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

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.

Last week was hell on the water due to 20-30 mph winds that blew just about all week.  Today is the first day since Tuesday of last week that the wind is not gusting over 20mph.  We had a fantastic month of March on the inshore flats with much of the action coming from north Sarasota Bay.  Any type of jig or artificial shrimp fished around the south end of Long Bar in the morning produced good size Trout.  Two weeks ago I was able to upgrade every day with a bigger fish.  I finished the week with a 23″ Gator Trout taking 3rd place in a tournament.  I also caught Pompano, Flounder, and small reds.

23" Gator

The deeper flats in the middle of the bay were also producing good numbers of nice Trout.  Look for grass patches in the sandy areas for fish.  As the bait pods moved close the Ladyfish got out of control and forced me to move on many occasions.  I had one Pompano chase a bait to the boat only to spook and jump out of the water right over the bow of my boat.  Those guys will scare the crap out of you when you don’t expect it.

Until next time… catch fish and have fun…