Sarasota Bay/Southern Tampa Bay
The fishing is hot right now in southern Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay from Bishop Harbor down to Venice. Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing clients have been seeing some of the best shallow water Snook fishing in some time. Sight fishing for great numbers of Snook has become a daily occurance when the weather allows and it makes some some truely exciting fishing. The Snook have been very co-operative as they gorge themselves in preparation to stage up along the passes, inlets, and beaches to spawn. The fishing has been the best on an incoming tide along the edges of grass flats and mangrove shorelines that also have access to deeper water. Artificial baits have been effective including DOA Shrimp, small swimbaits, Rapala XRaps, and small Mirro Lures but live bait has been king. Once fish are spotted, chumming with live pilchards produces explosive results. When pilchards aren't available or you don't want to cast net them before your trip, live shrimp will do the trick. All Snook fishing with Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing is catch and release ( to help protect the valuable Snook stocks ) and #4 and #2 circle hooks are standard when fishing live bait to insure a good hook set in the mouth and not the throat or gut. This helps keep mortality rates to a minimum.
Redfish are also cruising the same areas and there are plenty of slot sized or over slot fish out there right now. Working shallow flats with potholes on the last of the outgoing tides and first of the incoming tides has been super productive. Topwater baits in red and white have been the bait of choice for early morning and late afternoon fishing. Another proven tactic lately is to patrol the mangrove shorelines looking for sight fishing opportunities as Redfish will move into these areas at the peaks of the high tides to forage for food. Pilchards, Shrimp and cut Threadfin will do the trick very effectively when casting to these fish. If artificials are your thing then small paddle tail plastics on a light jig will prove effective - rootbeer and white are great colors.
Sea Trout are feeding heavily in the early morning hours and late afternoons on the grass flats. On recent trips clients of Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing have been seeing great numbers of Spotted Sea Trout from 15" to 25" up in southern Tampa Bay. Down in Sarasota the numbers have been there but the size has been more from 14" to 18". The DOA Shrimp rigged on a Deadly Combo is all it takes to get in on this action. For anglers looking to see some explosive strikes then walk th dog with a topwater early in the morning.
Night fishing along the many dock lights, sea walls, and bridges has been nothing if not excellent lately. The closer you are to a pass or inlet then the better the fishing and the bigger the fish. Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing clients have been catching and releasing Snook well above the slot limits lately in many areas. The avergae Snook has been between 25" and 30" with fish to 38" caught and released. Redfish and trout are also in the mix and you never know what will be on the other end when the line goes tight. Another added bonus at night lately has been the encounters with Tarpon along the bridges and in some canals. These fish have been around 40 to 50# and are readily taking live baits drifted along the shadow lines on stout tackle.
Now that the Grouper season is open Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing has been taking advantage of the spectacular shallow water Grouper fishing in Tampa Bay. Along the Skyway clients have been catching legal sized Gags, and Red Grouper as well as some truely monster Mangrove Snapper.
Miami Area
The Peacock Bass are in full spawn and the sight fishing has been really good in the southern most canals. Clients of Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing have been catching and releasing up to 30 Peacock Bass a trip with sizes ranging from 3# up to around 9#. During the spawn is the best time to catch the larger fish and every trip has produced fish over 6# so far this year. If you have never fished for Peacock Bass then you are seriously missing out. Florida Peacocks might not reach the massive sizes of their south American cousins but they have all the tenacity and are pound for pound the hardest fighting freshwater game fish.
The Snakeheads in and around Ft. Lauderdale are also really good right now with very good numbers being taken on each trip. The avergage fish is around 36". This is a awesome topwater bite and is flashy and powerful.Other exotics that we are encountering right now are Oscars, Mayan and Midas Cichlids, Jaguar Guapote, and Spotted Tilapia.
The Everglades
The Everglades canal system has been producing steadily for some time now and the numbers of Largemouth Bass and Exotics such as Oscar and Mayan Cichlid are really good. Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing clients have been seeing catch rates of up to 100 fish per angler for months. The last part of April we suspended charters to this area due to wildfires but will resume them the first week of May.
The Florida Keys
Finally, Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing is running trips into the Key Largo, Islamorada, and Marathon areas for 2009. Clients have been seeing good catches of large Snapper, Barracuda, Sharks, Permit and Bonefish. On the only two charters run in late April clients caught and released 5 bonefish and 9 Permit. The sight fishing for large Sharks on the flats has been spectacular and sharks to an estimated 200# have been released. May and June should see consistant fishing in these areas and more chances for Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing clients to catch awesome fish.
Tarpon
It is Tarpon time here in southwest Florida and Sun Coast Kayak Sport Fishing is the premier kayak fishing guide service for large Tarpon from Sarasota down to the Keys. May and June are the best months here in the Sarasota and Tampa areas to hook up with a large Tarpon averaging 130# in 2008 with an estimated 210# monster as the biggest catch and release of the season. 2009 is already showing signs of being an even better year for big Tarpon fishing. Book your dates now while there are still some available to get in on this exciting sport fishing opportunity. Visit www.suncoastkayaksportfishing.com today for contact info and to schedule your Tarpon trip.
