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I finished my business in Florida late on Tues. I spent the night on Lido Key (next to Sarasota). Last Sun, the weather stunk. That morning, I visited the nature park near my hotel and talked to the kayak rental company to see if they did any kayak fishing trips. The guy told me that they did not do that, but suggested that I talk to the guy sitting in the black truck with a blue Wilderness kayak in the bed.
I did have a conversation with him and immediately found another enthusiastic kayak angler. Todd is retired from law enforcement and now does guided eco-tours for one of the kayak rental companies. He told me that he would be happy to take me fishing on Wed, and said we could go either in his 16' Scout center console or in his two kayaks. We elected to use the kayaks.
I met him this morning at 7:45. We launched the kayaks and made a short paddle across crystal clear flats to the edge of a mangrove island. He suggested that we fish using shrimp behind a popping cork (see 1st photo). Initially, Todd got more hits than me. But 20 mins later, something strong slammed my shrimp and began taking out line. A few minutes later I boated the fish -- a beautiful 22" speckled trout within eyesight of John Ringling's (the circus magnate) original house on Lido Key.
We continued working the area until the bite slowed, then paddled around the shoreline of the island to another large flat. Initially the bite was off, but when we drifted near the edge of the flat and cast into deeper water, I started getting bites every 30 secs or so. Many of the bites were from pinfish (small panfish) that would nibble off chunks of my shrimp. Eventually, I caught another large trout -- this one 19".
I needed to be back at the launch by 12:00 in order to get ready to head to the airport. As we slowly paddled 15 mins back to the ramp, we could see other species of fish swimming in the shallow, clear water (redfish, needlefish, sheepshead, maybe snook). We left the fish biting -- I am already looking forward to my next trip here.
I did have a conversation with him and immediately found another enthusiastic kayak angler. Todd is retired from law enforcement and now does guided eco-tours for one of the kayak rental companies. He told me that he would be happy to take me fishing on Wed, and said we could go either in his 16' Scout center console or in his two kayaks. We elected to use the kayaks.
I met him this morning at 7:45. We launched the kayaks and made a short paddle across crystal clear flats to the edge of a mangrove island. He suggested that we fish using shrimp behind a popping cork (see 1st photo). Initially, Todd got more hits than me. But 20 mins later, something strong slammed my shrimp and began taking out line. A few minutes later I boated the fish -- a beautiful 22" speckled trout within eyesight of John Ringling's (the circus magnate) original house on Lido Key.
We continued working the area until the bite slowed, then paddled around the shoreline of the island to another large flat. Initially the bite was off, but when we drifted near the edge of the flat and cast into deeper water, I started getting bites every 30 secs or so. Many of the bites were from pinfish (small panfish) that would nibble off chunks of my shrimp. Eventually, I caught another large trout -- this one 19".
I needed to be back at the launch by 12:00 in order to get ready to head to the airport. As we slowly paddled 15 mins back to the ramp, we could see other species of fish swimming in the shallow, clear water (redfish, needlefish, sheepshead, maybe snook). We left the fish biting -- I am already looking forward to my next trip here.
i checked the reports from the area and king mack and cobia are hitting in the mornings and dusk close in
maybe if im lucky i'll find some one with a spare yak also
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