Kayak Fish and Explore The Everglades with Rich

Everglades Winter Fishing (Sort of)

2012-01-18T19:14:00.000-05:00

Well we are definitely into our winter fishing patterns here in the Everglades (sort of). There have been some nice warm days but there have been a couple of cold fronts that have come through the area to drop the water temperature considerably. What this means simply, more trout are moving in from the gulf and there are now many of these fish in the inshore areas along with Redfish. Most of the Red's caught lately in the area are smaller fish (18" to 22" average) with a larger fish caught here and there.

I think I've fished everyday over the last two weeks trying to get a hold of what the fish are doing. With the conditions constantly changing it can be hard to predict where the fish may be. When I read reports by some of the better known guides in the area (Rock Stars) writing or talking about the recent conditions I can only laugh because I know it's all B.S. I will only be straight up and talk about how things really are. Anyway, back to conditions. I've been busy with kayak fishing charters and on all my off days I have been concentrating on fishing many of the back waters with the spinning and also the fly rod. As with normal winter patterns many snook and younger tarpon will migrate up into the backcountry areas to spend the winter for the warmer water and abundance of baitfish available to feed on. Well so far this year there definitely are more fish back up there but not as many as I would see normally and I'm still catching some nice size fish still in the bay where normally it's more of a rarity to catch a larger snook in the bay this time of year.

Even though it could be a little tougher to find the fish now I would stick to my normal fishing habits, especially in the bay and there is almost a definite on finding trout, also reds and maybe a larger snook. Other fish around are flounder and pompano.

For the birdwatchers, I've been seeing so many different birds especially in some of the backcountry areas. Other than the more typical herons, egrets and other local birds, Short Tail hawks, Bald Eagles and Perrigan Falcons to name a few.

Holiday Fishing in The Everglades

2012-01-02T12:56:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone! It's been an awesome week, some great weather along with some very good fishing. I was hoping the nicer weather would continue but as nature would have it there is another cold front coming through tonight with possibly freezing temperatures for the next couple of days. Let's hope the weatherman is wrong. Anyway, I'm sure it won't be long before it warms up again.

I pretty much fished every day last week, one day by myself and the rest with clients. Below are a few photos of the results. The week was dominated by catching Redfish and they seemed to be where ever we fished, in and around Chokoloskee bay. Again there are also many Sea Trout around and a few fish were quite large. Snook are here but they are starting to thin out and head towards their winter homes. I hooked up with a very large snook in the bay only to get cut off but a few other snook were caught. Other fish caught this week were Flounder, jacks and ladyfish.

The one day I did get out by myself I headed up into the back country to look for snook with the longrod. I took my new TFO 8wt BVK rod and reel setup to play with. I had fun catching mostly smaller fish along with a few in the upper twenties. I hate to say it but here I again hooked up with a lot larger snook who decided not to play fair and broke me off.

Here's Adam Dewar with a nice trout he caught on a top water plug, around 26" and fat!

Here's Will Gillespie with a nice Pompano!

Wills wife had fun with the ladyfish

Adams 14 year old son Alex with one of the nice reds he caught

Adam with one of his nice reds

White Pelicans hanging out in Chokoloskee bay

Winter Begins in the Everglades

2011-12-21T20:58:00.000-05:00

According to the calender it's winter now. About my only hint was catching a few snook up in a couple of my backcountry areas that were still lighter in color meaning they had recently migrated to these areas from cleaner open waters. So, the winter migration has begun. I haven't seen any of the juvenile tarpon I would normally see in these areas which I find to be a bit unusual but I'll just give it that I've been in the wrong place at the wrong time or they just haven't started their migration yet. There have been a couple of cold fronts come through making it a bit cooler for a couple of days but it hasn't been enough to cool the waters that much. The water temperatures are still in the seventies.

Fishing the last week or so has been pretty good and the species of the week is the snook. I caught a few nice fish, a few pushing 30" and a few over, one around 34". Pretty much wherever I fished there were also many smaller snook.

My redfish catch this past week was down but I attribute that to spending most of my time in the backcountry where they are not very common. While fishing the bay I did catch a couple around 22".

A guarantee catch in the bay is the trout. They were in all the usual places and the majority caught were 17 to over twenty inches. Flounder, Jacks, snapper and ladyfish are also around.

Amazing Everglades

2011-12-11T11:03:00.001-05:00

I was on the water four times this past week. Twice kayak fishing and twice paddling through parts of the Turner River in Big Cypress Preserve.

Being just about winter we are beginning to have some cold fronts come through the area. Had a little rain one day and temperatures in the 70's, It's really nothing to complain about I know compared to many other parts of the country and it's actually a nice break from this past summers temps that averaged in the upper eighties.

I fished two different areas this week, one morning up in the back country and one day in Chokoloskee bay. I wanted to check out and see how the water levels were in the back and they are still fairly high making it still a little difficult to fish many of the areas. I fished this area on one of the colder mornings (in the 50's) and very windy. I managed to catch a few nice snook but didn't see or hook up with any Tarpon.

Kayak fishing Chokoloskee bay was another winter kind of fishing day. Three of us went out and fished till midday. It was a full moon negative outgoing tide and it rained on us most of the time. Everyone caught a few decent fish but had we stayed to fish the incoming tide it would probably have been much more successful. We caught reds, snook and some trout along with ladyfish and jacks.

When the opportunity comes up to paddle in Big Cypress Preserve on the Turner River it's hard for me turn it down. I had the opportunity twice this week. The water levels are good right now as later during the winter months this area could (almost) dry up making it difficult to access and right now mosquitoes are almost non existent. This is one amazing place and there is no other like it anywhere. It's different each time going in here so you never know what you will see with all the different fauna, birds and other wildlife of the Everglades.

Here's a few photos from this week paddling on the Turner River.

Surprising Everglades

2011-11-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

It's been a fun and interesting week although the winds again made some of it a bit challenging. I've heard it from some locals and other guides who will tell you about the fishing in the Everglades that when you think you have it all figured out then everything changes and you have to start over. Well, this was kind of one of those weeks. Where I would normally find my fish there were none and places I wouldn't expect them to be is where they were. Anyway, I still caught a few nice fish during the week.

Mostly fishing in the bay, I caught a few nice redfish, got spanked by a large snook but caught a few others in the upper 20's and most all the trout this week were at least 18" with a couple around 22". Also caught a couple of flounder.

This photo above of a shallow (low tide) muddy pond I spotted while exploring an area to stay out of the wind. I saw this place through a small opening in the mangroves off from a river near the bay. The pond while nothing much to look at but I spotted fish movement in there, not mullet but a couple of redfish foraging in the mud and about ten feet in front of me. Of course, I made my way in dragging my kayak over the oysters and through the opening. There was no way of getting in there without making noise and spooking the fish and did I mention the noseeums were horrendous. Once in I waited awhile for things to calm down and lo and behold the redfish swam back to just a short ways in front of me. I made a couple of short casts and finally, score! Redfish on! I caught two fish this same way and after that I caught another one at the far end of the pond, all fish were around 24". A couple of surprise catches today!

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This is Chris coming from South Carolina who fished with me one day this past week with his father shown with a nice Redfish that he caught.

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Endless Everglades

2011-11-17T11:55:00.003-05:00

I've been kayak fishing here around the Everglades for probably the last six years. I'm usually on the water a few times a week kayaking and fishing the area. I've acquired a fairly long list of some great places I like to fish where it can be very productive. This last week I decided to concentrate on a new area to explore and do some fishing in an area that I have not visited that much near Chokoloskee bay. With not the greatest tides this week and some very windy weather I ended up being pretty successful in finding some nice fish in a small area of small mangrove islands and many oyster bars. When conditions are a little better I can only imagine how good the fishing will be there. I've added a new place to my list and I'll be heading back there in a day or so.

One other day this last week I also did a trip taking out John Johnson and his son, John, from Punta Gorda, Florida. Having never really kayaked before or fished with artificial baits a few nice fish were caught by them. It was a real nice day and I believe these guys are sold on the sport and will be fishing out of their own kayaks soon.

Little Blue

Windy Glades Again

2011-11-08T11:44:00.001-05:00

Well, what can I say, The winds are still blowing. Seems like it's been nonstop for at least the last month or so. At least the day temperatures are now more moderate in the seventies and eighties and low humidity which has been nice.It's been tough fishing the bay areas because of the winds but the couple of times that I managed to get out there were some decent fish caught, including mostly Snook, trout and a couple of nice redfish.

I kayak fished some of my places in the backcountry which offers a lot of protection from the winds but that also has been a bit challenging. From all the recent rains that we've had has kept the water levels very high. Fishing around mangroves has been almost impossible. I still managed to catch a few decent size snook and a couple of juvenile tarpons. Fishing these areas will improve again when the water levels drop and air temperatures as we move into the winter months.

Below are a couple photos of Ken and his son Tim. They fished with me last week on about the only day it wasn't windy. A nice day and a few nice fish were caught.

Ken with a very nice Speckled Sea Trout

Tim and his nice Redfish

A new issue of "Flats Pirate" Magazine came out the other day and has a new article I wrote. You can check that out at Kayak the Glades .

Fishing the Everglades, Winds or not

2011-10-27T10:37:00.001-04:00

These north winds this past week or so have made things difficult but it looks like they are subsiding only there may now be some other weather headed this way maybe from a tropical storm down in the Yucatan. Hopefully it's just a little rain. The weather doesn't normally stop me from going out to kayak and fish and I've gone out a few times to fish. From the previous rain we had the bay was very muddy from all the run off from the back country. It's now clearing up to it's normal tannin color. I had assumed the fishing would be terrible but even though it was a bit slower we caught all our normal species including some trout, reds and snook. Most fish were not of any great size but some nice fish were caught.

I made it back to one back country area where it's usually less affected by the weather and this one day I had fun and caught a few decent size snook. I saw a few rolling tarpon but had no takers.

A nice backwater snook

Visiting Red Shoulder hawk

Reddish Egret

I had ordered new kayaks for the upcoming season from Native watercraft in Greenboro North Carolina and decided to take a ride and go and pick up my new boats there the other week. I decided to head to the western part of the state first to visit a friend where we took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It just so happens that it was their peak foliage season and the tree colors were awesome to see in the area and mountains, quite a change of scenery from the Everglades lowlands.

Everglades, Big Cypress and the Blackwaters

2011-10-09T15:38:00.006-04:00

This turned out to be quite an interesting week. I attended a couple days worth of classes and seminars at Big Cypress National Preserve. There has been bit of controversy around for a long time with allowing or not allowing the public into the preserve involving certain activities. The park is coming around slowly and now allows some concessions to operate such as swamp buggy and canoe/kayak tour company's on a limited basis. Anyways, we can all attest how our government works a lot of times. Most of these classes were very interesting and informative and the biologists and rangers that spoke are very knowledgeable on a multitude of subjects. Big Cypress offers free classes through the winter on a variety of subjects and they will post them on their website should you be interested and be in the area during this time.

Later in the week I had my opportunity to get back on the water. The forecast for the remainder of the week was calling for windy and stormy weather so I again concentrated on the backcountry. The one day I did a solo trip to one of the lakes and had fun catching a few snook who were hanging deep under the mangroves. I switched off to a fly rod after seeing some juvenile tarpon out in more open water and then had fun with a few of these crazy fish. I caught a nice size Mayan Cichlid in this lake also, the first in a couple of years since the freeze we had which killed most of the exotic fish in this area.

There was planned to be a group of us kayak fishing on Saturday. Everybody cancelled because of the bad weather forecast so it was just me and my son, Rich. The weather turned out to be great for the most part and we ended up catching a ton of fish. Mostly snook of every size. Again proof in a year or so I think will be banner years in catching a lot more larger snook in this west coast area.

A pretty colored blackwater redfish

Blackwater Snook

I spotted this cool little guy, a Florida (Everglades) Box Turtle swimming out in the open water. Normally a land turtle I thought it was weird to find him out there.

Green Heron on the Turner River in big Cypress

Autumn in the Everglades 9/31

2011-10-01T18:33:00.002-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's October already. Where did September go? Evenings and mornings are cooler but it's still the summer heat here during the day. Last weekend a group of 5 of us went and kayak fished Chokoloskee bay. A little friendly competition and four of us were winners with getting our inshore slams with catching trout, redfish and snook. A couple of flounder, jacks and ladyfish were also caught. None of the fish were record sizes by any means but there were plenty of fish around and caught, it was great to get out and spend the day with friends on the water.

I spent a few other days in the backcountry during the week. I visited a couple of my usual haunts and did some some exploring in a couple of new areas. All I can say is conditions are a lot better than I expected with the high water levels from all the rain we've had over the last couple of weeks. I concentrated mostly fishing with the fly rod and had I been fishing with a spinning rod I would have had a better success rate as there were some large snook back in and under the mangroves that I could not get to using the fly rod. All and all I still got to play with juvenile tarpon in a couple different places and that was a blast fishing for them with the fly rod. I'll be heading back in with my spinning rod for sure this week.

Everglades Bay and Backcountry Fishing

2011-09-20T13:29:00.000-04:00

I managed to kayak fish Chokoloskee bay just a couple of times over the last week. There were a couple of fairly windy days and on those days I went up into the backcountry and concentrated more on finding fish with the fly rod. I managed on finding and catching a few nice snook but nothing of great size but it was, as snook fishing always is, a lot of fun.

The bay is alive with fish even with the water muddied up from all the rain. Finding fish is a little more challenging but I managed to catch a few nice size redfish and a few snook. Again I got spanked this week by a couple of larger snook using top water plugs. There have been some tarpon around feeding on schools of mullet and using a heavier setup I happened to bring along one day they pretty much ignored any of the artificials I had thrown at them.

Fishing any water this week with a stronger current has produced many trout. It's a bit early yet for trout schools to move into these backwaters but it sure seems like there are more around than usual. Another thing, the majority of the trout are nice sizes around 18" to over 20"

Sunrise Redfish

Super lowtide Redfish

I just recently received a couple of very nice TFO setups for this coming season. I've been playing with their new BVK series, 8wt rod and super large arbor reel that just came on the market recently and it is awesome!

Just a Hint of Fall

2011-09-09T08:58:00.000-04:00

A couple of mornings recently you could smell in the air the coming of the changing seasons. But it was just a hint, it's still been very warm through the day and there has been a lot of rain. The fishing is holding it's own, especially in the bay. Fishing a couple of my backcountry areas the fishing has slowed a bit with all the freshwater flowing in. That will change when the temperatures drop.

Yesterday I had high expectations with a morning incoming tide in the bay. Again with all the rain there is a lot of fresh water flowing into the bay, the water is tannin stained with a lot of debris. When I first saw it I was a little disappointed but the fishing was surprisingly good. We had to work a little harder to find our fish but each of us caught our share. There are some nice size reds still around along with some nice trout. There are also a lot of the smaller rat reds around. I lost the largest snook of the day at the boat but a few others were caught up to around 22".

One thing I thoroughly enjoy is introducing people to the sport of kayak fishing. Connie Clark from Orlando booked a trip for a day with me for her and her husband Chuck to learn about the sport. It was a great time and I think Chuck and Connie are sold. I'm sure they are shopping now for kayaks if they already haven't purchased them.

Chokoloskee and some Backcountry Fishing

2011-08-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

Being a bit windy during the past week from the passing hurricane I only managed to get out on the bay once early in the week and concentrated more on doing some exploring in some backcountry areas where there was more protection. A group of us fished the bay and although the conditions seemed perfect with an outgoing tide it was not the most productive day for catching fish for most of us. I did fairly well and caught a few nice size redfish, a few decent size snook and one nice size trout. I started with throwing my top water plugs (Zara Spook's) and ended up using them the whole morning.

Exploring some of the backcountry during the week conditions have changed a bit since we have started getting a lot more rain. The salinity is down and water levels are very high. There were a few places that were still productive for fishing but when these water levels are up back there the snook and even the small tarpon are able to get back into the mangroves where they tend to stay where it is cooler and they can feed on the baitfish that will go back there also along with crabs and other critters. These can be times of frustration when you know the fish are there and you can hear them feeding but can't get to them.

Birds and Bugs

August Everglades Fishing

2011-08-15T19:23:00.000-04:00

I had a busy schedule this past week only it was mostly not on the water or fishing. I did manage getting out a couple mornings early and concentrated mostly on fly fishing in the back country. Rains during the week were at anytime and the one day it rained the whole time. Nicest size fish was the snook below around 32", a real challenge after he headed into and wrapped himself up in the mangrove roots and then getting him out of there.

One of my lizard fans who hung around for awhile.

A couple of other fish caught recently. These were caught in the bay.

Nice Trout over 22"

This red around 26". A surprise catch caught at a dead low tide around midday on a very shallow mudflat. Caught on a blind cast as I was making my way back to where I launched.

DemiJohn Key Float Trip

2011-08-04T18:57:00.003-04:00

Deciding on where would be a good place to kayak and fish this week and with checking the tide situation I thought this would be a good time to do a float trip out to one of the barrier islands in the gulf. I decided on going out to Demijohn Key since it’s been about a year since I’ve been out there. It’s a great place with shallow water flats and also some deep water drop offs around it. There are a couple of great places to get out of the kayaks to take a break even though there isn’t an actual beach there. The fishing here can be very good but if it isn't at some point in the trip on the way out there or on the way back will usually have a place or two that produces some fish. The route I take from Chokoloskee is usually just less than four miles and with making detours to fish a few different bays and coves I figure today we covered around ten miles round trip. My son, Rich, joined me for the trip.

We got an early start and fished in the bay for awhile before we proceeded to drift out with the outgoing tide through the maze of mangrove islands to get to the gulf. The forecast was for very warm weather, typical for this time of year but today there was a light wind from the west which was somewhat of a relief from the hot sun.

The day was great from the beginning. There were no mosquitoes to speak of when we launched, even though there were some no-seeums that harassed us in a couple of other places. The fishing was great in the bay and it was tempting to just to stay there and fish. We each caught a few nice fish before making our way out into the maze. As we made our way we caught more fish. We each caught our share of Redfish, Trout and Snook. I brought one heavier fishing setup in case of seeing some tarpon. We made one detour to an area where I sometimes find them and there they were only these were very large fish, eighty to a hundred pound fish, a bit larger than I anticipated and I decided against fishing for one. We just watched for awhile as they rolled just a short distance from us before moving on.

We made our way into the open gulf with Demijohn Key in our sites. It was very calm and quiet with not another boat within site. The only real noise was an occasional Osprey squawking or one crashing into the water after a mullet. There were dolphins around and the occasional loggerhead turtle surfacing and you could hear them catching a breath of air.

As we arrived at Demijohn Key it was about low tide and there was not much going on as far as the fishing. We stayed around the area for awhile and explored around the island waiting for the tide to change. Every once in awhile we would hear loud crashing off in a distance as dolphin or Tarpon would be feeding on schools of baitfish or mullet and you could see the silver shine of the schools of fish flying up into the air. I heard a couple of other loud splashes off in the distance which sounded like the large Spotted Eagle Rays as they jump and crash back into the water but I didn't actually see them.

Around noon the tide changed and we headed back to catch it back in Chokoloskee Pass and ride it back to our launch site in the bay. We fished a couple of spots on the way again and when we arrived back in the bay around 2:30 I caught one last Redfish and Rich caught a nice trout after which we called it a day.

We caught a few nice fish today but the highlight was catching a few Redfish that were over the slot size of 27"

Summer Heat in the Everglades

2011-07-31T15:52:00.001-04:00

Not to dwell on how warm it's been, it sure has been damn hot this summer ! The kayak fishing is holding it's own and every time out into Chokoloskee bay the fishing has been fairly successful. With this warmer weather the rule is get out early to find some feeding fish. One morning three of us fished the bay and I was the only one to find them. In kind of a what I would call a basin area surrounded with oyster bars on three sides were a school of snook of different sizes feeding in the area. It was a bit of a surprise as this was normally one of my early morning redfish spots. Throwing a topwater plug I had a few (larger) fish completely breach the water attacking the plug, but missing it. It's pretty exciting to witness this and I would have been happy just to see this without catching anything but I did end up with catching a few of them, two were over thirty inches. A tough but successful morning.

Yesterday a small group of us went to a different part of the bay. This day everyone was successful and caught some fish including a few flounder, jacks, ladyfish, redfish, trout, snook and one small grouper.

A nice Chokoloskee bay Snook

Sunrise Trout

Rich jr with a nice pretty Red

Night Heron

Everglades + Kayak fishing

2011-07-25T17:54:00.002-04:00

Over the last couple of weeks I bounced around a bit and kayaked and fished a few different places. Chokoloskee Bay a couple of times, up in the backcountry, Goodland and Pine Island Sound. There have been some slow tides and with the very warm waters has made the fishing a bit challenging in a couple of the areas. This morning was no different but I found and caught some good fish, including three nice size redfish and three nice size snook. A couple of the fish caught hit my topwater, zara spook jr, and the rest I caught using a 1/8oz jig head with rootbeer colored plastics. It's been very warm out and I've been limiting my trips to just fish the mornings and call it before noon. Today I spotted a few nice size tarpon rolling in one area of the bay but they wouldn't take any of my offerings. I'll be back there soon again.

For a change of scenery it was nice to get back up and fish Pine Island Sound. I love kayak fishing the grass flats there. The fishing wasn't the greatest with the tide situation but managed to catch around a dozen trout. On the way home I stopped at Florida Paddlesports in Cape Coral, Fl to check out the new store. Looks to be a well stocked kayak shop which is also another Native Watercraft Kayak dealer here in Southwest Florida. One of their specialties at the store is offering a few different brands of SUP's (Stand up Paddleboards), the new craze.

Chokoloskee Bay Snook around 30"

Crazy eyed Redfish

Had fun one early morning in the backcountry after I found a school of baby tarpon. Hook up with one and it would instantly leap about 10ft into the air. Crazy little fish!

Summer in the Everglades

2011-07-18T17:21:00.001-04:00

Summer in the Everglades... It's hot, very hot many days and the marsh mosquitoes can be brutal some days also. The summer rain storms are not anything you want to be caught in, especially when on the water. Such as it is in the summer in these sub tropics. What's really awesome is many believe that conditions exist like this all the time throughout the summer here. which is fine by me. By a slim chance you may see another boater or a kayaker fishing while out on the water, most likely a local, during the summer season.

I spent two great mornings this past week fishing Chokoloskee bay. With an early launching both days and returning around noon to avoid the brunt of the heat of the day. There were no bugs to speak of and even with some full moon tides the fishing was pretty good. There were no tarpon spotted where we fished but there were plenty of trout, redfish, and snook around to keep us busy.

Spoonbill Roost

The Last Stand

2011-07-05T12:38:00.002-04:00

For anyone that has been following my blog over the last few years you have probably noticed that in the majority of my photos you rarely have seen any signs of civilization. This is not intentional but this is how it still is in the Everglades, Thank God. Kayaking and fishing a couple times recently just north of here in the Marco Island and Naples area reminded me of how lucky I am to be here in the Everglades. I feel privileged. It's not perfect here but I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the ignorant boaters and psychotic jet skiers on a regular bases as it seems is the norm from what I hear and what I experience just about every time I go to these areas. I prefer the natural scenery vs looking at the generic concrete structures that line most of the waterways.

The Everglades still one of largest wilderness areas in the country is not what it once was but with the efforts of many it will stay mostly protected as it is from more development and destruction. With promises of restoration by the federal and state government's it will take many years to restore many of the problems that man created. It will always be a constant battle with the self centered politicians and the endless push by the greedy and careless developers.

Nice Everglades Snook !

Having fun fishing with Andy again in some mosquito infested creeks for Tarpon up in the backwaters

Non-Native, Cuban " Knight Anole" lizard about 30" long, largest of the anole type of lizards.

Young local Tri-Colored Heron

Mosquitoville

2011-06-03T12:55:00.005-04:00

With the winds again blowing for most of the week I decided to head back to one of my back country areas I kayak fish in the Everglades. I invited Paul Nocifora to join me who had never ventured into one of these areas. With an early start we headed out to get to our destination which was to be around a mile paddle through the mangrove tunnels. As I've mentioned before this is one of the places I rarely visit during the warmer months because the access is harder as the mangroves will grow over the water trails, Spiders thrive and build their webs across the trails (Harmless spiders to us, Golden orbs(Banana Spiders) mostly), but clog the trail with their webs and you have to clear them as you pass through. And of course there are the mosquito's. Well, we haven't had much rain yet so the trails are still fairly open and the spider webs were minimal but the mosquito's were to say the least unbearable. When we arrived at the small lake (our destination) it took a few minutes to clear the mosquito's off of us and another few minutes to recompose our selves.

There's a saying that the worse the mosquito's are, the better the fishing. Well for me I ended catching some real nice fish this day. Paul didn't have as much luck but he did hook up with a few nice size snook and one tarpon. The winds prevented us from playing with the fly rods and we instead used light spinning gear. I used my one light setup (a Sustain 2500) which I forget to change out the spool which still had 10lb braid on it. Not a wise choice for fishing in these back country places but it was what I caught all my fish on today! I was using 40lb leader.

My catch of the day, among a few smaller snook and a lost redfish, 2 nice snook around 30" and another one that I estimate that was at least in the mid thirties and it felt like around 20lbs. This was one powerful and healthy fish who I thought at first was another tarpon with some very long runs. I caught one tarpon maybe around 40", another crazy fish who would not tire. I managed to work the fish to the boat fairly quick which then made a leap and landed in my boat. I think it was stunned for a second and I got it back in the water and got my boga grip on it only to have the fish wake up and go ballistic and pulled off of the boga gripper and was gone. A very crazy fish! An awesome day! Hardcore fishing in the Everglades!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

The area mosquito control is finally showing up. Welcome Dragon Flys ! It has been pretty brutal with these things lately when launching the boats and just going outside for that matter.With the limited spraying for them here because of being surrounded by the national park there will be these times when they are pretty tough to deal with. There are never that bad once getting on the water but you will realize pretty quick that they are still around if you have to fetch your lure out of the mangroves...

I made my way back to one of the backwater areas I fish from time to time. I wanted to check out the snook population and see if they had migrated out of the area back to the gulf. This place is basically one of my winter fisheries. When I first arrived, which was just after sunrise, things started out slow. As I made my way and fished a couple of different shorelines I began catching some smaller snook and then caught a couple of fish that were close to 30"! I was thrilled to see that the fish were still here (Take note Andy)! I concentrated on a small area that really doesn't have any significance from the rest of the shorelines other than the mangroves hang out more than the surrounding area and this spot seems to hold bait fish and, I've caught some larger fish in this spot in the past. Hard to fish not being able to cast near the shoreline and I think the noise from casting near there a few times draws the fish out that may be there way deep under in the trees. After maybe a half dozen casts I hooked up with my largest fish of the morning, a good size fish around 33/34"!

This weekend was the get together at Marker 8 Restaurant up in Goodland. The fishing tournament was a bust possibly because of the short notice or maybe people around here (there) just have no interest but it was still a great time with a good crowd of mostly locals, A pig roast, music and the canoe and kayak race.

More photos of the race at: 2011 Marker 8 Kayak and Canoe Race

Chokoloskee Bay Fishing

2011-05-23T18:16:00.000-04:00

I only managed to get out and kayak fish once last week and I went out this morning for a couple of hours. A small group of us went out and fished the outgoing tide on Saturday and had a great time working our way basically towards the northern part of the bay. A few nice snook and a few reds caught, No trout but a nice size flounder caught by Rich Jr. Today I caught a few decent size snook and a couple of reds , one was 26". Also caught a couple of trout. The trout have gotten scarcer in the bay but I know I will continue to catch them through the summer even with most of them migrating into the gulf. Surprisingly I didn't spot any tarpon around these two times out but what I have been spotting are many sharks and they will stay around through the warmer months. What was real nice on these last couple of times out was that the winds have taken a break and even though it's pretty hot out there it makes for great conditions for sight fishing for the redfish.

32"

28"

26"

28"

2nd Annual Canoe and Kayak Regatta

2011-05-16T21:21:00.003-04:00

I met up with Jimmy Ketchum today, owner of the Marker 8 Restaurant in Goodland and worked out for the most part details for having a kayak fishing get together on Saturday, May 28th. This is his second year of doing this and the day will also include a canoe and kayak race along with some other activities.
I agreed to help him out to organize the kayak fishing part of it and rather than make it a more competitive tournament this will be more of a fun competition and a get together for area kayak fisherman and fishergirls.

The rules are simple:
- $10 to enter with 100% pay out. Payouts will be 50-30-20 % for the three largest fish caught, including
Tarpon, Snook, Redfish and Trout.
- Photograph the fish to show at weigh-in.
- Artificial baits only
- Sign-in between 6 and 7am at Marker 8 and then launch at the Goodland bridge or wherever else in the area.
- Weigh-in by 2 back at Marker 8.

There will be kayaks available to rent, And there will also be live music and a BBQ after the fishing !

There are a lot more people kayak fishing in the general area over the last couple of years or so and this could be a great way for everyone to meet and get to know each other. I know of a couple of other area establishments interested in doing something similar and maybe if there is a decent turnout this could be something to have every few months or so at different locations.

Spread the word!

Everglades Area, May 8th to 14th

2011-05-15T16:46:00.001-04:00

The sunrises are usually pretty awesome around here but with this large fire burning in Big Cypress Preserve has made them more unusual. The fire is reported to be just about out and the last report I received it had consumed over 38,000 acres. I'm going to try to get over there in the next week to see the results and hopefully get some photos of the area.

Over the Memorial Day weekend "Marker 8" Restaurant in Goodland, Fl is going to host a kayak fishing get together, more of a fun tournament along with canoe races during the day. I'm suppost to meet up with the owner, Jimmy, during the week and work out the details and then I'll make a report with more information.

Kayak fishing during the week was good but not great. You had to work a larger area to find the fish as they seemed more scattered. Very early morning was when the bite seemed to be on ! During the week a couple of nice size snook were caught along with a couple of nice size snook lost after spitting the topwater plugs.Lots of rat reds are still around along with a couple of larger ones were caught. Paul from Marco Island who fishes with me caught himself a very nice 34" Red! The Trout around here seem real scattered now catching one here and there and a couple of days there were a couple of small schools in some deeper holes. Their sizes have varied from around 16" to over 20".

One hazy morning from smoke from the fire

Everchanging Everglades

2011-05-07T21:07:00.003-04:00

There is a major brush fire burning in Big Cypress Preserve and for a few days the winds were blowing the smoke west towards the coast creating some crazy sunrises and sunsets.

Other than not having our daily rain storms yet there have been summer weather conditions. It's been very warm and the Swamp Angels have been around a few times launching in the morning. The winds have been tough to deal with a couple of days but they have also been a welcome relief with the warm conditions.

The fishing has been very good for the most part. There were a few slower days with the tides but there were some real nice size fish caught along with some very nice fish lost. I have been spotting some larger snook and reds in the area. In the last week I've fished and have explored much of the bay from Chokoloskee up through the northwest area from Everglades City. I have a real good feeling that the fishing will be very good for the immediate future.

A few random shots from the last week:

Andy fished with me for a couple of days and this is a very nice Redfish he caught around 32"

Bob Soucy from Vermont fishing a shoreline looking for his first snook and Red

Bob with his first red, after this fish he caught his first snook also !

Bob's wife, Heidi, followed us as we fished and I took a time out and showed her one of the rookerys in the bay

Baby Brown Pelicans

Some random photos of a young Reddish Egret near Indian Key Pass

The Pre-Rainy Season

2011-04-23T13:08:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again as a transition is again taking place in the Everglades. Being somewhat predictable as to what to expect with the warmer weather and waters there is still the challenge of figuring out where the fish are going to be on a particular day, especially when fishing very large areas such as Chokoloskee Bay where fish have the tendency to move around a lot. Fishing out of kayaks and canoes definitely limits the areas that you can cover in a day so by doing a little research before launching the boats will help immensely in having a successful day. Learning about the tides and weather conditions here will play a very important part but I think as with anything else spending a lot of time doing anything and it will become second nature. I wouldn't say that this is the exact case here but after spending a tremendous amount of time fishing the waters out and around the bay I have gotten pretty successful in finding fish on any given day.

This past week I was on the water 4 days kayak fishing and exploring a few different places, twice in the bay and twice up in the backcountry. As mentioned above the bay can be very challenging as in this week again being very windy and the water being silted up and muddy but there are fish around, some nice larger reds are making their appearence along with some nicer sized snook and again any trout caught have all been at the top or over the slot size. Spending some time up in the backcountry at two different locations I found there to be many snook around as I made my way. I didn't fish it hard but there were some big fish feeding on the baitfish back in the mangroves. You can be sure I'll be going back there soon.

A nice 20" Trout, average size this week 18 to 20"

My son Rich Jr is getting it figured out, here with a nice 30" Redfish !

Rich with a nice 30" snook

I went and checked out the swamps (in Fakahatchee Strand) and they are just about dried up with not having hardly any rain for the last few months. Typical of most winters here. Our daily afternoon rains will be starting any day and this place will look a lot different soon.

Tri-Colored Heron in mating plumage.

Great White Egrets at their rookery in the bay

Oyster bars

2011-04-16T16:31:00.001-04:00

The Florida tourist season is winding down as we approach the warm summer season. Much of my guiding I do here in the Everglades comes from these visitors during the winter months and as much as I love showing and kayak fishing with many of these people around the area I look forward when the area turns back into it's sleepy fishing town. Being kind of hilarious I think this season I've seen no less than a dozen cars driving down on the wrong side of the road and at the small traffic circle in the center of town three different times cars driving around it the wrong way. I suppose they were foreigners but then again when I think about the mentality of some of the visitors from this country, I'm not sure. I can't count how many times I could hear or have seen motor boats run across or onto oyster bars in the bay because they just aren't aware how low the tides get here in the winter or just are clueless and decided to not read a chart or not to follow the markers. You can always tell the clueless ones as you paddle past them and they turn their backs to you because they are so embarrassed. Most of them try and act like they are busy doing something while they are sitting high and dry. I try and keep my laughter to myself as I paddle by. ( I'm not totally heartless and if I catch their eye and they are within throwing distance I offer a water or two because they will probably be spending the next few hours there before they can get a tow or have enough water to float off.)

Speaking of oyster bars, fishing around a few of them on the rising tides has been somewhat awesome. For there not being many larger snook around I have run across many of them in the last week. I managed to catch a few of them and hooked up and lost twice as many more. Fishing in these mostly shallow waters the go to bait has been topwater plugs and as many know there is no way to explain the excitment of a large snook hitting them.

I'm still looking to hookup with a larger redfish in the backwaters but most this past week I've caught have been the "rat" reds averaging around 18" to 20". They are still fun using topwater plugs but I've seen some larger fish in the murky water usually as I paddled over and spooked them.

Fishing a few of my trout holes this week they are making themselves more scarce. We caught a few but their numbers have dwindled since the waters have warmed up. Most of the trout caught have been more in the shallow waters, also on topwater plugs and a little larger than average around 20".

Other species caught during the week was a nice gag grouper caught by Paul who fished with me one day. Fishing mangroves for snook have resulted in catching a few nice mangrove snappers also.

One of the clean-up crew

Goodland - Everglades Fishing

2011-04-10T17:30:00.001-04:00

It turned out to be quite a busy week. I decided to enter a kayak fishing tournament on Saturday after not doing any over the last few years. I used to enjoy doing them even though some were poorly organized but it was still nice to travel around to different parts of the state to fish different places and also to meet other kayak anglers. The last straw was doing one out of Port Charlotte that was very poorly run and I won't go into details but I swore it would be my last one. Anyway, this tournament would be a local one that was held in Goodland. There are not many of these types of tournaments in this part of Florida and after corresponding a little with the director of the event to get the details I decided to do it. This tournament was one in a series put on by Kayak Fishing Classics. What I liked about this tournament was everybody had to launch together and basically fish the same area putting everybody in the same playing field unlike many or most tournaments where you could fish anywhere or have the option of fishing a large area so many contestants would fish their honey holes in their home waters putting many anglers at a disadvantage.

I knew it would be a tough day for everyone fishing the tournament with some slow tides and muddied waters from the windy conditions. Pre-fishing there a little during the week the fishing was very slow. Many contestants caught fish but surprisingly the grand prize winner who was very surprised caught I think a 20" snook and a 20" red, not large fish by any means to win the tournament.I enjoyed doing this tournament and would consider doing another one in the future.

Fishing a couple of other areas (Everglades) during the past week it seemed much better than the Goodland area. In Everglades there are many snook and reds around along with some nice trout that are still running larger at the top or over the slot size of 20".

A pretty multi-spotted Redfish

Rich Jr with a nice snook around 30"

Goodland Reddish Egret

I watched this osprey as he caught this mullet but struggled in deeper water to get himself airborne with the fish. He was completly submerged for a minute but was determined to keep the fish.

Out Like a Lamb...

2011-04-01T17:29:00.001-04:00

"Going out like a lamb" sure didn't apply to March this year. This last week has been one of the windiest in a long time. It is warming up nicely with daily temperatures in the eighties which means the fishing will only be getting better only with the winds this week it has made it difficult to fish more out in the bay and other open areas. The couple of times I did get to fish this week was great. Nothing of any size was caught but we've caught some nice fish including reds, snook and a few trout, a flounder and a couple of snapper. Also of course there are still the ladyfish. Again I spotted a few sharks and tarpon around ! I'm praying the winds subside this next week.

For the birders and photographers the Swallow-Tail Kites are making their migration back from the south seeing a few of them over the last week or so. Along with the herons and egrets beginning their nesting I spotted a few Red-Headed woodpeckers beginning to nest in a couple of hollowed out tree trunks. I spotted an uncommon morph of a Great Blue Heron with some coloration called a "Wurdemanns" Heron but I couldn't get close enough for a photo.

Foggy Morning

Local Black Snake

My Hawk Friend

Spring has sprung in Chokoloskee bay

2011-03-25T19:50:00.006-04:00

The warming trend continues into spring. It's been in the eighties all week and the waters temperatures are following. There are more baitfish moving in around the bay and I've been spotting some sharks which are very common during the summer months in the bay, it almost seems more like summer conditions now. Twice this week I spotted larger tarpon rolling in the shallows in the early morning and these were large fish. I didn't dare make a cast to them with my lighter gear but it's time to think about bringing a heavier setup for maybe an opportunity to hook up with one.

Early one morning during the week I visited one of the backcountry areas to do a little fly fishing looking for snook for a few hours. I knew better and during the busier tourist season here it's one place I usually avoid because of it's easy access off of Hwy 41, it can attract a lot of traffic. The location is the East River part of Fachahatchee Strand. Most of the area kayak tour company's apparently are doing their eco tours here and all I can say when three different kayak tour groups showed up with their groups the birds and wildlife vacated the area and I did shortly after. I won't be going back there till summer.

If your interested in seeing the Real Everglades with no interruptions feel free to contact me.

A nice 30" + Snook

Paul with a real nice trout, just moving to the area from Utah I took Paul out to show him some of the ways I kayak fish the area.

22" Trout from today. I can't believe how many larger trout are being caught lately out and around the bay.

Sunrise Redfish

The very early starters getting out on Chokoloskee bay will have the opportunity to see groups of Roseate Spoonbills roosting on a couple of the Mangrove islands through the summer

The happy Egret's

Everglades Bay to Fachahatchee

2011-03-17T22:07:00.005-04:00

I can't emphasize enough how much I love exploring around in the Everglades. Whether kayak fishing looking for where the fish are or finding new fishing holes. Along with this comes taking in everything else from the sunrises, the scenery and the wildlife. As far as the fishing, this has got to be the most unpredictable place I have ever fished, unlike many places in Florida. I love the challenge and some days you are rewarded and other days can turn out, well..., not.

Early the other morning fishing around some oyster bars in the bay looking for a redfish, a big trout or maybe a snook I fished with a topwater plug, my usual Zara Spook Jr. The snook are scarcer now after the big fish kill last winter. I've been able to find some larger fish here and there, but they are not very common. Most of the snook I've been catching are an average size around 20 to 30 inches.

I casually made a cast off a bar and the plug was immediately engulfed by a large fish and tears off a bunch of line. A second later, up comes the head of a very large snook trying to shake out the plug. Well, after a short time I somehow managed to get the fish with the lighter gear I was using to the boat, a big snook, I estimate her to be over 40" and then... by the boat with another head shake she finally wears through the 30lb leader and is gone...

At first very disappointed and shaking from the adrenaline rush I sat for a couple of minutes to calm down and I watched the sunrise. It's not the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last for this to happen. You can be sure I'll be stepping up to a heavier leader for the summer when I fish in these situations.

A nice 27-28" Redfish I sight fished today in the morning low tide. There were a lot of red's on the very shallow mud flats and after five other attempts I caught this guy ! The reds were not grouped together but were either solo or in pairs as they foraged through the mud..

Black Drum with the Reds

One of a few snook caught in the backcountry this week

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I went and checked out one of the rookeries in the bay and nesting and the mating rituals have begun for the Pelicans, Cormorants, Great White and Snowy Egrets

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Fachahatchee Strand Preserve did a controlled burn on some of the prairie lands a couple of weeks ago and I went and did a little hike through the area the other day. I was thinking with the new grass just starting to grow I might have a chance to spot a panther. When I got into the area I saw a few different groups of deer grazing and knew there were no panthers around this day. A ways back as I walked I came across two deer, a young buck and doe. Trying to be stealthy I made my way towards them to try and photograph them. Before long they spotted me. Instead of spooking, I was a little surprised when they made their way towards me. I guess I maybe was something they had never seen before and they were curious. They came fairly close to me and the buck at one point started stamping his feet coming even closer. I stepped out from behind the bush where I was supposedly hiding and he stopped and ran back the few yards near the doe. I watched as they casually made their way across the meadow as I made my way back to my car.

Only Panther tracks today

In like a Lion

2011-03-11T18:42:00.002-05:00

March is holding tradition as a lion of a month. The winds seem to be blowing fairly hard every day. The early mornings have been fine to get out before they kick up and kayak fish. The tides this week were in our favor earlier in the week to ride them out to the gulf which I did with Van Sayler and his wife, Jane, who had never kayaked out there before. Once reaching one of the barrier islands we spent our time fishing the area and after the tide changed we headed back. After a few reds and Jane with a nice flounder the winds were already blowing pretty good and luckily we had the incoming tide to help bring us back to Chokoloskee. I love going out there, it seems like months since I've been there and when the weather improves I'll be spending a lot more time out there.

Along with my son, Rich Jr, my visiting brother-in-law, Rick joined us to do some kayak fishing up around Goodland. Again the winds really picked up by late morning, Fishing was a little slow but it was still a great day and some nice fish were caught. Rick caught himself a nice 22" Gator trout and also his first snook ever. He also caught a nice flounder.

Mrs Osprey letting me know I'm getting too close

A visiting hawk that I think may be the same one that was around my place hanging around last year starting around this same time last year.

Back to the Back in the Everglades

2011-03-04T20:30:00.004-05:00

The weather has been making a change to more spring like conditions and I was able to do a few kayak fishing trips out to a few different places in Chokoloskee Bay and Goodland. Early in the week there were perfect conditions but as the week progressed a front came through and the winds picked up and made for a bit of a challenge. All the trips were great even with it getting tougher to find fish after the front did come through. Most of fish caught this week were Seatrout and Redfish and it didn't seem to matter where I went but there seemed to be ladyfish everywhere.

After a busy week of charters I decided to do a solo trip today and do a little exploring. The winds were to blow hard again so I decided to head back to the backcountry. I found a nice spot catching a few nice size snook and I spent a couple of hours having fun with them. Around mid-day thinking about packing it in I hooked up with a very nice fish and was rewarded with catching my largest snook of the day ! What a way to end the day !

A few photos of fishing from this past week

Roger

Kevin

Osprey

Jim

Dave

Rich Jr

Everglades Weather and Fishing Heat Up

2011-02-24T21:16:00.002-05:00

This last week has been mostly about the weather. Nice warm days and cooler nights. It's allowed me to get out in the open water out in the bay and to visit many of my haunts and see how the fishing is. I visited a couple of the rookeries and the bird mating rituals and some nesting has begun. The fishing has been surprisingly good and I am happy to report that there appears to be quite a few snook around. I was surprised by one very large snook fishing at a mangrove spot where she spanked me hard as I could not stop her as she tore off line as if I didn't have any drag on. The lighter tackle I was using obviously was no match for her and I guess I will step back up with a little heavier gear. There have been redfish and nice size trout also in most of the places I fished.

Going back to last weekend, a group of us transcended up into the back country for a day of just hanging out and do some kayak fishing. Chris, Matt, Rich Jr, Mike and and his visiting from up north brother-in-law Chris. Perfect weather and everyone caught fish. Mike and his brother-in-law Chris got their slams (Red, Snook and Trout). I'll say it was beginners luck, even though he obviously knew how to fish Chris caught the largest fish of the day. It was a great day!

I did a few charter trips during the week. A couple of highlights; one was taking out Dave visiting from NJ. I believe I relieved him of his cabin fever from the long winter they are having up north. We spent the day out in Chokoloskee bay and fished our way covering a few square miles catching fish. Dave got his first Florida inshore slam. Another great day!

Snook

Red

Trout

Another nice and fun day was taking out a different Dave from PA. With these warmer days and cooler nights comes the fog and it was pretty thick as we launched. It actually didn't burn off for a few hours. Again I decided to fish the bay and we had around a mile or so to get to the area I wanted to fish. Basically paddling blind into the thick fog we surprisingly ended up only a hundred yards or so where I wanted to go. Dave is just getting into kayak fishing and had me take him out to learn more about the sport. After catching a few lady fish, trout and reds we headed back in around noon

Everglades Bay and Backcountry Fishing

2011-02-17T19:26:00.000-05:00

It looks like the weather is beginning to make a change for the better, knock on wood. At least for the immediate future there will be day temperatures in the upper seventies and into the eighties. What that means for me is I'll be starting to spend more time kayak fishing and exploring the more open waters in the bays and other surrounding open waters in the area.

We headed out and fished the bay yesterday. Again it was a super low tide early on and I took advantage of the situation and spent a bit of time standing and sight fishing from the kayak. I was surprised to see as many larger Redfish as I did only they were super spooky in the clear shallow water and missed my opportunity a couple of different times. Waiting for the tide to change back to incoming we fished a couple of deeper spots and began catching some smaller redfish that were schooling in the muddy water with the mullet. We had fun catching these guys for awhile until the tide changed and then we headed out to catch a few trout for dinner. We made our way to a couple of places I fish for the trout and athough the trout fishing wasn't as good as it should have been we caught a few nice fish for dinner.

Most all the young Redfish we caught had the iridesent blue tail fins

Earlier in the week I fished up in the backcountry. In the particular small lake we went to it didn't appear to be holding any tarpon but it was loaded with snook this day. Again most of the fish averaged between 24 and 26" and we had a blast for a few hours catching these fish. Rich Jr got spanked by a much larger snook in the mangroves.

One of the Mangrove tunnels leading to the fishing hole

Everglades Backcountry

2011-02-12T14:42:00.002-05:00

Down the Tamiami Trail at sunrise one recent morning.

This week turned out to be a good time to concentrate the fishing to the backwaters. It's been warm enough but with the winds it has made it more difficult to get to the areas I like to fish out in the bay along with having to cross the open waters of the bay. I did fish one day in the bay with a client Jason and his girlfriend visiting from Philadelphia and had limited results due to the weather. We still had a lot of fun doing some exploring in the maze of mangroves out there where we found protection from the winds and some rain . The snook are still biting in the back waters along with the juvenile tarpons and it was a lot of fun also doing a couple of different trips back there this week.

Rob from Toronto with his first Tarpon on fly. Not the largest tarpon he hooked up with that day but he was ecstatic with this catch !

This is Roger from Wisconsin hooked up with one of the snook that he caught. Roger hooked up with a nice size tarpon only to have it come unglued when the fish leaped into the mangroves and broke off. I also hooked up and lost a nice one that day.

At first there is always a little disappointment when a tarpon throws the hook or breaks you off but that's how it goes a lot of times with tarpon fishing. It's nice to get the fish in the boat but just hooking up with a nice tarpon and have it jump doing their aerobatics before throwing the hook is still very, very exciting!

The Snook Factory

2011-02-05T08:07:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the week after waking very early to go fishing as I usually do I stepped outside to check on the weather while the coffee was brewing. As soon as I went out I saw a flash in the sky through the clouds and then a large fireball come down over the water. Probably not as close as it seemed but I could see a fire trail behind it with bits of it breaking off. I didn't know what to think at first or if I was actually dreaming but I now think it was some kind of good omen from the fish gods.

I fished with Steve Bellrichard visiting from Iowa. Steve was interested in catching himself his first tarpon so I brought him up into an area in the Everglades backcountry to fish. We got an early start and as soon as we launched I could see the small tarpon rolling off in the distance. I believe Steve got a couple of nice hits and hookups from the fish but it wasn't to be and that's how it goes sometimes with these tarpon. At the same time Steve started catching some decent snook and the fun began ! At the end of the trip Steve described the day well with saying I brought him to the "Snook Factory". Through the day, fishing a few different areas it was non-stop catching fish. Most fish were in the mid-twenties, some larger and definitely some larger one's lost. We lost count as to how many fish were actually caught. This was a banner day for sure !

The weather this week really improved and it was a good time to get back out and kayak fish Chokoloskee bay. Rich Jr and I headed out to fish some of the oyster bar areas. This was the opportunity to throw some topwater plugs as with fishing in the backcountry I usually don't use them because it tends to attract the 'gators. On my second cast throwing a Zara Spook topwater I hooked up and caught my first fish and nicest fish of the day, A very fat 28" redfish ! Through the day we caught a bunch of other fish, mostly all redfish and trout. Rich caught the largest trout of the day at around 22" ! It was nice to get out in the bay again and if the weather holds up I will spending more time out there.

Winter Fishing in the Everglades & a little Hiking in Fakahatchee

2011-01-28T12:59:00.004-05:00

There is no reason to complain about the weather (or the fishing here in the Everglades) with what I've seen and heard about with the weather they are having up in the states north of here. We still have been getting cold fronts come through every few days and a few mornings it was in the 30's. The nice thing is by kayaking into the back country by mid morning you can strip off some of the layers of clothes because it's mostly well protected from the winds and the sun warms things up fairly quickly. It's been a little more challenging finding fish but as I look back on the couple of times I got out to kayak fish this last week some pretty nice fish were caught. In one area near Everglades City we caught some trout, reds and snook. The trout were all a decent size averaging from 16 to 20 inches and even though most redfish are running smaller there are some bigger fish around as I experienced loosing a much larger fish by the boat due to my error. I didn't notice a bent hook from a snag on a log I just had previously. Today fishing another area up in the back country the fish of the day were the snook. We caught a bunch of them up to around 30". There were some smaller tarpon rolling in the area but they were not interested in our offerings.

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Fakahatchee Hiking

I got out and did some hiking on one of the many old trails in Fakahatchee Strand this last week. The trails were originally where there were railway trams to remove the cypress logs when it was logged back in the 1940's. Many of the trails are somewhat dry now with the low water table in the winter and not having much rain. Once back a ways onto the trail I can only think how prehistoric it looks and feels. In one area as I passed through were a few Barred Owls hooting to each other and when trying to hopefully get a decent photo of maybe one of them I turned around and this guy (above) was sitting right in front of me. I got one shot before he flew off. On this trail mixed with the cypress, palms and other hardwood trees I came across a few orange and grapefruit trees full of ripe fruit. I tryed the oranges from two different trees and on the one the fruit was nice and sweet and the other it was pretty bad and sour. I plan on hiking a few of the other trails soon.

Everglades Exploring and Kayak Fishing, January 21, 2011

2011-01-21T16:18:00.001-05:00

If I'm not kayaking and fishing there is a good chance you'll find me hiking and exploring different areas in Fakahatchee Strand and Big Cypress National Preserve. These areas are mostly the Cypress swamps and saw grass prarie lands of the Everglades. I will write more about these areas in the future. You can find more onfo on these areas at Fakahatchee and Big Cypress .

Broad Wing Hawk

Fakahatchee White Tail

I managed to get out and kayak fish twice during the week. One day in some backwaters and with fishing a little slow we still caught a few snook. I missed hooking up with a nice size tarpon right at the boat as it came up and missed my plug as I was pulling it up out of the water.

I met up with John Morran up at Isle's of Capri to do some kayak fishing on the other day. John was interested in learning how to fish the area in kayaks. We had fun in one spot for a few hours playing with the trout. The area seemed to be full of speckled and silver trout and ladyfish. After a few hours of fishing there, we were then overrun by a pod of dophins who came in to feed and proceed to ruin the fishing for us. It was fun while it lasted and it was still cool to see these dolphins at work! We moved on after and explored a couple of other areas before calling it a day.

It's just a matter of time, maybe a month or two before the rookeries may be in full swing. The pelicans and area egrets and herons appear to be changing into their mating plummage and colors.

John with a nice Silver Trout

Mom Flipper with baby

Little Blue Heron

Tri-Colored Heron

Winter Wonders in the Everglades

2011-01-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

This past week turned out to be a bit hectic. Making plans gets thrown out the window often during these winter months with the ever changing weather and quick decisions have to be made. Early in the week I kayak fished with Rich Jr and we did some backcountry fishing in a remote area in the Everglades. Areas in the backcountry offer a lot of protection from the winter winds that will dominate as to where I go. It was kind of an exploratory trip and getting to one area that I fish from time to time was loaded with fish. Snook more specifically and for a couple of hours it was nonstop action catching many fish before we moved on. We were using lighter gear and with most of the fish averaging very small to around 24" it was a lot of fun. In one spot I unintentionally started catching baby snook around 5". We each lost a much larger snook because of the light setups we were using in the same area. In the mix Rich also caught himself his first tarpon !! The strange catch of the day was a baby alligator around 20" that wanted my small plastic swim bait. Snook have been a bit scarce from what I have found along with reports by many others so it was nice to see all these fish.

Tuesday I was invited to help in the filming of a promotional show for a local business that will air on a morning Fox4 show out of Ft Myers. I was of course involved in the fishing segment and had fun with the host of the show, Carey Wegner catching fish.

The cold and very windy weather on Thursday forced me to reschedule a kayak fishing charter till next week because we were to fish in an open area up near Naples. I did another trip with Van Sayler and his wife, Jane on Friday here in Chokoloskee. It turned out to be a nice day even though the fishing was a bit slow but the main purpose of the trip was to show them some areas where they could kayak fish on their own in the future without getting lost.

Jane with a nice Trout

The New Year Week

2011-01-06T10:38:00.002-05:00

It turned out to be a very exciting week. The New Year week, doing a lot of kayaking and fishing along with doing a few different charters. The kayak fishing has been very good but it’s been a little challenging with the weather constantly changing. There are some very strong tides right now also. I’m happy with the results of finding some nice fish including a 32” snook I caught on New Year’s Day. I did trips from around Isle of Capri, a couple in backcountry areas in the Everglades and finally got to get back out to do a nice trip with a group to kayak fish our way out to the gulf using the tides to bring us out and the tides to return back to Everglades City. Pretty much everywhere I’ve been there have been many sea trout along with smaller (rat) redfish. Any of the larger redfish we caught were up in the backcountry. The biggest challenge has been finding bigger snook. Every backcountry area I fished this week has been full of snook with the majority being smaller fish up to around 20”. Still, the smaller guys have been fun catching because with the cooler water they have been very active and aggressive. They just seem to love the smaller plastic swim baits and jigs.

Jarad E caught his smallest snook ever !

First trout in the bag, the first of many for a fish fry we had that evening !

Chef Travis with one of the many trout that he caught. Travis also caught his first Redfish on this trip!

Thanks for the awesome antipasto and side dishes to go with the trout Travis!

Green Herons on the Turner

2010-12-27T20:34:00.001-05:00

While the northern states are getting buried in snow this most southern area of Florida in the Everglades is getting some of the effects with some fairly cold weather. I skipped going fishing today and went and checked out the Turner River area in Big Cypress. The area usually doesn't disappoint with the amount of activity with wildlife and today was no exception. There is always a chance of seeing otters, a mink, deer and maybe black bears in the area. Being as cold as it was many of the different bird species of the area were there this morning and hunkering down trying to stay warm. The only bird that was somewhat active and feeding were the Green Herons. They are probably my favorite heron around here. Maybe it's because of the fisherman in me but I've watched many times these birds fishing by standing on low overhanging mangrove branches dropping insects in the water to lure a fish for their dinner.

Begining of Winter in the Everglades

2010-12-24T14:38:00.001-05:00

Weather patterns are somewhat predictable during summer in the Everglades. Typically most everyday there are the rain storms in the afternoon and you try to be off the water by early afternoon. Getting into the winter season it's considered the dry season and there is a slim chance of rain.

My son Rich Jr had just returned from Vermont and along with another friend, Mike, we headed into some back country waters to do some kayak fishing. Launching early we headed in with a beautiful sunrise and calm waters.There was a chance for some rain and by late morning it clouded over. We were a couple of miles from where we launched when the rain began and then... all hell broke loose and we were in the middle of a torrential downpour. We all had our rain gear and decided to stick it out and continue to fish (along with having to bail out our boats every couple of minutes). The monsoon lasted for about an hour. The real incentive I think was the bite was on and during the course of the storm we had a lot of fun catching a bunch of snook (maybe two dozen or so) and five redfish among us. There were some tarpon there but they ignored us as they appeared to be feeding on the small ladyfish that were around. The storm passed and the bite slowed so we worked our way back. A crazy and wet but awesome day!

During the course of the week I fished a couple of other areas in the back country. The water temperatures have dropped considerably with these cold fronts that have come through and the catching has slowed a bit but I still hooked up a few times fishing for the juvinile tarpon along with catching a few snook.

With the cooler nights there have been many birds around in the protection of the back country where they can sun and find protection from the cooler winds.

Standoff ?

The Early Bird gets....

2010-12-17T16:41:00.002-05:00

...An awesome sunrise and a few nice fish !

Checking the weather forecast for the week on Saturday it looked like Sunday would be the best day to get out and do some kayak fishing. There was another cold front coming through on Monday and it would be pretty cold and windy for the following couple of days. I proceeded and headed to the backcountry and had fun for a few hours catching a couple of nice juvinile tarpon and a bunch of snook, the last one of the morning measured a little more than 30". I was back home by late morning making breakfast.

Everglades Winter Fishing

2010-12-10T10:28:00.002-05:00

Traditionally I would always go trout fishing on opening day of the season during April in Vermont. The weather didn’t always cooperate with freezing temperatures, maybe it was snowing and there still might be ice blocking access to many of the mountain streams and creeks. Not as drastic down here in the Everglades, but there are cold fronts that come through and it can cool things down quite a bit. This was one of those weeks. I didn’t bother going out across the bay or any other areas where there is open water because of the cold winds and headed to a couple of places I kayak fish up in the backcountry where it is much more sheltered. The first day right after the cold front came through where it was in the 30’s early on and yesterday which was a little bit warmer but it was also raining.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered where I went but there were slim odds of seeing anybody else out, which I didn’t. The first day out I went to one area that offers a lot of protection and found a nice sunny spot where I found some snook and tarpon feeding. I caught a few decent size snook and played with a few smaller tarpon (actually, I think they were playing with me). Probably comical to watch, but early on my fingers tips were numb and it was tough to make any kind of accurate cast. Moving on later I paddled to and checked out a different spot and I’m not sure if it was some kind of fluke but I actually caught a few smaller largemouth bass where I have never seen them before. The area I was in had previously been inhabited by exotic Mayan Cichlid fish where most died off during the drastic cold spell we had last winter.

Yesterday was a bit tougher fishing. My buddy Mike joined me and we went to a different area in the backcountry and we played around with the fly rods. It was slower with the catching but I caught a redfish, we both caught a couple of snook, jack and ladyfish. Again I think the tarpon were playing with us but if anything it was a new place where I hadn’t seen them before and I will be returning there soon again.

I am still seeing a lot of different migratory birds back in these areas. More uncommon I’ve seen quite a few American Bitterns and also a couple of Short Tail Hawks. Pictured at the bottom is a photo of a Short Tail hawk I had previously taken.

Fairly common Green Heron

Short Tail Hawk

Everglades Chill

2010-12-04T18:29:00.001-05:00

This turned out to be a fairly exciting week. The first real cold front has come through and temperatures have dropped considerably, day temps in the low seventies and at night into the forties. I fished two days this week, one day in the backcountry and one day in the bay. Fishing in one of the backcountry areas I go I happened upon a spot, the mouth of a small creek that I had never fished because it is so overgrown with roots and overhanging mangroves. The tide was very low at this point. Passing by I noticed there was some activity with baitfish and figured I would try and skip one of the small plastic swim baits I use. Getting the bait in there was easy but getting it out was another story. On the first cast I immediately hooked up with a large snook that proceeded to break me off as he took off into the mangroves. I knew it would be pretty difficult to get a fish out of there but I re-rigged and stepped up the leader to the largest I had with me which was 40lb. It was still to no avail and for one reason or another, whether getting cut off or just getting wrapped up in the roots I think I maybe lost a half dozen or so larger fish. I did manage to get a couple of smaller size snook out of there. It was pretty exciting to know that more larger fish are up in these areas. By chance if I’m at this spot in the future when the tide is higher I think I will have a better chance to catch some of these fish.

I kayak fished the bay the day the cold front came through. The day started out with it being dead calm but around midmorning the front came through a lot earlier than predicted. If anything it was a nice (hard) workout paddling the mile and a half back across the bay directly into the twenty plus mph winds. Fishing was pretty good while it lasted with some snook, trout and a couple of smaller redfish. I caught a few snappers and a gag grouper also. There seemed to be more sharks around than usual.

Two different articles I had written were published this month so please check them out. Native Watercraft one of my main sponsors published a short article I wrote about the Everglades and you can read this at Native Watercraft. I am now writing a monthy article on kayak fishing for Coastal Angler Magazine, a Florida fishing publication both online and printed copies and you can read my first article for them at Coastal Angler, page 35, Thanks

I joined up with Ranger Bob Martin and Joseph Taboada to test paddle one of the trails, Halfway Creek, to see if it was passable through Big Cypress Preserve. We did the whole trail from Hwy41 back to Glades Haven marina in Everglades City. It was a real nice trip through that area and it ended up being around a 12 mile trip. I didn’t have time to fish much but there are many opportunities along the way.

Yesterday I met up with Ira Silverman visiting from Cape Cod. The plan was to paddle the other main trail through Big Cypress, The Turner River. The original plan was to paddle the whole trail back to Everglades City also (which is also 12 miles plus) but we spent too much time in the upper area of the river and there wasn’t enough time to do the whole trip. This trip was the highlight of the week. This trip was one of those “magical” trips. I don’t remember Ira’s exact words but he spoke of in all the years of coming and going to different places in Florida he has never experienced or seen anything like this and I agree, it was one of those days. It was incredible to see all the different wildlife, especially the many different birds and to be in that environment with them.

Ranger Bob and Joseph leading the way

In the Turner River Tunnel

Everglades Banded Water Snake (non venomous)

Local Anhinga

Everglades Seasons

2010-11-27T13:43:00.005-05:00

The seasons are changing in the Everglades... Summer fishing season to Winter fishing season.

A photo of a very nice snook I caught late last November in Chokoloskee Bay, this one was around 38”. A somewhat of a rare catch and for many it would be a catch of a lifetime. Add to the scenario of catching a larger snook as this out of a kayak and well, it’s even more of a rare occurrence. For those who have fished for snook know what I’m talking about and for those who haven’t you will only know what I’m really talking about when you get the opportunity to experience it for yourself. With all the time I spend on the water I still only get the opportunity a few times a year. I’ll never forget catching this fish, using light tackle as I normally do standing drifting and fishing an oyster bed shore line in the shallows. I knew instantly when I hooked up with that fish that chances would be slim getting it in the boat. I had previously just caught a couple of other snook so my 30lb leader was somewhat worn and may be nicked along with only having 10lb power pro braided line, not a good scenario around the sharp oysters let alone the razor sharp gill plates of the fish (I’ve been cut off by snook even when using 50lb leader). Anyway, I got lucky, kept her away from the oysters and was able to turn the fish somehow as it freight trained away and worked it back to the boat.

I’ve missed a few larger snook over the last couple of weeks fishing the backwaters, the last a couple of days ago. I’ve been spending time up in the backcountry doing a lot of exploring and kayak fishing. Fishing an area I know fairly well I was looking for tarpon. It was pretty windy and there were no signs of them feeding or rolling so I was just making blind casts with a plug as I covered a large open area. This is the second or third time this has happened recently and around 10ft from the boat hooking up with a larger fish as I retrieved my plug. She never surfaced but I saw it was a large snook as it passed by the side of the boat. Thinking I had a good hook set the fish ran giving me a good (sleigh) ride only to throw the hook with a violent headshake. So be it... I will be back soon. This happened in the same place a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been spotting more larger fish in the backcountry but without a real cold front to cool the outer bays and gulf waters I don’t believe many fish have migrated yet still. I have been catching fish in the back, mostly smaller snook (up to around 22") and baby reds and an occasional juvenile tarpon. I got out and fished the bay (Choko) yesterday and when the tide changed to incoming the fish began feeding, I caught a few snook, a couple of trout and smaller redfish and also many ladyfish and a couple of gag groupers.

Jurassic Park ?

2010-11-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

It looks like today, Tuesday, would be the only day that I would be able to get some fishing in this week, at least until the weekend. Saturday I skipped going fishing because it looked like the weather was going to be crappy (which it turned out to be a nice day) and I did an early morning road trip and did a little exploring through a part of Big Cypress Preserve and then over to Fachahatchee Strand. I didn’t realize hunting season for deer was open in Big Cypress where I was and there wasn’t much activity except for the hunters so I made my way over to Fachahatchee. Ironically not very long after driving into Fachahatchee where there was no hunting allowed, a nice 6 point buck came out and crossed the road just up in front of me. There wasn’t a heck of a lot of other activity here either, a few different birds but just being here in the early morning is awesome. The morning mist with being in the jungle makes me think of Jurassic Park as a good description. I didn’t see any dinosaurs but a few more miles up the road I had the rare opportunity to have walk out into the road ahead of me this time a good size Florida Panther. He walked out on the dirt road, stood there for a minute and then casually walked back into the jungle. Of course I wasn't ready with my camera.

I finally made it back out in Chokoloskee bay today. The north - northeast winds have really died down only today they shifted to the south. If they were stronger persistent south winds they could have the tendency to shut down the bite in this area. Also today the tides would be fairly slow being in the middle of the moon phase. With saying all that I didn’t expect much success today but surprisingly I caught quite a few fish. My goal today was to find some larger redfish. For the last couple of weeks all the reds I've caught along with the reports that I have gotten are everybody is catching smaller (rat reds) fish. Well I never did find any larger redfish and only again caught a few of the “rat” reds which was still okay. I also checked out a couple of my trout spots and caught a few of those. When first fishing in the morning looking for the reds I caught a couple of smaller snook but my highlight of the day on a top water plug I caught a very nice snook. Close to 30", and very healthy. She gave me a real nice fight with the light tackle I was using. As I was getting ready to take a photo of the fish it slipped out of my hands and off it swam. It was an exciting catch as there are not as many larger fish around so now every time when catching a bigger snook it shows there is promise when so many died during the freeze last winter. I also caught a couple of jacks, ladyfish and a weird looking lizard fish.

Backcountry Everglades

2010-11-12T10:05:00.000-05:00

This past week turned out to be a great time to be out in the Everglades. Cool mornings warming into the upper seventies and hardly any bugs. A couple days were a bit windy so I spent all my time up in the backcountry where there is more protection. I fished a couple of days and also got a couple of requests from people to show them some of the areas I explore. Each time going into these areas is different but on the two different trips where I brought people they got to see and experience for themselves some of the wonders of the Everglades as there was a lot of activity with the wildlife this week. There have been a lot of different bird species around, the different resident birds like herons and egrets and also many migratory birds from large flocks of ducks to a lot of different species of raptors.

I kayak fished two different days and concentrated on fly fishing for snook in the mangroves. A bit of a challenge casting into openings and under the mangroves but I managed to catch a dozen or so smaller fish. None larger than around 20” but was a lot of fun with the fly rod. There were some tarpon around and I could see them rolling in a couple of different places. I made a few casts but never could hook up with one.

As I mentioned above there were a lot of different birds around this week. Trying to photograph a lot of the different bird species can be a real challenge and almost impossible a lot of times, especially when my strongest lens is only a 200mm. Pictured below are a couple photos of two young black crowned night herons that tolerated me getting fairly close to them, kind of a rare opportunity. I was back in the area where I had seen that group of Grebes again and saw that there were only two of them there. I figured the rest of the group must have moved on when one being near some mangroves starts this crazy squawking and out from the trees comes a large hawk, I believe was a Red Shouldered hawk and goes after and attacks that little bird. Somehow this Grebe got away but I think I have the answer as to where his other friends went.

A New Day

2010-11-05T11:37:00.001-04:00

We have our first real cold front of the year coming through the area as I write this. It’s nice for a change to have some cooler weather but hopefully in a couple days it will warm back up. Forty degree temperatures would be t-shirt weather when I lived up in Vermont but here after months of ninety degree days it may be time to dig out some warmer clothing. The fish here will be making some changes also and a few species, like snook, will start to migrate up into many places in the backcountry. Many fish will spend the winter months in these protected areas that will generally stay warmer and will harbor bait fish through the winter season.

I had the chance to kayak fish a couple of days this past week in the bay. I got out last Sunday to catch a couple of nice trout to bring back for dinner as it was the last day of the season to keep them and the season will not open back up till January. Along with some nicer size trout I still have been catching some snook and redfish although they tend to be mostly smaller fish. I will fish out there as I can but should these cooler temperatures and winds continue I will start spending more time up in the backcountry.

One day during the week I paddled up north of the bay near the Ferguson River and West Pass to do a little exploring. It’s a good paddle (3 miles +) from Everglades City but there are many places to fish along the way and I plan to head back to the area soon to explore more.

A pair of Raccoons swimming along who apparently must have misjudged the fast incoming tide and got stranded on an oyster bar.

Changing Seasons

2010-10-27T13:24:00.002-04:00

Even in The Everglades the colors change with the seasons. With the daily rains pretty much ended the land will begin to dry and will make for easier access to many of the places I frequently fish and explore in the winter. With every trip lately I’m seeing more varieties of the migratory birds that spend the winter here. The spectacular White Pelicans are beginning to arrive in the bay and a couple of times in the backcountry this last week I’ve seen a few woodland species that pass through from the north such as small flocks of Cardinals. There also appears to be more of the raptors around and even though a few species of these birds inhabit the area others of the same species with migrate to the area for the winter. I’ve spotted Peregrine Falcons a couple of times over the last week athough I’m not sure that these are migratory birds. On one lake in the backcountry there was a small group of Pied-Billed Grebes, a strange small duck like bird that dives to feed much like a Cormorant would and also dives to hide when alarmed.

A couple of weeks ago it seemed to be pretty barren of fish in some of the backcountry areas I visit but this week I’ve seen a big change. There has been a lot of activity with the schools of baitfish that are around with Snook and Tarpon feeding on them. When I’ve been there many of the fish have been far back in the hard to reach mangroves feeding. It is still awesome to hear the distinct popping sound snook make as they feed on the schools of baitfish as they pass by. The baby tarpon make a similar sound under the mangroves where they appear to be a lot of times with the snook. I haven’t caught any of the larger snook yet but I know that it’s just a matter of time as more of the larger fish will make their way into these backcountry areas to spend the winter. I’ve been catching a lot of snook but most of the fish are smaller but still a lot of fun to catch. The same thing goes for the Tarpon, a lot of smaller fish but a blast to catch (or try to catch), especially on fly!

Chokoloskee Bay Week

2010-10-22T20:51:00.005-04:00

I went out and kayaked and fished Chokoloskee Bay three times this past week. As we’re getting towards winter fishing conditions have improved immensely. Each day I went out I visited different parts of the bay and had similar results. Getting to the full moon the tides have been strong and each day launching the water was very low with the outgoing tide and I had to push through the mud in a couple of places. (For those that don’t know this area well there are large tides here compared to a lot of Florida and especially in the winter there can be a change of up to seven and even eight feet at times) One of the mornings I found a school of nicer size snook working bait schools and it’s been awhile since seeing this in the bay. I fished with a top water plug, a zara spook Jr and had a bit of fun with them. The largest I managed to get in the boat was 33” but hooked up a couple times with fish that were a bit larger. That’s all I’ll say about it except that this is a very exciting situation to be in and the only way to really know what it’s like is to experience something like this for yourself. It was awesome to see these larger fish around again. I couldn’t find any good size redfish around this week but it seems we were invaded by the little guys. Lots of rat reds, very small up to around 18”. Around midmorning each day as the tide would change to incoming the trout bite was on and I fished a few of the different places I fish for them and it was non-stop with almost every cast a hookup. Some schools were real small fish also but in a couple of places they were a good size from 16’ to 18”. I caught one that was 20”. Conditions change so often here in the bay but right now it’s looking real good for our winter fishery. Other fish caught this week were a couple each of black drum, flounder and groupers, lots of lady fish and a few jacks.

Way in the back Fishing

2010-10-15T14:28:00.009-04:00

The forecast was for scattered rain Thursday and maybe thunderstorms but it wasn't enough to deter me from going fishing and I headed for the backcountry.

I started to make my way in early when there was just a hint of light going through the opening in the mangroves. My incentive was finding some snook feeding at sunrise when I reached my destination. It was anything but easy getting there and I questioned my motives a few times. A lot of the waterway was too narrow to paddle and I had to pull myself through using the grass and mangrove branches along with at the same time brushing off the spider webs that crossed the trail most of the way. It was a relief when I made it to more open water. First thing was to clean off all my gear and get all the debris out of the boat including all the little critters and a few small tree frogs who were hitching a ride. I laugh to myself as to what I put myself through sometimes to get to some of these places to fish. Later in the cooler season this will all change and it will get easier to access.

There was a light rain but I could see some activity and started fishing throwing a top water plug. I’ve been in these kinds of areas a few times over the last couple weeks and hadn’t been able to locate some of the larger snook who usually will spend the cooler months in these areas. Today was not much different but I had a couple of nice follows by bigger fish who would not commit. It will probably take a good cold spell before more fish start to migrate to these areas. I caught a few smaller fish on the top water plug and a few fishing with a small swimbait. I had one nice unexpected hookup with a smaller tarpon on the top water plug along a shoreline.

I knew the tarpon were around as I would see them rolling here and there as I made my way through a couple of the different small lakes. After working my way back to the lake where I began I switched gears and got out the fly rod to see if I could have some fun with them. The fish I had been seeing were mostly smaller size around 5 to maybe 10 pounds. After setting up and anchoring around where I was seeing them I made a practice cast. Catching me off guard as I stripped appears a huge wake following my fly at around twenty feet away and then turns off near the boat making a good wake and disappears. In the excitement and the reflection from the water I couldn’t tell if it was a tarpon, I want to think that it was a large snook. It took me a few minutes to recompose myself... When getting back at it I made casts to the rollers and hooked up three different times but none to the boat but still lots of fun having these crazy fish on the end of your line. Before I called it a day I made some casts with a plug on the spinning rod and caught 2 nice fish both maybe around 7- 8lbs. It wasn't too bad getting back to where I launched. At least I could see what was ahead me.

Here's a couple examples of the unnamed fly's I used today tyed by a friend, Auston.

The Passion

2010-10-11T10:50:00.001-04:00

After a long and very hot summer the weather is finally making its change to cooler days and much cooler nights. The last week it’s been real nice starting out the day launching with temperatures in the low 70’s. I took the opportunity and did some longer paddles to places I had been planning on exploring and fishing. Two trips were around a 15 mile round trip. I wouldn’t put anybody through what it took to get to these areas but I found a few awesome places to kayak fish and these will be a couple of great places to go with a fairly easy access from a couple of the islands that I camp on. I again got into a couple of schools of smaller tarpon this week along with some snook and reds. It looks like the trout are coming back to a couple of spots I fish for them in the winter and if the water continues to stay cooler the trout fishing will only continue to get better. One other thing I did this week was take an ACA course in paddling and rescue’s from a sea kayak. I’m not a sea kayaker and I feel naked without a fishing pole with me but it was actually interesting and I think it will help when I paddle longer distances correcting my bad habits I’ve developed over the years and to help others showing them the proper ways to paddle in different situations.

A friend of mine sent me a link to this awesome video and if you want to get a taste of fishing here you must check this out. I’m asked so many times what it’s like to fish here or why would I even do it with the heat, bugs, etc. well this video shows the passion and addiction that these guys have also with fishing in the Everglades. http://highinthelowlands.com/

Chokoloskee Bay 10/2

2010-10-03T11:42:00.001-04:00

Getting an early start I made my way out across the bay. It was nice to see the east winds have subsided for now and it made for a nice start to the day with also the air temperatures in the seventies. With it being cooler at night lately the water temperatures are following. As I arrived into the area I planned on fishing it was full of activity. The bait fish had moved in and with the large schools of mullet that are usually there were large schools of finger mullet along with glass (rain) minnows and other small fry. It was fun to watch all the activity as game and other predator fish fed on them. Included in the mix were a lot of sharks and I watched as one shark which I believe was a large bull shark attacking schools of fish much in the same way as you would see dolphins (or even tarpon) feed.

With all the bait fish that was around can make it tough sometimes fishing with artificial baits. I fished starting out using as usual a top water plug and there was a lot of action but I couldn’t entice any larger fish and could only attract numerous ladyfish, a few trout and smaller snook. As the sun was up I switched out to using a couple of different hard baits but the bait of the day turned out to be one of my go to baits, a small soft plastic swim bait because it mimicked the finger mullet so well. Fishing the mangrove shorelines I had a few nice hookups with a couple of larger snook but only managed to get a few of the smaller ones to the boat up to around 22”, but still fun! They were acting very crazy today I assume because of the cooler water temperatures making them more active. It was nice to see that there were a lot of them around. As I made my way I fished a few deeper spots in open water and managed a few nice trout and I wish I brought a cooler so I could have kept a few for dinner. A couple of the fish were smaller but most were between 16 and 18” and they also loved that small swimbait. As I headed back and made my way back across the bay the tide was still somewhat high and I fished around a couple of the submerged oyster bars. I caught a couple more trout and then finally found a little larger fish, A nice red that was just over 24”, a nice way to end the morning!

Everglades to Pine Island

2010-09-24T11:35:00.005-04:00

For the last couple of weeks there have been predominant winds blowing from the east- northeast. It’s calm early but by mid to late morning the winds pick up blowing around 15 mph plus. I ventured out across Chokoloskee bay a couple of times and also the Goodland area but the water has stayed churned up (muddy) and it’s made fishing somewhat tough. I did manage to catch a few fish including snook, trout and mangrove snappers.

With the way the weather has been with the winds I decided on going back into some other areas to do a little exploring where there is more protection from them. I ventured into a couple of different areas in Factahatchee Strand and also Big Cypress. I love going into these areas but it’s been a few months since paddling in there. It can be a little tough with the vegetation growing in during the summer months, the insects and of course the local wildlife which can make it a little intimidating especially when going solo and setting off before sunrise. The next photograph shows how overgrown it’s become on one of the trails I take into Factahatchee. A couple of these areas are where I love to fish for snook and tarpon especially during the winter months where the fish will migrate to for the warmer waters. On these outings I did also catch a few snook but mostly small fish and twice I got into a couple of schools of tarpon, one school of juvenile fish around five to ten pounders and one school of younger fish. I never got any of the fish in the boat but had a few hookups and that was fun and exciting enough. I’m looking forward to spending more time back in these areas again as the cooler months come.

This week I finally made it up to kayak and fish Pine Island, Florida for one day. It’s another place in Florida I like to visit a couple of times a year along with Matlacha which is by Pine Island. It’s still kind of rural and has a great fishery. It’s very different from the Everglades in one way that there are miles of grass flats to fish which the Western Everglades lack and you approach it a bit different when fishing. Target species are pretty much the same (Snook,Trout and Reds) but their habits are a little different. I spent most of my time standing and site fished from the kayak drifting with the wind which was blowing pretty good there also. As I drifted I caught some nicer trout casting the pot holes as I looked for redfish. With things starting out slow I starting spotting some reds as the tide changed to incoming. The water there is crystal clear compared to what I am used too but with the water being a little choppy from the wind my view was a little obstructed and I would see the fish (1 or 2 at a time) after they already saw me. I would have never seen the fish had I been sitting in the boat. Some of the fish were very large and I would have to say some of them were around 40” (aka Bull Reds !). Finally, I got a break and surprised when I spotted a large fish tailing in about three feet of water. I could tell it was a large fish by the size of his tail and could see he was in a school with other fish. I made my way towards them and on my second or third cast with a weedless setup and DOA Cal I hooked up with a fish and saw as I fought it the rest of the school stayed with him, A dozen or so of big fish. Very exciting! After a good fight on my light tackle I was very happy to catch this nice red who was a little over 30”, not one of the bigger fish in the school but still a nice catch. I fished a little more but the winds were picking up more and the tide was just about in so I called it a day plus I had a fairly long paddle back to where I launched. I look forward to getting back there again in the near future!

Everglades Mud

2010-09-14T16:32:00.006-04:00

I found myself on a large dry mudflat when only an hour before I was sight fishing for redfish in about a foot of water. The majority of the area was now either dry or the water was only a couple of inches deep. With the new moon this was a negative low tide. I just happened to be in a spot where there was sort of a creek running through the mud where the water was draining and it was just deep enough where the kayak was still somewhat afloat. As the tide dropped I watched as more and more birds flew in to take advantage of the situation to feed. Plans for the morning was to do some fishing but now any fish that were here have now vacated the area for deeper waters. Watching all the birds coming in I thought maybe there might be a good chance to get a couple of good photos of them. I wasn’t at the best vantage point but for the most part the wading birds seemed to ignore me and would come fairly close to me as they foraged in the mud for crustaceans and such, a rare opportunity. The bazaaro birds, The Roseate Spoonbills I think are one of the spookier birds and it’s rare to be able to get near them. Today I watched as a small flock worked their way around the area pre-occupied with their foraging and worked their way towards me. They realized I was there when they were only around ten feet from me but instead of flying off they acted funny almost as if they were annoyed that I was there. They made their way around me and basically ignored me and continued to feed. I am basically your hardcore fisherman but in the package of fishing the wilderness of the Everglades comes being able to see and enjoy all these different things the area has to offer. Today would have been a dream comes true for a real birder seeing a lot of these different kinds of wading birds and being able to get so close to them.

(Notice this bird is banded. Reading the band, The Audubon informed me it was banded 12/31/08 on an island in SE Florida Bay when it was just a chick.)

Everglades 9/1 - 9/7

2010-09-07T19:52:00.004-04:00

I got on the water a few times over the last week. A couple of times out in the bay in Chokoloskee along with a couple of times out of Goodland and one day in the backwaters up off Rt 41. I never have a bad day on the water kayaking here, between the scenery, the wildlife and the excitement of fishing these places, every trip offers something different. I look at every trip as a new adventure.

Talking to my son he asked me how the fishing was and my response was that it was not the greatest. He laughed and said “I know you’ve been catching something”, and he was right, I've been catching fish but I guess I was feeling maybe a little melancholy because I lost a few large fish over the past few days. I haven’t really been fishing for the snook except for in the backcountry but I hooked up with three larger fish this last week and lost them all for one reason or another. Today I hooked up with a very large snook that at first I thought might be a tarpon. She made a couple of awesome jumps and when I thought I won the fight she jumped once again near the boat and with a vicious headshake sent my topwater plug flying back at me.

My sons question was maybe somewhat of a wakeup call. I may have become a little spoiled with spending the last few years here. I spend most all of my time kayaking and fishing in what is really old Florida, not in the way it was but in the way this area is and has always been, unlike pretty much the rest of overpopulated and overbuilt Florida. There are no concrete highrises or houses here looking down at you and rarely do you see other boats around. It’s kind of funny on one day I complained about a power boat I could see and my friend Chris made a smirk and brought to my attention that it was probably a mile away.

There’s a hint that the weather is starting to change. It’s still very warm during the day but the nights are getting cooler and with that the water is starting to cool down. I’ve actually seen a few different migratory birds on my last few times out. I’m looking forward for it to be a little cooler during the day. Before you know it camping season will be here.

Goodland Morning Challenge 8/28

2010-08-28T18:25:00.009-04:00

I had planned on launching at the national park launch today and fish north of the bay but with getting a few reports of the poorer fishing in the morning the last few days I decided to change my plans. There are also some strong tides right now with the full moon so if I had launched out of the park I would probably have to portage my kayak when coming back later in the morning when the tide would be at it's lowest.

I ended up going up to Goodland for a few hours that has a little easier access to kayak and fish the outgoing tide (and to get back). Getting a real early start I was on the water well before sunrise. Starting with top water plugs I checked out a couple of my usual spots and as expected fishing was slow. I did get a couple of nice hits but no hook ups and I spotted a couple of larger fish working the bait in a couple of spots only I couldn't get near them as they were back in a couple of small coves covered with mangroves. I decided to switch over to the long rod and had fun catching a couple of lady fish and actually a couple of mangrove snappers mixed in. The tide was moving out fast and very muddy draining out from the backcountry. By mid morning I worked my way around the bay and ended up in a large open area with the shore line made up of a few smaller coves (all mud bottom). I decided to stand and pole my way through this area. The water was very muddy and the depth was around 8" and no more than 10". There were mullet throughout the area. If I had been sitting in the kayak there would have been no way I would have seen them but mixed with the mullet here and there would be a redfish or two cruising the mud flats.

The situation was I had a light wind blowing at me and between me and where the redfish were was the mullet who would spook with any movement I made. I did manage to get a couple of good long casts off but not long or accurate enough so I decided to switch back to a spinning rod and put on a small jig with a gulp shrimp. Spooking a lot of fish working these shallow coves, even with hardly moving being as steathy as possible, I still stuck with it and poled and drifted in front of these coves three times. Towards the end of the third drift I finally saw two nice reds slowly cruising at a good distance away who were oblivious of me. I was able to make a perfect long cast in front of one of the fish and Bam!, he went for it! I probably spent over an hour working these coves and finally was rewarded with this nice fish! He measured at 31".

This was one of those days when you could question yourself as to why you even bothered to come out to fish and then to turn it around and make it a very successful one, even with just the one nice fish.

Everglades Fishing 8/20

2010-08-23T10:37:00.000-04:00

I managed to make it out in the bay once during the week. The "swamp angels" have made their appearance and it was a hurry up and get launched day. The mosquitoes have been surprisingly scarce this summer but maybe now it's pay back time. Once on the water away from shore you will hardly ever see any. I paddled a little north across the bay and just planned to fish a small area. It was a slow incoming tide and there wasn't a lot of activity but I caught a few nice smaller snook using a top water plug and a small swimbait. When the tide got up covering the oyster bars I spotted a red cruising the bars and he immediatly attacked the small bait I casted near him. After a nice fight I took a couple pictures and released him. After, I fished a couple of different spots looking for a trout but couldn't locate any. It was a nice morning, nice sunrise and very calm but by mid morning the mercury was rising fast and I called it a day.

Fishing Week 8/10 - 8/15

2010-08-16T15:10:00.001-04:00

Reviewing the last week, I got on the water three times. Twice on Chokoloskee bay and the other time I launched out of the Ilses of Capri by Marco island. Simply put it's been very warm as in the mid nineties and humidity just as high. The fishing has been affected by the weather some but I still have been catching fish. I've been launching early between 6 and 6:30 and staying out as long as I can tolerate it which has been around noon. Fishing in these conditions you have to change your strategy slightly and work your lures and jigs slower as the fish tend to get lethargic as with very cold conditions. The funny thing is most of the fish I've caught have been very active and fight as if they are in cooler waters. (water temperatures are also getting into the nineties) I still make sure to try and make it a quick fight and revive and release the fish asap.

So this week I caught a few reds, some trout and a lot of snook mostly around 20" along with a couple of other species. I blew it one morning when I hooked up with a nice size snook on fly and one of my knots on my leader that I tie came loose.

Below is a picture of a nice red I caught around 24" that had the most brilliant colors. The photo doesn't really do it justice. The other two photos are of the spoonbills I see often in the bay. They always roost on the same small mangrove island in the summer and some mornings it looks like a cherry snowcone. As with the nature of the spoonbills they can be overly cautious and hard to approach and get close enough to get some good shots.

American Shoals

2010-08-08T20:51:00.001-04:00

I couldn't turn down the opportunity when my buddy Chris called to join him and Matt for a boat ride down to the keys for a couple of days of snorkeling for lobsters and maybe a little fishing. A change from the tannin colored waters to the aqua colored waters in the lower keys would be a nice change. With a real early start Friday it was a bit of a rough ride and we had to follow the coast down before heading across Florida Bay to Sugarloaf Key where we would stay the night. It was opening day of lobster season and there were boats with divers and snorkelers as far as the eye could see on the gulf side. We headed for the Atlantic where we spent most of our time and where Matt was a little familiar with the area and needless to say we had some lobsters for dinner. Saturday we spent a good part of the day out in an area called the American Shoals where there is a cool lighthouse and reefs to snorkel. I fished for a little while and played with some big barracudas but there was no time to get serious about it. Late afternoon we headed back straight to Naples and were back by around 8:00. A relatively good ride back and we didn't even have to dodge any storms. A quick but awesome trip.

A few more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/rjvermont383/Sugarloaf?feat=directlink#5503561168356192962

Chokoloskee 8/3&5

2010-08-08T19:17:00.000-04:00

I ended up getting out in the bay twice during the week. Tuesday I got an early start and I headed to an area in the northern part of the bay. After around a mile and a half paddle getting to where I planned to fish another fisherman pulled in and started fishing where I was headed. I couldn't believe it after the long paddle but within fifteen minutes he raced off. As I got there I could see fish working the oyster bars and I caught my first redfish on my second cast so I was now happy again. I concentrated on the area for awhile, it was a little slow but I caught a few smaller snook and picked up another nice red. Around mid morning I started working my way back and along the way picked up a couple of nice trout around a couple of oyster bars in the current. With how hot the weather's been lately I was back in by noon.

Thursday morning I was able to get out for just for a couple of hours. I hit a couple of my usual spots and today it was very tough going. After an hour or so I picked up a nice red fish. I jumped around fishing a couple of spots and then see a large snook working near an oyster bar feeding on finger mullet by the mangroves. First cast he goes after my top water plug and misses. Next cast he chases the plug again and misses a couple of times. I figure one more cast and he's actually still there and again misses. I think I had a mentally challenged snook here. He was gone after that or maybe just lost interest. Crazy fish!

End Of July

2010-08-02T17:29:00.003-04:00

Recapping last week, I got on the water a few times. The fishing wasn't spectacular but caught some fish kayaking at a couple of different places in the area. Tuesday, I joined Dave (Fishon) in Chokoloskee who came over from the central east coast to do some kayak fishing. Early on it looked pretty promising getting some nice hits on the topwater plugs but things faded pretty quick. Full moon tides today.As we worked our way north I decided to show Dave some areas that he was unfamilier with. With the outgoing tide we headed out and drifted towards the gulf and came back on the begining of the incoming ending up going in a large loop. There are a lot of routes similar to this and if you plan it right with the tides you can cover a lot of ground to fish without ever backtracking. We ended up with some trout and a few small gag groupers.

Thursday I met Mike up in Ilses of Capri (near Marco Island) and launched at the Capri fish house. A nice place to launch off of a small beach. It's been a couple of years since I kayaked there. Having spent a lot of time there in the past we set off straight into the maze of mangrove islands to check out a few of my old haunts. The tides were still crappy but we had fun and did a little exploring and covered a few miles before heading back. Again no big fish stories. I lost one bigger snook who headed right at me after hooking up and got off with getting slack in the line. Fishing off a large sandbar we had a couple of young Reddish egrets hang around us for awhile. I'll going to try and get back to this area soon again.

On Sunday I hit one of the small lakes off of Rt41 to see how the backcountry is doing. I arrived early before sunrise and as I launched my kayak the place was going off with feeding tarpon and snook but there was one small problem...gators. No matter where I went there was at least one gator around me. I thought if I bide my time I will get myself in a place where I was away from them so I could fish for the tarpon but it never happened. All I could do was just watch the show. I ended up catching a few smaller snook in the mangroves before calling it around mid morning. This is the first time I've been fairly close to see the gators on the shore doing their growling and bellowing calls.

Looking forward to August fishing. Looks like a lot better conditions this first week and I hope to have some good reports here shortly.

Chokoloskee Bay 7/2o

2010-07-22T17:36:00.002-04:00

With the threat of maybe a tropical storm coming through by the weekend I wanted to get out in the bay because it may be a few days before I can get out there with the weather that may be around. I launched around sunup from the national park launch and had the northeast winds to assist me paddling across the bay. There would be a nice incoming tide through the morning to fish. The wind created a bit of a chop so I fished where I could using some of the islands for a wind break. Of course I fished with top water plugs to start the day and caught a few snook, the largest over 26". I couldn't fish a few of the places I normally would when I go to this area because of the winds but I still caught a few nice fish and was happy with that. As the tide came up I switched to using a couple of different lures, one a 1/4oz swim bait made by Storm and the other a subsurface hard bait where I ended up catching a redfish on each of the lures. No trout again today but caught a few jacks and ladyfish. By late morning it was boiling hot again so I made my way back across the bay this time paddling pretty much dead into the wind taking some waves over the bow. A little more than my normal workout today !

Goodland 7/13

2010-07-13T17:45:00.003-04:00

After picking out a couple of different places to kayak fish today at the last minute I picked going up to Goodland. I thought I would fish the incoming tide which was to be around mid morning. I still launched fairly early and I was on the water before sunup. Working my way across the bay I fished the mangrove shorelines wherever there was some current hoping to catch a trout or two for dinner. All I found were lady fish in these spots. It was kind of a slow outgoing but I continued on and ended up finding a couple places where I caught a few snook. Nothing great in size with the largest around 24" but still was fun having some action. It was now around 11:00 and the tide was still going out and it was getting super hot out. According to my tide chart it should have changed. Anyway I decided to stick it out working my way back in kind of a large circle following the shoreline and finally around noon the tide was flowing in. Still around a mile from where I launched I went back to fishing. I started throwing a small swimbait instead of a jig which would allow me to cover more ground as I worked my way back. Finally after fishing my way almost all the way back I was finally rewarded and hooked up with a real fish which turned out to be a nice 29" red. Persistence paid off today. I contemplated staying out after that fish but it was just to hot out and I called it at around 1:30.

The Derelicts

2010-07-12T13:45:00.001-04:00

Saturday I joined up with a group who were here to spend the weekend to see the area and do a little kayak fishing. The meeting place was CIP (Chokoloskee Island Park) where some were also camping. The group are all followers on a Florida kayak fishing forum called "The Hole" and are aptly known as the "Derelicts". Seriously, a nice group and other than myself and Mike "Stubbs" there was Vivian, Connie, Critter, Sailer, Steve aka I fishhead, Dee, Pete, Marie, and Bernie all coming from other places in Florida. We all kayaked and fished through the morning. By noon most were back in with it being very warm out and we spent the remainder of the day hanging out under the chickee with some great conversation, and awesome food (mostly provided by Pete,Marie and Dee).

As far as fishing I think most everyone caught some fish and along with myself Steve got himself a slam.

Chokoloskee 7/7/2010

2010-07-07T19:02:00.001-04:00

I decided to head back to where I fished the other day to see if I could find more of the infamous redfish. Conditions were a little different but I was still going to catch the top of the incoming tide. Launching fairly early it was really nice out, in the mid seventies and no bugs at all. The water was a bit muddy looking from all the runoff and drainage from the rivers after all the rain we've had lately. I fished the same general area but I decided to first give the fly rod a chance using a top water gurgler and then a popper.It was a little tough because of light winds creating a chop where I'm sure the flys could not be seen or maybe recognized. After about an hour I grabbed my spinning rod with a zara spook and first cast I had a nice hit. A lot of fisherman will say that top waters don't really work in water that's choppy but I have found that completely false and have caught a lot of fish under these conditions. Anyway I was fishing a small mud flat next to some oyster bars where there apparently was a nice school of snook (there was no seeing them with the muddied up water) and had fun with them for quite awhile. It was almost every cast that they would attack my topwater, sometimes breaching the water and at times more than one at a time. A lot of the fish were smaller but a couple I caught were in the mid twenties. I missed (or they missed) or lost some larger fish for whatever reason. One fish was very large when after I brought in my plug there was a scale on one of the hooks larger than my thumb nail. After having to retie my frayed 40lb leader a few times I finally had to replace it and after the couple minutes it took to do it the bite completely stopped and I didn't get another fish or hit out of there, it was still a lot of fun while it lasted! I moved on fishing a couple other spots and picked up one more snook and a trout before heading back wondering where the reds might be hiding today.

Chokoloskee 7/5/10

2010-07-06T18:42:00.000-04:00

I got an early start and launched out from the park kayak launch. Expecting the worst with the bugs I was well covered up but surprisingly there weren't any which was nice. I made my way across the bay and fished the incoming tide which was almost high. I brought the fly rod and a couple of light spinning outfits. I started with a spinning rod and threw the reliable zara spook Jr. and thats all I ended up pretty much using the whole time. I starting catching average size snook on some flats and around the oyster bars. I had a few nice blowups and follows by some larger snook and also a couple of reds. I caught the one real pretty red who was around a 26 incher who was drumming away the whole time. So I ended up with the one red and about a half dozen snookers, along with a few jacks and ladies, a fun couple of hours! I'm going to try and get back out there in the next day or so.

Summer Time is Here !

2010-07-01T18:44:00.002-04:00

Just a quick recap of my last few times on the water. I've only been able to kayak fish a couple of times during the last week due to some other obligations. We are definitely in our summer mode with it being unseasonably warm with temperatures averaging in the mid nineties and storms coming through midday to late in the afternoon. What that means to me is get out and kayak fish real early (at or before sunrise) and come back in around noon. It still gets you around five hours on the water. After that for me is head for the A/C.
The water has really warmed up and normally fish get lethargic in these temperatures (especially snook even with being a sub tropical species) but there has been a lot of activity. I've been catching a fair amount of snook averaging 20" or more along with some nice trout and a red fish here and there. I still haven't been able to get out to some of the barrier islands towards the gulf but there have been some good reports of some larger snook and reds being caught along with permit and tarpon.

The other morning fishing shorelines flipping soft plastics with light tackle I hooked up with a large fish. It freight trained away and my first thought was a very big snook only it never stopped. My next thought was maybe a large ray.Being that I was using light tackle I couldn't crank down on my drag and I couldn't put out the anchor for fear of getting spooled. So after being on a sliegh ride for about a half mile I finally got the upper hand and got the fish near the boat. It turns out and to my surprise it was around a 5 foot black tip shark. As I finally got him to the boat he pulled the hook. Using only a 30lb mono leader I can't believe he didn't cut the line.

Yesterday I kayak fished the backcountry for a few hours and again hooked up with a larger fish. This time it was a nice snook. After a nice fight and of course he headed into the mangrove roots I caught my largest snook of the year so far. A real nice fish around 36" and just under 12lbs!

Backcountry Fix

2010-06-16T14:36:00.007-04:00

I decided to get my backcountry fix this morning and headed to one of the places that has a fairly easy access and where I could fish almost as soon as I launched. I only had a few hours so thought this would be a good choice. Snook were there and they were feeding on the schools of baitfish along the shorelines along with some juvenile tarpon around which I could see rolling. I concentrated on fishing for the snook hoping to hook up on a larger fish. I fished the mangrove shorelines and lost count on the smaller snook that I caught and got my wish with a larger one around 32” pushing 10lbs who put up a real nice fight. I was surprised how active this fish was with how warm the water was. I had one other hook up with a larger fish who ended up throwing the hook along with hooking up with a couple of crazy small tarpon. Not bad for a few hours fishing. I called it around 10:30, it was super hot out and the bite stopped anyway. Lots of gators around today and I also took a few minutes to check out one of the rookeries.

Tri-Colored Heron Fledgelings

Goodland 6/09

2010-06-09T14:15:00.010-04:00

There’s a local saying that when the bugs are the worst the fishing is the best. Today was very promising launching up in Goodland early this morning, the no-seeums were brutal getting the kayak unloaded and ready to launch.

I launched at sunrise and headed out to some back bays to fish a slow incoming tide. When I arrived the water was totally muddy and maybe only six to at the most twelve inches deep, but the fish were there. Mixed in with the schools of mullet were reds and snook that I identified when their backs were up out of the shallow water and as I spooked them as I drifted over them. They were feeding on small schools of minnows. A very frustrating scenario to be in but I had high hopes once the tide came up it would be easier to fish. As the tide finally did come up so did the sun and it wasn’t long before it got real warm out. With that the fish moved off the mud flats to under the mangroves. I now had a couple hour window before the tide was up to high to fish the mangroves. I worked them skipping a jighead with DOA plastics under them and had fun catching snook, a few snappers and jacks. I was fooled once again by thinking I had a snag only for it to be a very large snook that proceeded to try and drag me into the mangroves before he broke off. I did end up catching a few nice snook and a couple of decent reds today.

Today really did show a lot of promise. After what happened this past winter it has taken what seems like forever in this area but fishing is getting back to normal and let’s hope it continues to get better. The snook seem okay and they reminded me of this as I was leaving the area I could hear them feeding deep in the mangroves.

http://www.theonlinefisherman.com/kayak-fishing/112/400