Fishing with Patrick - still early summer patterns

We had Patrick down here this past weekend for some fishing, World Cup watching and beer drinking.  We started off Saturday morning at Cockroach looking for snook up top as we had Patrick up on the bow with the fly rod casting to the mangrove points.  We didn't have a single taker unfortunately so we ran north to fish another couple of shore lines and look for some trout.  We fished Schuster's hole with no takers but a missed flounder that followed a shrimp off the sand and missed the shrimp the second time when Patrick stopped the bait.  We started seeing a lot of activity off the mangroves as the tide was falling out so we turned and started fishing the mullet and started catching a few trout.  Well it wasn't long until we found quite a few fish with some larger fish mixed in. Both of us connected on 22-23 inch fish and with the 19 inch fish we had in the cooler already we had dinner before 9:30.

Well you shouldn't "leave fish to find fish" but we wanted to see if we could find some reds and snook.  So we made a quick run back south and set up along some of the outside mangroves and started working the edges.  We caught a quick snook and had a couple of other bites but nothing consistent so with the tide finally rolling in we moved inside to set up on some inside mangroves.  Well my first hole didn't really produce much off the bat other than a catfish so we moved down to the cut and first cast in we were rewarded with a nice snook.

Well I thought that was going to be the beginning of something good but we really didn't get any more bites even though the current was just getting up and moving.  We putted around there for a little while longer and had some lunch and let the cut rest and ended up a smaller red after a little break.

After another long break and a finish up with lunch another first drift through the cut produced a quick bite which peeled off line back underneath the mangroves and took a couple of jumps.  Well after a quick 20 seconds of horsing it out of the mangroves Patrick was able to pull the fish down and out of the mangroves.  As he was getting the fish back to the boat it decided to turn and head back to the mangroves which in turn sliced right through the leader.  Either it was frayed from the mangrove roots or the gill covers when right through it since more than likely it was a solid snook.

The point of a lost fish.  

From there it was getting later in the afternoon and we were getting low on shrimp and still had plans on fishing that evening if the weather cooperated so we decided to load up and head back to St. Pete.  Well unfortunately after a great dinner the weather turned ugly so we decided to visit Cycle instead and have a couple of Doug's great beers. 

The following morning we decided to throw all the eggs into the tarpon basket with an east wind and ran off the beaches early looking for rolling fish.  Well it didn't take long to spot our first fish but without it coming back up again we really couldn't get an idea on where it was headed.  We moved a little further north to more boats and caught a couple more fish rolling as well but they all looked like they were on their way very quickly to Key West as they were making serious time down the beaches.  After that we waited a little while longer and saw one more possible roll but it was time to make our way back to the launch to load up to make sure we got Patrick back to the airport.  Overall it was a great way to spend the weekend and we accomplished everything we set out to do even though we didn't hook up on the tarpon.

Fishing with Vance - Early summer patterns

Fished with Vance a few weeks ago out of Cockroach Bay under some early summer patterns.  We started early throwing topwater to snook and had a few blow ups right off the bat but not hook ups.  Finally after moving a little into the back country did we get a taker and get one to the boat though it was pretty small.  So as the tide was slowing down we made a run north to catch the last part of the falling tide at Schuster's hole.  Well it was occupied so we figured we could find some trout in some of the pot holes and we weren't disappointed.  The trout seemed to be hanging off the holes though and some of them came from the thick grass around the holes.  The big trout of the day was one that jumped out of the water chasing bait 15 yards from the boat and took the shrimp a few seconds after it hit the water.

We caught a couple of nice trout and decided to run back south to fish some mangroves for snook and reds.  We got back and set up in some of my favorite summer holes and did pretty well. 

Some smaller reds and a nice snook at the first stop throwing up under the mangroves.  We moved to a summer cut and first cast in Vance hooks and catches his first snook. 

So by that point we had the boat slam all sealed up and were looking for enough fish to take home so I suggested we take a shot at one more hole out front where I've had some success in the summer and high tides.  It wasn't long before I got on a nice red that made a really good dinner fish for Redfish tacos. 

After that it was time to call it an afternoon and get back to clean fish and get the boat all cleaned up.  Good day on the water with a couple of slams and some solid fish with some diversity as well. 

Fishing with Greg and Mr. Dean at CRB

After celebrating the big Dawg win last night over LSU, we continued it right out into the mangroves and flats at CRB this morning.  Tides were a little slow as we are coming off the neap tides so there was just enough moving water this morning to go out and try the morning incoming.  The water was pretty tea-colored after all the recent rains so along with the slower tides, the water clarity didn't give me much confidence but all of that would be forgotten after a little time on the water.  We got a really early start to a beautiful crisp (<75 deg) morning and were to the first stop before the sun was up. 

It didn't take very long to Mr. Dean to get on a fish, well a nice ray.  So, needless to say we were quickly back at it to find a game fish.  Well, it didn't take long to find the first of many snook on the morning.  Mr. Dean started it off for us and was 1/3 of the way on to his slam with the hardest fish first.  We spent the next hour catching and releasing a few small reds and bunch of smaller snook and a couple of mangrove snappers.  We pulled up the powerpole and headed to the cut down the way to look for some fish sitting in the slow morning current.  We got a bite right off and ended up with a couple more fish for the boat including this smaller red and snook.  

The tide wasn't moving very well but there were still fish around they were active so we ended up with a couple of reds and a couple more snook.

From there we headed outside to fish some out front mangroves for snook and reds and we weren't disappointed at that stop either.  Greg knocked out 2/3 of his slam as well with a quick release of his snook and a smaller red.

We still had some monster shrimp left so with the north wind we putted out to the flat to find a trout or two.  Well we accomplished that after we found a little bit cleaner water and Mr. Dean got the boat slam and his personal slam pretty quickly.  Greg followed pretty quickly with his slam as well and if it wasn't more me breaking him off he would have had a nice keeper red for the boat as well.  I had my trout on one of the very last shrimp and it was a pretty good fish but it came off right at the boat  but I was ok with that.  We had caught 20 or so fish with quite a few species and a couple of inshore slams.  Plus the weather and water was great and along with the fellowship and stories it was a perfect way to celebrate a big Dawg win yesterday.  I can't wait to get back out there and continue this great end of summer/early fall fishing. 

It wasn't a Lousiana redfish but it will do

Got out with Josh this morning at CRB to chase some inshore fish.  We had to wait quite a while on the shrimp guy so we missed our sunrise opportunities for big snook but we found a couple snooklets for the slam for Josh.

We started right away headed to the first redfish spot and when we got there the tide was moving by the mangroves as predicted and it didn't take long to pull in a nice red to the boat.

I caught mine on a free-lined shrimp.  The bite was coming on fast and it wasn't long before Josh joined with another keeper red on a shrimp under a popping cork.

 

Josh's first Florida redfish.  Then it was time to get serious and Josh got on the board with a huge snook.

                                          

Well ok not really.  But he got to cross that species off his list and there will be plenty of time to get a bigger one.  We ended up catching a few more small snook up to 16 inches or so on both the cork and the free-lined shrimp.  We also pulled in a few more reds and mangrove snappers.  We fished that hole for an hour or so before leaving those fish for the cut right down the mangroves.  The tide wasn't moving very strong but we were able to catch a jack, catfish and a couple of smaller reds before we decided it would be the perfect time to drift the flats to get that slam.  

We got out to the flats with an awesome view of the Skyway and of St. Pete and Josh finished up his Tampa Bay slam on his first trip out.

 

From there we were quickly out of shrimp and as you can see the bay was like glass so we ran out to some markers and a little south to run the big engine a little and then it was back to the dock by the the sun was way overhead and the temps were rising.  Looks like redfish tacos are back on the menu tonight!

 

Summertime fishing = Snook up-top early, reds and trout later

Well I really enjoy summertime fishing but it requires an early wake up call and it's pretty much done by lunch since the water gets hot and the thunderstorms usually are starting to fire up pretty early.  So with those caveats, John and Lindsay joined me a Cockroach the other morning on an incoming early morning tide.  We started off looking for big snook with topwater which I think is one of my favorite things in the world to do.  Well it didn't take us very long after getting on the trolling motor to find some fish.  I started pretty quickly by having a nice blow up and miss only to have it get slammed again and after a brief fight I ended up pulling the hooks.  I figure it was a nice red since it missed the plug on the first swipe and it stayed down deep.  We kept following the tide around the mangroves edges making long casts and we had a couple of blow ups and caught a few small jacks.  We got up to one point in some skinny water with a lot of current and I had a huge blow up about 15 ft off the mangroves.  Instantly I knew it was a big fish.  She came out of the water and it was a rather large snook.  It jumped quite a few times and I had her rolling over and was trying to at least get her away from the mangroves and back closer to the boat and the hooks just pulled.  I guess I just put a little to much pressure and that was that.  The boat estimate was 35+ inches so she would have looked great in some pictures but now she can just keep getting bigger in our imaginations!  We set up shop there for a few minutes and John ended up with a smaller red from behind the mangroves.  We worked our way around the corners and current flows of the mangroves looking for some more and although we had some more blow ups we were unable to find any to bring into the boat.

We then put the big motor down and put-putted back to some of my summer redfish holes that I've been fishing for a few years now.  Well the holes didn't disappoint. 

We started off with a nice red on a free lined shrimp.  The bite was kinda slow with the warmer water but the were eating!  We caught a couple more from our first position but I thought they might be a little further around the corner as the current picked up.  So after a quick re-position of the boat we were back on them again.

We caught fish on every presentation - freelined shrimp, shrimp tipped jigs and under a cork.  We even had a double.

Look at the spots!

As that bite slowed we moved down to a cut in the mangroves and it wasn't long before we found fish there as well.  I lost one literally on the first float.  Then we kept working and ended up with quite a few more reds, trout and mangrove snapper.

Watch Lindsay's move on the next video to get out of the mangroves on the right side about half way through the fight.  Another double to boot. 

We had a pretty good time catching fish today and as the tide dying, the summer heat warming everything up and running out of shrimp we decided to call it a day and head back to the launch.  I was able to get some pretty good video as well so enjoy cause we sure did on the water. 

Every Tampa Bay flats fisherman should know how to use a popping cork

So, a much different title for this entry but it comes with a good fishing tale from today's outing with Vance and his Dad.  Light winds greeted us this morning as we ran south from EG towards the flats of Cockroach Bay.  Rain was way south for the morning and although I was worried about getting into the wet stuff, both of my fishing companions were ready and fired up to go fishing.  We pulled up to the first flat and I quickly got on the trolling motor and started looking for potholes.  It wasn't more than what seemed like 5 min before we were into fish.  It started off with some small trout and we pulled out 5 or 6 while Mr. Whitaker got the hang of fishing with a popping cork and circle hooks.

Vance didn't get on the board until this really nice trout.

By that point we had boated quite a few trout and were looking for some larger fish as most of the trout were smaller.  We drifted a little further as the tide slowed and finally found some activity around some pothole I liked to target during the winter for reds.  Well we found a couple trout with Vance getting some more meat in the cooler with another large trout.  We saw the trout swirl chasing bait and Mr. Whitaker pitched in and unfortunately caught the smaller trout because when Vance pitched in it was game on.

After playing the fish perfect on his new St. Criox we put it in the cooler and started looking again.  It wasn't long before we saw some mullet working and I had no longer mentioned that we might be in the area of some reds when Vance's cork disappeared very quickly in the pothole he was in.   This is when the fish story begins. It was just that quickly that he hooked up and his line broke.  After reeling in it was determined that the braid (main line) had broken and the cork and everything else was still out there.  It didn't take long for the cork to pop up about 20 yards away and I figured we would just go over and retrieve it and start fishing again.  Little did we realize that there might still be a fish attached!  As we got closer the cork dove under and out of site (think Jaws!).  We would wait for it to come back up and we would take off after it again (again Jaws!).  By this point it was all hands on deck so we closed the distance after a few missed tries and some tense moments when we didn't see the cork come up.  I had the grand idea to try to hook the cork with my jig.  Well we got within 10 yards and I made a quick cast to where I thought the mid point of the fish and the cork were and like throwing the hook on Deadliest Cast somehow I was able to snag the line and the cork.  I quickly loosened up the drag to hopefully keep the fish on the cork and line and played the fish for a tense 30 secs before we go the fish close enough to grab.  Vance made a great snag on his leader underneath the cork and wrestled the 24 inch red into the boat.

We cruised some more potholes on the way to Schuster's Hole without any luck and got to the hole and it wasn't long before we were rewarded with some fish.  Mr. Whitaker got a nice flounder and I got a snook on a jig before we took off back to Cockroach to fish some mangroves on the high tide.

When we got inside Cockroach there were some fisherman already in the cut I like to fish so we cruised some other mangrove shorelines while they fished and eventually they came out so we pulled up and started our drifts around the cut.  It wasn't long before we had some bites and Mr. Whitaker pulled out his first Florida red.

I got my redfish as well for the inshore slam and we caught a kitty cat to make a trash can slam.  As you can see from the picture above the clouds started rolling in and the tide started to die so it was a quick run back to EG to clean some fish!  Great day overall 15+ trout, a few reds, snook, flounder and a couple mangrove snapper.