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What a Week Fishing

This last week has to be by far the most bizarre week I have had.  I was fishing for Trout and Redfish this week and couldn’t even get a redfish bite.  I caught 3 keeper trout all week with the biggest one coming at the very last minute tonight.  Luckily it was big enough to get me back on the leaderboard at Bounty Fishing in third place.

This week I lost both of my Okuma spinning reels to defects, one on Thursday and one on Friday.  I dusted off some old Shimanos and put them on my St. Croix rods and respooled them.  Today I had to respool one of them again when a wind knot from Hell ruined my PowerPro line.  I also lost an eye insert on one of my rods this week.

I probably spent close to 40 hours fishing this week for multiple species… Trout, Redfish, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper… and landed 3 trout and one Mangrove Snapper.  I have had a terrible time finding the trout and redfish this week.  I fished from 8 inches of water to 16 feet of water offshore, where one of my keepers came from.  I waded, drifted, trolled, you name it, I did it with little luck.  I’ll post a picture of my trout once the tournament close tonight.

Tight lines…

Catfish Blues

This week has been brutal for me on the flats as I can’t catch anything that I’m after.  The following song sums it all up…

Catfish Blues

Sarasota Bay Fishing on Fire This Morning

WOW what a difference a day can make…  That last few days have been brutal for flats fishing with fish being very few and far between.  During the first three days of the week I managed just a couple of Trout.  I met a guy last night that paid $400 for a charter Tuesday and caught two short Trout and a bunch of catfish.

But this morning was totally different.  The water was alive with bait fish and big explosions on the surface.  I got out this morning and had a DOA Shrimp in the water about 7:45 AM.  The first cast I lost a 20″+ fish at the net… the very next cast I landed an 18 incher.  A couple of casts later, as my DOA Shrimp was falling, my pole was almost pulled out of my hands.  It took drag for about 10-15 seconds then allowed me to get some ground on it.  At this point I couldn’t tell what I had only that it was BIG.  After another few seconds it blasted the surface… it was either a small Tarpon (20-40 Pounds), a giant snook, or the biggest Trout I have ever seen.  At just that minute I was watching in amazement as my DOA Shrimp is hurling back at me.   He spit it out and I think tried to threw it back at me.  Just like that… GONE  #%?^&!

I ended up with a couple of keepers and 2 ladyfish for Redfish bait next week.  Tomorrow I’m heading out with a fellow competitor because he is without a boat this week and is supplying beer.  I let you know how that works out tomorrow…

Catch Fish and Have Fun

Fishing Picked up This Afternoon

I went back out this afternoon and what a difference from this morning or yesterday.  Fish were chasing and blasting lures almost as soon as they hit the water.  I had 10 fish in the first 20 minutes or so and they kept getting bigger as I went.  This was a far cry from earlier today where I fished for hours for a couple of fish. 

I fished the incoming tide this morning and had no luck.  This afternoon I waited until the tide started to come back in about 6:00 PM so there would be enough water on the flat I wanted to fish.  The later day seemed to make a big difference.  I may wait tomorrow and go out in the afternoon once the tide switches to incoming, although that will be a little later in the evening, and see what happens.

 Tight Lines…

Fishing Still on the Slow Side

Fished pretty hard this morning with only two fish to show for my efforts.  The winds have laid down a bit and switched 180 degrees to the West.  Went out to Long Bar on Sarasota Bay for most of the morning.  I fished deep grass, shallow grass, sandy bottom, and a mixture of both.  Had lots of hits and realized they were small Jacks.  I did catch one good keeper that was entered into this week’s Bounty Fishing Tournament.  Check out Bounty Fishing and go to the leaderboards to follow my progress.

See ya later…

A Very Slow Day Fishing

I’m not sure if it was the front that went through or the murky water but yesterday was dead.  I spent the first couple of hours on some of my favorite flats from shallow to deep, sandy to grassy, with only one hit.  I did happen to land that fish, a 15″ trout, but that was it in 2 hours!

I then moved closer to shore in the skinny water looking for Redfish.  I had a livewell full of nice pinfish and proceeded to launch one on the flats.  After about 30 minutes I had a fish on!  It ran like a red and stayed down for most of the fight.  I got him up to the side of the boat and saw he he was a nice red on the upper-side of the 18″ to 27″ slot limit.  Just as I was about to get him in the net boom he was gone.  It turns out that he slightly straightened my hook out… piece of crap!

I put a new hook on and casted back out.  I fished for another 2 hours with killer live bait with just one hardhead to show for all that work.  Oh well I will be back out today to give it another try.

Weather Turning to Crap

Today we are looking at a 60% chance of thunderstorms and winds to 34 mph so the boat is staying at the dock. I will use the day to get other stuff done like re-lubing one of my Okuma reels and putting new Power Pro on the other. I also will get to work on my trolling motor that has a busted motor mount. This has really set me back lately as I have been only able to drift spots and not quietly been able to maneuver stealthily.

Sea Trout Tournament Week

Started the tournament week off right with a nice gator trout this morning. I can’t tell you exactly how big it was (the others from the tournament might see this post and then know what they need to beat) but it was over 20″ long. This morning started off slow with a pretty stiff southeast breeze blowing 10-15 mph. It kept me moving quickly and made staying on the grassy areas difficult.

I started out around Long Bar fishing the grass humps all around it with a couple of fish in the 15″-17″ range. After a while I moved out into the center of the bay on the slightly deeper flats and had better luck. The drawback to the deeper water was a lot of Jacks wasting my time. Oh well it is better than getting skunked…LOL. I had my limit by 11:30AM and called it a morning to come home and take some pictures. I will be back out this afternoon after a little nap.

Bountyfishing.com Winning Month

I just got another check from Bountyfishing.com the other day. Although I didn’t win any of the March events I finished in the top 5 in many and collected my largest check to date.

Check out me on the dock with a couple of winning checks.

Payoff

I joined Bountyfishing about a year and a half ago. They are a web-based tournament, open to most of North America, and they were just starting the saltwater fishing tournaments with Sea Trout and Redfish. I have fished trout for most of my career so I have the trout figured out although they run smaller on this coast of Florida. My personal best is from the east coast of Florida a little over 30″ long. This side has produced a 23 incher so far.

I have never fished a tourney that is so easy to fish. You sign-up, select the tourney, pay with paypal or credit card, get your bounty code and go fishing. This code is used during the tournament to uniquely identify the competitor in the photos. You catch an eligable fish, take a picture with the fish and a ruler, a picture of you and the fish, and submit it once back at the dock.

It has added so much more excitment to my fishing. I will now go out in 30+mph winds or heavy rain to try to add to my fish’s length.

This year I vowed to learn the redfish game as best as I can. I will be looking at tips, tricks, and anything else I can find over the next 6 months or so to perfect my technique.

Check out www.bountyfishing.com and see for yourself how much you can learn and earn while having a blast fishing.