Red and hot

[J.A. Veil]

As for the "red" part of the title, I fished near Dunedin, FL today and caught a frisky redfish in the mid-20s. It was my largest in several recent trips with Neil Taylor of Strike Three Kayak Fishing. It hit a 12 Fathom 3" Fat Sam Mullet paddletail on a 1/8-oz jighead.

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Yesterday I had a dolphin come up right in front of me.

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As for the "hot", the weather has been in the low 80s and sunny since I arrived here a few days ago. After finishing up this afternoon, we drove half a mile along the beach. I saw several dozen women and girls sunning in bathing suits -- not something I would expect to find in Maryland these days.

[summersoff]

Great report. I was on the Atlantic side this week with the intention of hitting Mosquito, but the conditions were too good to pass up glass-like conditions out front to try our luck on sails. After three days of hard fishing, no luck on sails,plenty of kings, blacks, a wahoo and tons of wreck fish.
Btw, Dunedin is great town, love to retire there.

[Jman]

Very nice red John! Send some of that warm weather up this way.

[baitball]

Congrats on the good-looking redfish!

[Mark]

Nice redfish John.

I wouldn't say it was hot here today but we actually weren't far behind you in temperature. At least the variance was smaller than should have been given the month. It was unseasonably warm in MD today, but I must admit I saw no one sunning themselves in bathing suits on bank of Smithville Lake.

However, I put Fat Sam to work up here just as you did in FL. I nailed a pickerel with mine on a weedless hook.

Congrats on your catches and the scenery.

[mchottie]

I just read an article from The Baltimore Sun:

Just days after a light snow fell on the region, the Baltimore area tied an 88-year-old heat record Tuesday, according to National Weather Service data.

Temperatures hit 76 degrees at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Tuesday afternoon, matching the record high for Feb. 20 set in 1930. The average high for Feb. 20 is 46 degrees.

Enjoy Florida, I doubt this 'heat stroke' will last long enough for me to enjoy a weekend day on the water!

[J.A. Veil]

I finished up the Tampa trip yesterday by catching one personal best (18" jack crevalle) and matching a second personal best (22" ladyfish). I was paddling across a grass flat of 18" depth and saw several pods of bait fleeing for their lives. I cast beyond the melee and was immediately hooked up. This was followed by 15-20 seconds of screaming drag as the fish showed its displeasure. Ten minutes later, I landed the tired jack. That was the hardest pulling fish of the trip (stronger than my 24" red or my 22" ladyfish).

Apparently the thrashing jack splashed water on part of my camera lens. I got a shot of most of the body but a blurred head. Fortunately I took a closeup of the head in a second shot.

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[Mark]

Now that's what a FL trip should be like!

Glad you got into them.

Your jack was a good one. And ladyfish are a blast. I love it when they go airborne.

[mchottie]

That 'water splash' sounds like what i'm hoping to capture via GoPro on some trips this summer!

Awesome end to the trip!

[baitball]

John,

I love catching JCs. I think they are an under-appreciated species. They provide a great fight on light tackle and are quite photogenic (as your pics prove). Congrats on a good day!