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I arrived in Tampa on Thurs afternoon. I was scheduled for a full day of kayak fishing on Fri and a half day on Sat morning. The wind was howling here on Fri, which cancelled the trip. I woke up this morning to calm and warm day. I met guide Neil Taylor near Ft DeSoto park at 7:45. We launched two Native Ultimates and paddled over a shallow flat for 15 mins to our first stop. We cast all morning to small sandy depressions in the grass where the depth was a bit deeper than the flats (3-6 ft). We drifted or anchored upwind of the sandy areas and cast 1/4-oz jigheads tipped with gold and white 4" paddletail mullets made by a local company (12 Fathoms).
The speckled trout bite was on from the start and never stopped all morning. I caught between 30 to 40 specs from feisty 13" youngsters to several 18" specimens.
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We also hooked numerous acrobatic ladyfish that pulled remarkably hard for a slender fish.
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Later in the morning Neil gave me some pointers on how to work a topwater Mirrolure plug. I was not too good at it, but did manage to catch an 18" trout, a ladyfish, and a pinfish on the plug before my arms gave out from the constant twitching.
For the last hour, we anchored up on the edge of the channel and jigged gently for silver trout. They were easy to hook. On many of his recent visits to the same spot, Neil's clients had hooked silver trout, which were then attacked by blacktip sharks and cobia. We did not get any of these larger predators today, but I still enjoyed trying.
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I hooked two other species during the morning -- a cow-nosed ray and a lizardfish. By 2:00 my northern body had received enough sun, and my arms and hands were tired from 6 hours of constant casting and retrieving (plus catching over 50 fish). The trip today was fabulous. I can heartily recommend Neil Taylor for anyone seeking a guide in the Tampa Bay area. http://www.strikethreekayakfishing.c...s/default.aspx
The speckled trout bite was on from the start and never stopped all morning. I caught between 30 to 40 specs from feisty 13" youngsters to several 18" specimens.
001.jpg 002.jpg 006.jpg 005_2.jpg
We also hooked numerous acrobatic ladyfish that pulled remarkably hard for a slender fish.
005.jpg
Later in the morning Neil gave me some pointers on how to work a topwater Mirrolure plug. I was not too good at it, but did manage to catch an 18" trout, a ladyfish, and a pinfish on the plug before my arms gave out from the constant twitching.
For the last hour, we anchored up on the edge of the channel and jigged gently for silver trout. They were easy to hook. On many of his recent visits to the same spot, Neil's clients had hooked silver trout, which were then attacked by blacktip sharks and cobia. We did not get any of these larger predators today, but I still enjoyed trying.
004.jpg
I hooked two other species during the morning -- a cow-nosed ray and a lizardfish. By 2:00 my northern body had received enough sun, and my arms and hands were tired from 6 hours of constant casting and retrieving (plus catching over 50 fish). The trip today was fabulous. I can heartily recommend Neil Taylor for anyone seeking a guide in the Tampa Bay area. http://www.strikethreekayakfishing.c...s/default.aspx
I bet those top water hits were a blast!
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