Tampa Bay Day 3 - redfish and snook

[J.A. Veil]

We launched at 7:15 this morning and paddled 20 minutes to some mangrove shorelines in 3-4 ft depth.

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The wind was stronger than expected, so we anchored up about 50 yds out and cast to the shoreline. Initially we cast right to the edge of the mangroves but as the tide dropped we moved our casts out further. An hour in to the trip, I hooked my first redfish in a while (21"). Over the next hour and a half I caught 7 snook, while Neil had 2 redfish and several snook.

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He was confident we could find trout on the way back in to complete the inshore slam. Alas, the trout were not where they had been located for the past month and we missed our slam oppportunity.

All fish were caught today on a 1/8-oz jighead and 12 Fathom 3" Fat Sam mullet in a red and gold pattern.

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We saw manatees again today. Today's trip was not as long as yesterday. After the tide dropped and the sun was high, Neil felt our good bite opportunities were done. Tomorrow we plan to fish two separate locations to fill in some of the catching holes from the other 3 days.

[Cowpokey]

Looks like you're having a good time!

How would peddles work there?

[J.A. Veil]

Looks like you're having a good time!

How would peddles work there?

Many of the areas where we fish or travel through are 1-2 ft deep. Pedal power is used by some kayak anglers here, but most use paddle power boats. When we fished the bridge pilings for black drum and pompano the other day, I wished I had my Slayer Propel to hold position.

[J.A. Veil]

Here are a few more photos that Neil sent me.

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[Cowpokey]

Many of the areas where we fish or travel through are 1-2 ft deep. Pedal power is used by some kayak anglers here, but most use paddle power boats. When we fished the bridge pilings for black drum and pompano the other day, I wished I had my Slayer Propel to hold position.

Fishing the Bay Bridge here the other day I was holding position with my Hobie; paddle fishers have to be serious multi-taskers to do it...my hat's off to them.

[Cowpokey]

Nice pics John! Not sure I've seen a kayak with that many stickers....LOL!

[sparky1423]

Great Job John, beautiful reds and snook!

[Raptor]

John,

Nice red! See you when you get home.

T,

[tufnik]

You're having too much fun down there.

[dhawk]

nice catches looks like a lot of fun

[J.A. Veil]

Day 4

We finished the trip with a double header. We launched at dawn to paddle across a lagoon then through a short mangrove tunnel with very little overhead and lateral clearance.

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We anchored up and cast to mangrove shoreline like yesterday. The water was high and falling. We tried several spots then found the school of reds. I had a 24" red about 8:00 am followed a few minutes later by another red at 22". I caught 6 snook in the same area. Then they were gone. We tried a bunch of other spots but the fish were not there or were not biting anymore.

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We got off the water by 10:30 and had a late breakfast. At noon, we launched again at the bridge where I had hooked the black drum on Day 1. In three hours of jigging, I caught 1 jack, 1 sheepshead, and 1 snapper.

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Neil hooked several black drum, caught a cobia, a jack, and some snapper. He definitely had a better touch on the light jig than I did. We finished at 3:00. My arms are worn out from casting, jigging, and maneuvering to hold position around the pilings.

[Mark]

John,

I think my first redfish will be this January in Tampa since Virginia and Maryland waters have let me down so far this year.

I hope you released that 24 incher to be caught again by another out-of-state angler this winter.

You've had another excellent Tampa trip.