Catching Up

Well I have been busy with the holidays and family and all that stuff and havent really had a chance to fish since Dec 15th. Then the first chance I got I was heading to the boat ramp and some numbnut rear ended the Hotrod and destroyed my lower unit and put a nice gouge in the hull. There doesnt appear to be any transome damage other than a scratch but I will have it checked out to make sure. I called the dudes insurance company and filed a claim. Supposedly their adjustor is supposed to get back with me within two business days...I wont hold my breath... but you can be sure I will be contacting him if I dont hear from him.
I still need to take my first aid/cpr class so I can submit my package for my Capt's License... But Ive just been to darn busy.
Hopefully I will have time to catch up next week since I am boatless. Man that sucks. Oh well.
I did manage to get out with another friend of mine, Capt. Mike Davis who is a fishing guide, to do some scouting and to check out his boat which I am thinking of purchasing. We used all artificials and did okay. He got a nice snook on the flats,
We also caught several nice trout and ladyfish
As well as a nice bluefish.
Then we busted out the flyrods and got some nice big ladyfish.
All in all not a bad day on the water... But I want my Hotrod back...

You can fish with Capt Mike Davis too contact him at 941-729-7404 or visit his website at www.finsnscales.com

Late Fall Report

Well with the weather cooling off and the extreme low winter tides around the full and new moons, finding bait has become somewhat of a challenge. I can still get it but I have to pick my days it appears. While most live bait anglers have to run to the skyway I have been fortunate to discover a few bait spots a little closer to home. If I am lucky and they pan out for me as hoped I should be able to find bait all winter long on most days. The rest of the time I will fish artificials or target species that like shrimp like Sheepshead. I am also enjoying the opportunity to do more fly fishing, although my results are not quite what I have been hoping for with that.
I can get decent distance and present my fly well enough but after it gets in the water is where I need some help. I'm thinking about hiring a guide that specializes in fly fishing just so I can get some pointers. I would really like to catch some nice fish on fly this winter and of course I want to be able to target snook and reds on the flats next spring and summer as well and possibly tarpon too.

I had some problems with the motor on the Hotrod earlier this week. Apparently when I swamped the boat last week some water got into my portable gas tank and my motor, although it is very economical and fuel efficient, still wont run on a saltwater/gasoline/two stroke oil mix. I drained the gas tank and emptied the fuel filter on the motor and it ran fine for me today so I am back in action.

The Mullet Roe season is in full swing and the mullet fishermen are out in full force. Most of these guys don't pay any attention to any regulations regarding running their vessels in slow speed or idle zones and could care less about running over your fishing hole while your fishing. Great guys let me tell ya. This is a picture I took in a slow speed minimum wake zone while fishing last week.


As you can see the snapper bite is on fire...I have huge hands this is a really big fish.

Here are a couple pictures of a fishing trip I took with my friend TampaJim proprietor of Dudley Rods
We searched and searched for fish for almost 3 hours and then when we finally found them we flat out tore em up and boated 12 snook in about 30 minutes as well as a small redfish too. We lost a couple too including one snook that would have been very close to the top of the slot if not over. But that's fine with me as I would have let it go anyway.

Hopefully fishing will pick up a little in the coming few weeks. As the weather gets a little colder I'm looking forward to the annual sheepshead spawn at the end of this month till around march. They are pretty tricky to catch but when you do they put up a great fight and they aren't to shabby on a sandwich bun either.

Fickle Weather Woes

A few weeks ago we had a few cold fronts come through, the water temps cooled considerably and the fish were starting to move up into the rivers and other backwater areas. Just when the fishing started to get hot the temps moved back up into the mid 80's (how Florida for you...) and messed up the fishing.
Of course I missed the cold fronts because I was chained to a desk with work and Sea School, and then the Thanksgiving holiday week and sick kids kept me derailed for another week, but I did manage to get out the day after Thanksgiving with my brother and we caught a respectable number of fish. Not being allowed to fish on weekends, I eagerly looked forward to getting back into my regular fishing pattern the following week. On Monday I got out with a friend and we caught lots of snook and I figured I still had the fish pretty much dialed in. However the next 4 days really through me for a loop. Tuesday we caught only redfish in all my snook holes but still managed to find a couple while exploring. Wed, I took my test of course (and passed!) Thursday I took another friend out and we looked for almost 4 hours and only caught 1 snook hanging out under a mangrove bush in a little canal. That should have told me something since I tried every dock on the river. Sure enough in the next canal I checked an overhanging mangrove bush and we proceeded to catch a dozen snook in the next 30 minutes with multiple double hookups. Of course I lost the biggest fish of the bunch but that's a whole other story. Friday, I was invited to join Capt Todd Foucher of SlingN'Bait Charters on the Little Manatee river for a flotilla party targeting the large schools of big Jack Crevalle that hang out there all winter long, but the water had warmed up past their secret temperature threshold and they were nowhere to be found. But they did catch quite a few snook redfish and trout as well as some ladyfish too.
Now another cold front has supposedly moved in, the high today is supposed to be a brisk 65 degrees...but the temp is supposed to get warmer every day... I know its only November...and the Midwest is covered with ice and snow... but I sure wish the weather down here would make up its mind either warm up or get cold. PICK ONE DAMMIT! lol