Waiting for Insurance Companies and Wade Fishing.

Well, I have not been fishing since the accident on Dec 26th because I wanted to stay home in case the insurance company needed to contact me and I didnt want to miss a call to cause even 1 minute of delay of getting the Hotrod back in action.

Finally I was about to give in to my impulses and scheduled a fishing trip for today with one of my fishing buddies, Capt Greg... (Man, I sure got a bunch of buddies that are captains huh?) ...when I finally got the call I have been waiting for. The appraiser wanted to come check out the Hotrod Gheenoe...the next morning... between 10 am and Noon.

So I had to cancel my trip with Capt Greg (darnit) but I called another buddy of mine (who is not a captain...) and asked if he wanted to go wade fishing around Simmons Park. He said sure so we met at 7 am and launched our boatless selves and had a great time catching nice slot trout and small ladyfish on artificials for about an hour until he hooked himself in the thumb on one of the treble hooks in his lure. Unfortunately, his crimped down barb wasnt as crimped down as he thought it was though. He was stuck pretty good. He couldnt decide on whether he should yank it out or push it through and cut it out. It went right into the very center of the pad of his thumb too. So I volunteered to help him remove the hook. I grabbed it gently with a pair of pliers and said "On a count of three... One... Two..." YANK! "Three" He said he never even felt it. That pretty much ended the fishing for the day though. He said that the fish probably felt sorry for him and didnt want him to hook himself again.

So I made it home about 5 minutes after 10 and was worried that the insurance guy had come and left already.... but as I expected, He showed up promptly at 11:30. (I could have fished for another whole hour and a half... grrr.)

He took a couple pictures of the motor, a couple pictures of the Hotrod Gheenoe, took some notes, asked a few questions and said "Thanks. I'll file this report tomorrow and you should hear something soon." I said, "Wait a minute, I have a couple questions for you." "What do you think? and what is gonna happen?"
Basically he said that he would file the report. He thinks that the motor is totalled and he needs to get an estimate on the glass repair work on the Hotrod, if it is too much he would probably total it too. (It's barely scratched for crying out loud....) He said I would most likely get a check for the market value of my motor and the same for the hull if it is totalled. And they would come and get them... No F'in Way are they gonna take my Hotrod! The can have the motor but the hotrod stays. It can be fixed. The other thing is, I said how do they determine fair market value? He said that they have books and charts etc that list those things. I said what if fair market value isnt enough to replace my engine? I told him first of all it is very difficult to find a used 25hp Yamaha 2 stroke for sale and a short shaft like the one on the hotrod is even more difficult to find. (and more expensive too...) He said "Them's the breaks..."

Oh Hell No, I dont think so... In fact I think Im getting a stiff neck... and my spleen hurts...

Stay tuned...

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.

Another "Learning Experience"

I went out yesterday after having a really productive trip the day before. I was excited thinking that I knew where the fish were hanging and when they were supposed to be eating etc. In other words, I thought I had them dialed in.
I got out and caught some really nice bait and got to the first spot and we caught ladyfish galore and a couple redfish. I wrote it off as just being a little early. So I went to the next spot. We had better luck there, catching a mangrove snapper and then I kid you not, foul hooking a snook in the tail, get this, on a sardine that I had hooked through the tail. Sometimes you see the craziest stuff.

So I moved off to fish another area and had really slow action. Like it might has well been nothing. Couple redfish, some snook and a trout but nowhere near in the number I was expecting.
When I got back home I talked to some of my friends who were out fishing and they reported really slow trips as well. I got on a web forum and most everyone was reporting poor fishing.
I guess I need to take a couple days off and give the fish a chance to come back. I must have wiped em out. Just kidding. Actually the weather was much warmer yesterday than it has been in almost a week or more, there was barely any wind, and the sky was mostly clear. So that very well could have been the cause.
With everything cooling down to the mid to high 70's the fish are moving into their fall and wintertime hangouts, then all of a sudden the next day its 90 degrees by 9:00 am. I think they get confused and just dont know how to act sometime.
Oh well, we still caught fish and had a good time on the water. And that is all that really matters.

Learned A New Trick

I was contacted by a reader of this blog who asked me if I would take him fishing. I told him sure let me know when you can go and we worked out the details and went this morning.

I kind of took the approach that it would be kind of like a pretend charter, of course I didn't charge him anything because I am not a licensed captain and thus do not really charter, but it can be fun to make believe.

Anyway I met him at the ramp this morning and we launched the Hotrod Gheenoe and went to catch some bait. Then we headed to our first spot. I was kind of nervous that we would not have a good trip since I had not been having much luck the last couple days "scouting" the area, but as luck would have it, on his third cast he caught a nice slot redfish.

That was a nice surprise since I was targeting snook but knew that there were possibly redfish in the area as well. A few casts later I caught a redfish of my own.

We caught several ladyfish at that spot but no more of our targeted species so I decided to move a couple hundred yards and see if we could find more fish. I observed some baitfish getting busted on under a mangrove bush so I set up and we fished that spot for a few minutes. My "charter" caught another nice redfish, and then a smaller "rat" redfish.

We moved again and I caught a very small speckled trout and he caught a small snook, and we both were 1 fish away from an "Inshore Slam". An Inshore Slam is when an angler catches a Snook, a Redfish and a Speckled Trout on one fishing trip. I was pretty sure I would get one as I have been pretty good at getting snook lately and I knew the area we were going to next was loaded.

We both had several hits and misses but were having problems getting the fish to the boat, but at least we were getting some good action. Finally we started catching snook. We both got several to the boat and I completed my inshore slam. Then a few minutes later he landed a nice slot speckled trout.

We then headed back to the ramp but I made one last stop along the way to check out a spot that I have had limited success with and wanted to see how it would do with today's conditions. The water was already pretty high as the incoming tide was almost at its peak. I was having difficulties getting my bait under the mangroves since the water was touching the bottoms of the branches. Then he got a nice hit deep inside the mangroves, but the fish got off. I asked him how he got his bait inside there and he showed me. He was hooking the bait through the tail and casting it to the edge of the mangroves. Then gently tugging on the line, the fish would try to swim away and go right into the target zone. He was literally controlling the baitfish like a puppet.

Today's trip was very satisfying for me. I enjoyed the company and learned a new trick and most of all, I proved to myself that I can find some fish when I am under pressure.

It is totally different fishing with someone you have never met before than fishing with a regular fishing buddy. Of course there was no real pressure as I was not really doing it for compensation, only my reputation was on the line. I think it is good practice though. So if you read this and want to go fishing in the Hotrod Gheenoe, shoot me an email using the comments button and let's go fishing. I can use the practice.

I will be taking the captains license class next month in November and hopefully will have a captains license by February or March. Ill keep you updated on the progress. It might be interesting.

Anticipation....

After not fishing for 5 days, I knew I would be fishing the next morning. So I did my usual night before pre-fishing routine. Get on the computer and check the reports, check the tides and check the solunars for the next day. Go into the garage, check the battery, check the gas, check the tackle to make sure I have plenty of hooks, jigheads, plastics and any topwaters I might want to use. Decide which rods Im going to take. Check their leaders, make sure the have plenty of line, check the guides etc. Fill the tupperware with chum for bait. Check the filter on the baitwell, make sure everything is where it belongs in the boat so I can just hook it up and go.
Then get back on the computer and check the reports...tides...and solunars again just in case I missed something.
The off to bed to toss and turn for a couple hours while I think about what the game plan is for the next day... Where to launch, where to look for bait, where to go first, what if I dont catch catch anything there, next spot...maybe I should check out that other spot first...no...Ill check it out after I go to the first spot...Hmm, I havent been there in a few days, maybe I should check that other spot first...no. Last time the tides were like this I had pretty good luck on the other side over by that dead tree...maybe Ill go there first...I hooked that big snook over there that got off...No stick with the plan. Okay Ill go here first, then Ill work the mangroves to the other spot. Should I go up into that creek? Maybe, if Im not getting anything on the outside. Wait, what about the other side? Ill do that on the way back to the dock. But I want to check it before the wind picks up...okay then Ill start on that side...but then you will miss the start of the solunar at that other spot...ARGHHH!!!
And so it goes until I finally fall asleep...but wait...sleep offers no reprieve from the nightly anguish... The dreams begin... Hey look at that mangrove tunnel...the current is ripping pretty good through there, and it looks like it opens up about 25 yards up inside there. Ive never noticed that before, I think Ill go check it out...Crap! I just snapped off the tip of my $245 rod...I pick it up to look at it and it crumbles in my hands... damn...good thing I got a backup...damn its broke too. Look at all the snook just popping everywhere! and my rods are broken...Oh well. Wait I can still use this one...just the tip is broke... cast out... snag... or a slow motion 10 foot cast or some other crazy dream nonsense.
Man here comes an airboat...how did they get back in here...Oh well Ill go back and fish outside in the creek...and I go back through the tunnel and Im somewhere totally different...
And I wake up and its like 3:30 am and Im wide awake... I manage to get back to sleep to more chaotic fishing dreams and the alarm finally goes off and Im tired as hell...
But I go anyway... thinking I can go to bed early tonite... yeah right Im fishing tomorrow...

Lets Talk Diversity

I have only been fishing in Tampa Bay waters for a couple years but I have caught quite a mixed bag of fish. Not counting a few offshore excursions. Here is a list of the fish I have caught inside the bay, using the skyway bridge as a boundary using a hook and line.

Redfish
Snook
Speckled Trout
Silver Trout
Whiting
Flounder
Gafftop Sailcat
Hardhead Catfish
Jack Crevalle
Mangrove Snapper
Gag Grouper
Goliath Grouper
Pompano
Spanish Mackerel
Ladyfish
Bluefish
Sheepshead
Black Drum
Toadfish
Pinfish
Pufferfish
Cow Nosed Ray
Atlantic Stingray
Key West Grunt
Cobia
Tripletail

Not too shabby I would think. Of course there are still a few species left like Tarpon, Permit and various shark species, so I got something to shoot for in the upcoming days. One of the best things about the bay is the wide variety of fish you might catch on any given day.

Fall Fishing is Almost Here!

The last few weeks the fishing has been a little spotty. The redfish schools began showing up on the flats and in the mouths of the various passes along the South Shore area of Tampa Bay and the Snook were moving back from the spawning areas along the beaches.

Last week I had pretty decent success finding the snook in some of their cool weather haunts. Fall fishing is almost upon us. In my opinion fall and spring are without question the best time of the year for fishing on the area known as the South Shore. The South Shore runs from the Alafia River all the way down to the skyway and Miguel Bay just outside of the skyway. As the weather and water temps fall, the fish start moving in to the back waters and begin to establish their fall fishing patterns. Bait is still plentiful on the flats and is the weapon of choice when targeting fall snook, redfish and trout as well as big schools of jack crevalle, and ladyfish. Big schools of hungry spanish mackerel are also easy targets out in the bay proper with an occasional kingfish mixed in to keep it interesting.

If you are in the bay and see a flock of birds dive bombing the water, check it out and you might get on a school of hungry fish. Make sure you have either a light wire leader or even 50lb mono if your gonna mess with the macks because they will slice through 20 and 30lb leader like a hot knife through butter. My favorite mack rig is a couple feet of 50lb mono or flourocarbon leader with a 2x long shank 1/0 eagle claw j-hook with a live scaled sardine or threadfin herring. I get cut off occasionally, but I would rather lose a box of 50 j-hooks than a couple gotcha plugs.

For redfish, if the water is high fish the edges of mangroves near passes and up inside the backwaters. I like to troll and prospect with live baits tossed as close as I can get them to the mangroves or with jigs with rubber tails or even jerkbaits rigged weedless with a little weight to get them down to the bottom. You can use weighted flutterhooks, weighted keeper hooks, or a regular worm hook with a small splitshot pinched right above the eye of the hook. A company called DOA also makes a pinchable weight that attaches right to the hook.
If the water is low, look for dropoffs along the edges of channels etc, and also keep your eyes peeled for disturbances in the water. If you are really lucky you might even see a school of redfish tailing. I usually find tailing redfish in the morning when there is an incoming tide flooding a flat. They like to get on the flat and look for little shrimp, crabs and small baitfish and will root around in the sand and seagrass trying to flush out a meal. Sometimes when they are tailing they are so busy concentrating on feeding that you can sneak right up on them and present your lure or bait to the fish of your choice. When your on a school of tailing redfish stealth is paramount. When I see tailers I will cut off my trolling motor 50 - 60 yards away or more and hopefully drift closer to them or put my anchor down and slowly and quietly wade to within casting distance.

For Snook, look for moving water. Try to find areas where bait will be swept from a shallow area to a deeper area, or past a mangrove point or even a cut where the water flows by and swirls into the cut. Present your bait so it gets carried by the current into the areas where the snook are waiting for an easy meal. Another favorite type of area that I like to target are creeks with low overhanging mangrove branches. I like to toss my bait so it will get carried underneath the overhanging branches to the snook waiting in the shadows.

I have been having lots of success using these tactics on these type of areas and they will only get better in the comming days and weeks.