February was gator trout month around Sarasota Bay

Dick Combs of Bartow, Fla., shows off one of the many 'gator' trout caught by Southern Drawl clients in February.

February was gator trout month around Sarasota Bay. Southern Drawl Kayak

Fishing clients caught a number of spotted seatrout to 25 inches or more.

Steve Coates had a good outing on Sarasota Bay. We totaled 30 trout to 5 pounds, 2 flounder and a pompano on MirrOlure MirrOdines and D.O.A. CAL Jigs with gold and copper crush paddle tails. Most of the fish came just south of Whale Key on the edge of a grass flat.

Fly fisher Dick Badman of Pennsylvania did well in the same area. We caught and released 30 trout from 2 to 5 pounds on Clouser Deep Minnows, MirrOlure MirrOdines and CAL Jigs. We also managed flounder and ladyfish.

Bill Koenemann of Fort Wayne, Ind., fished the same area with good results. We totaled 30 spotted seatrout to 6 pounds on MirrOdines worked along grass edges.

Jon Freyer of Ludington, Mich., had a fine trip. He landed four redfish to 28 inches, trout to 5 pounds and flounder. In addition, we caught pompano and ladyfish. Most of the fish came on D.O.A. 4-inch jerk worms on 1/16-ounce jigs head and CAL Jigs with gold or copper crush paddle tails.

Dick Badman joined me again and did fair. The action slowed down somewhat. Dick landed a number of spotted seatrout on Clouser Deep Minnows.

Daulton Roberts of Enid, Okla., a fly-fishing guide in Arkansas, had a good day, catching trout to 17 inches, flounder and pompano on Clouser Deep Minnows.

Wade Collier of Longboat Key had a monumental day, catching his largest seatrout (5 pounds) and largest flounder (22 inches) on MirrOdines and CAL Jigs.

Dick Combs of Bartow, Fla., landed five trout of more than 24 inches on MirrOdines, plus a plethora of smaller fish.

We also had a couple of trips to the Peace River. Dave Robinson of Sarasota caught snook to 26 inches, bass and gar on topwater plugs and jigs. On another trip, we landed snook to 30 inches, bass, gar and small redfish on topwater plugs and jigs.

We anticipate the large trout continuing to cooperate and will target them over the next month. In addition, we look for bluefish and Spanish mackerel to show up.

Beach snook season is fast approaching. The action should heat up in May and continue through August as snook to more than 20 pounds can be found in the surf.

The folks from Native Watercraft were in town and accompanied me on a trip on Sarasota Bay. They videoed the outing and produced a short clip on kayak fishing. Take a look at http://www.nativewatercraft.com/video.cfm?id=78

We’re happy to announce that we’ve been added to the Pro Staff at Aqua-Bound Paddles. We really appreciate Aqua-Bound’s support.

Please visit www.aquabound.com to view their selection of great kayak paddles. For those who reside in Sarasota, you may purchase Aqua-Bound Paddles at Economy Tackle, 5018 S. Tamiami Trail.

As always, we would like to thank our sponsors: Native Watercraft, D.O.A. Lures, Peak Fishing, Aqua-Bound Paddles and Go Fish! Sportsmans Sunscreen.

Steve Gibson


Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

(941) 284-3406