies. We also had a shot at a small blacktip shark. We saw several large tarpon.
Redfish should be schooling up in preparation for their spawning migration into the Gulf of Mexico. We anticipate large schools of bull reds from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor. If we can find them, it's usually hot action. They'll hit most anything and are a ball on fly rod. Bendback patterns usually are a hot ticket. Ditto for chartreuse-and-white Clouser Deep Minnows.
Night snook action continues to be productive. We like to get out on the water around 4 a.m. and fish to daylight. Average catch has been 10 snook to 26 inches. We use 6- to 8-weigh fly rods, sinktip lines and small white flies. Tarpon, redfish and jack crevalle frequently are caught. The tarpon, however, haven't been as consistent this year as last.
We'll be hitting freshwater lakes and rivers in another month or so. These trips are great for fly fishers. We use 3- to 5-weight rods, floating lines and No. 10 chartreuse popping bugs. Our typical catches are 100 bass, bluegill, stumpknocker and tilapia. We've taken bass to 4 ½ pounds on the tiny tackle. We also like to use my Myakka Minnow whenever the topwater action slows. The Myakka Minnow is a epoxy minnow imitation that seems to appeal more to larger fish.
If you're interested in fly fishing or spin fishing for Florida freshwater exotics in The Everglades, we'll be heading that way in the fall when the mosquito population diminishes.
We use light fly rods, popping bugs and baitfish imitations. We usually do well on oscars, Mayan cichlids, largemouth bass and bluegill. Tarpon and snook are possible.
Our Everglades trips will begin in October. These trips fill up quickly, so booking early is a good idea.
On Saturday, we conducted a pair of kayak fishing seminars for the Ladies! Let's Go Fishing school held at the Sarasota Yacht Club. In addition, we manned a skill station in the afternoon and taught several of the women a variety of fishing knots.
If you're interested in fishing, please contact me at steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com. Or you can visit my website at kayakfishingsarasota.com.