Snook for the Old Guys

[J.A. Veil]

Three charter members of the Old Guys Who Like to Fish group (OGWLF) John Rentch, Mark Bange, and I spent the last three days fishing in Tampa Bay with guide Neil Taylor of Strike Three Kayak Fishing. Day 1 was a tough bite. We paddled long distances with only a few fish to show for our efforts.

On Day 2, we relocated to a spot farther south and had a very good day. Mark and I each caught a flats slam (redfish, snook, and speckled trout). Our redfish and my snook are shown below.

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John caught trout and had a near miss on a large snook.

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On Day 3 we returned to the same spot as yesterday. Early in the trip, John Rentch caught two nice snook. Mark and I had a few more snook today, and we all had specs.

Mark's Day 2 snook and John's Day 3 snook were their first ever. It is always great to add a new species. We were throwing 3/16-oz jigheads with 12 Fathom Fat Sam mullet paddletails.


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Mark and John had a shorter hall pass than me - they are done fishing for this trip. I get to stay on for two additional days of fishing. The wind forecast for those days is not good, but we will figure out some way to fish.

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[Yak67]

Way too to represent the OGWLF Crew. Great report and great pictures. You guys are doing it right

Yak67

2017 Hobie PA-12
2016 Hobie Outback LE#217

[Mark]

Our trips to Tampa are always fun.

Good friends, lots of laughs, wonderful scenery and varied forms wildlife that pique my interest while I'm paddling to the next fishing location where reds, snook and certainly specs await. And to make me feel at home I hooked a ray today...not our familiar CNR but a stingray. I was glad to shake it loose after getting a good look at it.

An added benefit of this trip as opposed to my winter visits to FL is that fishing in my home waters has clearly heated up significantly in recent days based on some outstanding Snaggedline reports.

I look forward to fishing my favorite spots in the Chesapaeake and in Eastern Shore ponds as soon as possible.

A special thanks to John R. and John V. for their excellent company on this latest FL outing.

[EMSer]

Very nice, gentleman, very nice!

[baitball]

Congrats to all!


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[J. Rentch]

What a great time in the shallows of Tampa. The weather was great, and the fishing good. Thanks John for setting up this trip. Also, Neil is a great guide and teacher-picked quite a few pointers on this trip that have improved my fishing. Here are a few more pictures I took.

Getting ready to launch on Day 2 near the Sky View Bridge
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Captain Neil and me resting on "Old Blue" after a hard day's fishing
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My second Snook of the day! Wow what fighters, the first one almost got into the Mangroves along the edge of an island we were fishing.
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[J.A. Veil]

Yesterday was my final fishing day of the trip. As the wind built throughout the morning, we looked for sheltered mangrove edges to cast 3" Fat Sam mullet paddletails for snook and reds. My guide Neil Taylor caught three reds and a few snook. I did not find any reds, but did catch 10 snook. 8 of the 10 snook were 15” or shorter. My largest one was mid- to upper 20s. It ran under some mangrove roots as the wind pushed me into the mangroves. I was able to get the fish out three times, but on the fourth time the line broke at the lure.

I also caught a flounder that was not in the sand patches in open water where we normally find them -- it was next to an oyster bed along a mangrove edge.

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[Mark]

Glad you had an extra day of good pullage, John.

Seems like snook were more active on this trip. I hope that's a sign that their population is returning to healthy levels.

They do indeed head for the mangrove roots when hooked. Here's a photo of the one I pulled out of the roots by hand last Thursday:

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Thanks again for another great visit to Tampa. The fishing there is phenomenal. I was badly in need of pullage after a slow winter and spring here. Tampa last week scratched that itch.