Cortez Fishing » flats

Trout Tourney Day One

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:26:29 +0000

I went out Monday morning at first light fishing for Trout and had a 20”+ on the first cast that I lost next to the boat. So I thought this is going to be a good morning. Didn’t happen like I expected it to and I caught only one other fish in 2 hours so I packed it in and went home.

This afternoon I fished my normal spot for a bit and caught a couple of small fish and decided to move on. I won’t say where I ended up because there are too many local guys fishing this tourney that might “discover” my spot. Man the fishing was incredible! I caught 30 plus Trout, 2 bluefish and one was 24”, two Snook with the biggest going 23”, a 20” Gag Grouper, several jacks, ladyfish, and a redfish that was 24”+ that got off at the boat.

The biggest excitement came just before dark when I was thinking about heading back to the dock. All of the sudden my topwater lure was destroyed and drag was screaming from my reel. At first I thought it was another Snook because of the way it ran… but then it jumped! Holy crap it was a giant Sea Trout that looked like a 15 pound largemouth bass. It had to be the fattest trout I’ve ever seen. I fought it for about ten minutes making sure that I kept the drag just right to not break the line (20lb Power Pro with a 30lb fluorocarbon leader ). I fought him perfectly and got him along side the boat and I figured he was 28” or more and went to grab my net. As I turned back to the fish the lure came out of the water and hit me on the shoulder with a thud. Bye bye giant Trout…

After a few choice words that I can’t repeat here, I looked to my shoulder and saw the lure is stuck to my shirt and I thought, great I’m hooked good. (By the way I just spent 4 hours in the hospital two weeks ago getting an infected thumb taken care of because of a fish hook that lodged in my knuckle and I just finished the antibiotics yesterday). After getting over the thought that this giant fish was a goner I studied the lure to find out that I was not hooked after all. I removed the lure in amazement to discover that the front hook was gone. The eye that is mounted in the lure is in tact but the hook and split ring were gone. All I know is I had that fish hooked good and if it wasn’t for a tackle malfunction I’d be an easy winner this week. Oh well this is just day one, six more to go…

Tight lines everyone…

Fishing Trips this Week

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:50:01 +0000

I went out this week in the late afternoon to some flats that are real close to my house. I don’t even get up on a plane because it is a “no-wake” zone all the way there… thanks to the Manatees Anyhow the fishing was great. On Tuesday I caught 6 Trout in an hour with the biggest being 23″. Thursday I caught another 5-6 fish the biggest 20″… Last night I caught 3 fish over 20″ and culled them to end up with a 22″+ fish. Tonight was a little different it was a little lower tide and the water wasn’t quite moving yet. I managed to get 2 fish in the boat with the biggest being around 17″.

The tide was just starting to come in most of the week while I was out there an hour before dark so I had some water moving making the fish hungry. Most of the week the winds were light to dead. Tonight the winds were a little stronger up to about 5 knots.

Tuesday’s Fish…

Thursday’s Fish…

Our dog Poppy getting into the action…

That’s all for now tight lines…

Catfish Blues

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:58:20 +0000

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

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:02:51 +0000

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

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:05:22 +0000

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…

A Very Slow Day Fishing

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:31:31 +0000

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.