20 minutes of excitement

[J.A. Veil]

Day 3 in Tampa - launched to calm seas and mild temperature. We cast soft plastics over flats for 2 hours without a touch. Then I had a lackluster hook-up that turned into a drag burner a few seconds later. After several minutes of bent rod and multiple runs, a beautiful 23" redfish came aboard.

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We were re-energized and continued casting. Over the next 20 minutes, I caught two large specs (20.5" and 22.5"). That was it for my catching today.

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Raptor continued his mastery of Florida flounder, catching another one today.

On the way back to the launch, we found a group of at least 20 manatees swimming slowly along. We followed them for a while.

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[DanMarino]

Very cool John. Those are beautiful fish. Neat that you saw the manatees too.

[Shady]

That is a really good looking red

[Mark]

Outstanding!

[Pc4sun]

Looks like you and Terry had a nice trip. Thanks for sharing.

[jhoss]

Way to go guys. Be careful of getting too close to the manatees, I read somewhere that when startled they may spray poop at you

[jhoss]

Who did you guys rent from down there?

[jhoss]

Sorry-rent your kayaks from-

[J.A. Veil]

Way to go guys. Be careful of getting too close to the manatees, I read somewhere that when startled they may spray poop at you

We did not have that delightful experience. But immediately after I had drifted over a submerged manatee, I heard a loud splash and felt a wake rock my kayak. The manatee had just expressed its displeasure.

Sorry-rent your kayaks from-

We fished with guide Neil Taylor from Strike Three Kayak Fishing. Neil supplies all the gear -- comfortable kayaks, good paddles, ordinary PFDs (Raptor and I brought our own), and top notch rods (St. Croix Avid) and reels (Daiwa Ballistic), plus all the lures. It was very obvious that there are hundreds of miles of shorelines and many acres of flats. Without local knowledge, you are fishing blind, and are likely to have lower success.