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On our final day in Tampa, Raptor (Terry) and I fished a large flat area to the northwest of Tampa. The weather was pleasant again, but the fish were finicky. Our timing was slightly off. We had just anchored at a 4 ft deep trough in the middle of a 1 ft deep flats and began casting 12 fathom Slam R lures. I caught two trout and a small flounder.
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A friend of our guide paddled over and said he had caught 20 nice trout from the same trough on the previous day. He had been out an hour earlier than us and already caught 5 large trout. Then a dolphin had moved in to feed, which scattered the trout.
We moved around casting to other sections of the trough then later began casting on the flats themselves. The bite remained very slow. Toward the end of the 6 hour trip, we cast across shallow flats to the line of oysters near mangroves.
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I managed a small redfish on a 12 Fathom Fat Sam mullet.
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Terry worked hard but could not get a fish to bite. As the trip neared its end, we made our way back to the launch and tried casting over one last flat. Terry finally hit paydirt and landed a beautiful redfish. His persistence was rewarded.
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After returning to our launch at a beach location, we found many locals enjoying the warm January weather (mid-70s). Many of the older folks were still bundled up, but we did see several younger gals sporting their bikinis on the beach (not bad for mid-January)
IMAG2903.jpg
A friend of our guide paddled over and said he had caught 20 nice trout from the same trough on the previous day. He had been out an hour earlier than us and already caught 5 large trout. Then a dolphin had moved in to feed, which scattered the trout.
We moved around casting to other sections of the trough then later began casting on the flats themselves. The bite remained very slow. Toward the end of the 6 hour trip, we cast across shallow flats to the line of oysters near mangroves.
001.jpg
I managed a small redfish on a 12 Fathom Fat Sam mullet.
IMAG2906.jpg
Terry worked hard but could not get a fish to bite. As the trip neared its end, we made our way back to the launch and tried casting over one last flat. Terry finally hit paydirt and landed a beautiful redfish. His persistence was rewarded.
003a.jpg IMAG2916.jpg
After returning to our launch at a beach location, we found many locals enjoying the warm January weather (mid-70s). Many of the older folks were still bundled up, but we did see several younger gals sporting their bikinis on the beach (not bad for mid-January)
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