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We drove to FL to visit family and I brought my kayak and rods. I had a kayak guide for two days around Anna Maria Island/Sarasota Bay with an additional day to fish by myself. Unfortunately the tides are extreme in this area as compared to the tidal diference in the Potomac and the favorable tides were in the evening which coincided with the worst of the weather on the first day. We did manage to get a few hours of fishing in between hiding from lightning and caught a dozen spotted sea trout and one 28" red fish. We used 4" plastics much like the ones commonly used for rockfish. The most exciting and popular technique for the trout was a Heddon Jr in bone worked really fast like they do for Peacock Bass. The trout hit it multiple times knocking it into the air before becoming hooked. Very exciting top water action. The second day only lasted 2 hours before the guide pulled us off the water due to safety concerns with lightning and high winds. The third day was completely cancelled due to tropical storm like conditions.
After spending a few days with family at the in-laws I went up to the coast side and had another two days with a different kayak guide on the northern Indian River. The Indian River isn't affected by the tides so we fished from 0630-4 p.m. each day; the weather had also cleared and it was the normal warm and sunny Florida again. The first day we caught many trout on the Heddon Jr and had a blast. A fellow MKF member, yakersaltlife, was on a business trip in the area at the same time so we both went out with the guide on this day. The next day I fished by myself at a different location on the Indian River and did very well with 8 trout and 2 red fish. The third day was again with the guide at another new location. We used the Heddon Jr for trout and caught a few and then decided to try for a big red. The flat where the big reds were schooled was being worked by two charter boats when we got out there so we worked an adjacent flat for trout until they left around mid day. We then let the reds calm down and tighten up the school before drifting in. Though in 6-8 ft of water you can see the bottom and at times 20-50 reds in the 30-48" range swimming slowly in circles below your yak! When they get this big and school on deep flats they are extremely spooky and will not rise for a topwater or take an artificial bait; the exception to this is when they are in tidal water and/or go into extreme shallow water to feed (tailing reds). The common technique is a circle hook, unweighted, with shrimp or mullet. We tried the shrimp but they wouldn't eat so the guide netted some mullet. You hook it through the nose and cut off the tail so it swims erratically. It sounds easy but isn't; you have to set up so that the reds are not spooked and to where you can lob the mullet just far enough in front of them that they are not spooked but also so that the mullet is at the reds depth when they cross its path in the water column. Add in a few other boats working the same school and their erratic movement patterns and you have a challenge on your hands.
After 45 minutes we wondered if they would ever turn on and feed as it seemed they just weren't interested. Finally my guide hooked up and seconds later I did also. Her fish pulled her on direction and mine pulled me the opposite. At one point he was running and stripping off so much line I was worried that he might spool me out and break off. At that point I pulled up anchor and let him drag me around to tire him out. I then anchored and got my line back. Finally I pulled the anchor to land the fish so he would not wrap up in my anchor line. We then both used our fish grabbers to tether the fish to kayaks and slowly move to shore for measurements and pictures. Our tackle was med action spinning rods/reels, 15 or 20 lb braid, 17 lb fc leader.
Also a new experience is seeing flat head sand sharks swimming under your yak in the crystal clear water, dolphins chasing trout near you, and an alligator floating just a hundred feet away seemingly staring at you.
After spending a few days with family at the in-laws I went up to the coast side and had another two days with a different kayak guide on the northern Indian River. The Indian River isn't affected by the tides so we fished from 0630-4 p.m. each day; the weather had also cleared and it was the normal warm and sunny Florida again. The first day we caught many trout on the Heddon Jr and had a blast. A fellow MKF member, yakersaltlife, was on a business trip in the area at the same time so we both went out with the guide on this day. The next day I fished by myself at a different location on the Indian River and did very well with 8 trout and 2 red fish. The third day was again with the guide at another new location. We used the Heddon Jr for trout and caught a few and then decided to try for a big red. The flat where the big reds were schooled was being worked by two charter boats when we got out there so we worked an adjacent flat for trout until they left around mid day. We then let the reds calm down and tighten up the school before drifting in. Though in 6-8 ft of water you can see the bottom and at times 20-50 reds in the 30-48" range swimming slowly in circles below your yak! When they get this big and school on deep flats they are extremely spooky and will not rise for a topwater or take an artificial bait; the exception to this is when they are in tidal water and/or go into extreme shallow water to feed (tailing reds). The common technique is a circle hook, unweighted, with shrimp or mullet. We tried the shrimp but they wouldn't eat so the guide netted some mullet. You hook it through the nose and cut off the tail so it swims erratically. It sounds easy but isn't; you have to set up so that the reds are not spooked and to where you can lob the mullet just far enough in front of them that they are not spooked but also so that the mullet is at the reds depth when they cross its path in the water column. Add in a few other boats working the same school and their erratic movement patterns and you have a challenge on your hands.
After 45 minutes we wondered if they would ever turn on and feed as it seemed they just weren't interested. Finally my guide hooked up and seconds later I did also. Her fish pulled her on direction and mine pulled me the opposite. At one point he was running and stripping off so much line I was worried that he might spool me out and break off. At that point I pulled up anchor and let him drag me around to tire him out. I then anchored and got my line back. Finally I pulled the anchor to land the fish so he would not wrap up in my anchor line. We then both used our fish grabbers to tether the fish to kayaks and slowly move to shore for measurements and pictures. Our tackle was med action spinning rods/reels, 15 or 20 lb braid, 17 lb fc leader.
Also a new experience is seeing flat head sand sharks swimming under your yak in the crystal clear water, dolphins chasing trout near you, and an alligator floating just a hundred feet away seemingly staring at you.
We saw several large Snook in 30lb+ class but no takers. I did get a few jacks; they are a blast for their size! Would be great to get a group of us down there.
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