The beauty of kayak fishing is that you can fish wherever you want.
Because of red tide in Sarasota Bay, Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing has been very mobile over the last week.
Things started out fine along the east side of Sarasota Bay. Geoff Henderson of Bradenton and I fished from Whitfield Avenue to Stevens' Point and caught a variety of fish. We were looking for bull reds that I had encountered a few days earlier. Unfortunately, we didn't find them.
We did catch several rats reds (the largest was out 18 inches). And we managed spotted seatrout, ladyfish and jack crevalle. The highlight of the day was a pair of beautiful juvenile Goliath grouper.
We caught our fish on Rapala Skitter Walks and 3-inch Berkley Gulp Shrimp on light jig heads.
I returned the following day and found the big reds. At low tide, I found a small school pushing along the edge of a sand bar. We landed a 28-inch red and a 30-incher. In addition, we caught spotted seatrout to 18 inches and a couple of jack crevalle.
Red tide had been concentrated along the west side of Sarasota Bay. But the wind switched out of the west-southwest and blew it across the bay into the Ringling-Whitfield area. From all reports, it dissipated quickly.
We traveled south on a scouting mission. I fished with John Donohue of Venice along the Intracoastal Waterway near the Manasota Bridge at Englewood. Action wasn't fast, but it was consistent. We caught and released six redfish to 30 inches, five snook to 25 and a few jack crevalle and ladyfish.
I found tarpon rolling near the bridge. Although most of the fish appeared to be in the 5-pound range, I was luck to hook a 30-pounder. I was using a 3-inch Gulp Shrimp on a light jig head.
We caught our redfish on Rapala Skitter Walks and 5-inch Gulp Jerk Shads rigged weedless.
A few days later, I took Paul Magliacane of Venice to the same area. We didn't find any redfish. Although mullet were plentiful, redfish weren't.
However, we caught and released 11 snook to about 22 inches on a variety of lures (19MR MirrOlure MirrOminnow, Rapala Skitterwalk, Gulp Jerk Shads, Gulp Shrimp on jig heads). In addition, we managed several jack crevalle, ladyfish, a gag grouper and a Goliath grouper.
We had about 10 shots at tarpon, but didn't get a hit. I'm sure if we concentrated on them that we could put a couple in the air.
We've had more than our share of rain over the last three weeks. If you plan to kayak fish, make sure you are aware of the weather. You don't want to be caught in a thunderstorm or severe wind.
Our freshwater endeavors will have to wait for the rain to end. The rivers and lakes are up, making for some tough fish. One of our favorite rivers (the Myakka) usually offers great fly-rod action for bass, bluegill, stumpknocker and tilapia this time of year. But the current is much too strong for kayak fishing at present.
In November, we start heading down to The Everglades where we'll target oscars and Mayan cichlids. If you've never fished for these freshwater exotics, you might want to give them a try. They outpull any bass you've ever encountered. We use 3- and 4-weight fly rods, floating lines, popping bugs or sinking minnow imitations.
Speaking of minnow imitations, I designed a fly for the Myakka River (I named it the Myakka Minnow) last year. It's a small epoxy minnow tied on a No. 12 hook that is approximately an inch long. It has been a killer for bluegill, bass, stumpknocker and tilapia.
I got a call from my good friend Rick Grassett, who was on a stream in Montana, fly-fishing for trout. He informed me he had just caught and released a 16-inch brown trout on my Myakka Minnow!
As we near October, we're offering our Freshwater Special: an all-day outing on a lake or river for $180 (lunch and drinks provided). One of our favorite lakes is Tiger Lake, part of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes near Lake Wales. The lake has a tremendous population of big bluegill. A couple of years ago, we videoed a TV show there. Our goal was to use light fly rods and feature the great bluegill action on Tiger Lake. We ran into a small problem: We couldn't keep the bass from eating the small popping bugs. The first seven fish we hooked were bass. The first fish was a 5-pounder that hit along the edge of Kissimmee grass. Luckily, the bass swam out into the open lake when it was hooked. We later got into the big bluegills.
Anyone who has a birthday between now and Oct. 31 is entitled a freshwater or saltwater trip of their choice at $180 (Everglades trips not included). Give us a call or email us and mention the Birthday Special.
Just remember, if your lure or fly isn't in the water, you don't have a chance to catch a fish.
Call us at (941) 284-3406. Or visit out website at www.kayakfishingsarasota.com.
