Night fishing around lighted docks was the key to April success

Happy Susan Bostwick of California shows off her first snook. She caught it on a fly rod.

April was a good month, but a perplexing one.

Typically, April is a wonderful time to hit Sarasota Bay and catch a bunch of spotted seatrout. We caught some decent-sized trout during the month, but not a lot of them.

I'm still convinced the bay is still feeling the effects of  last fall's red tide. I could be wrong, but that's my hunch.

Snook often are plentiful in the dock lights.

We did slip out one day and catch some really nice fish. Starting a couple of hours before daylight, we caught a couple of snook and jack crevalle around dock lights in the Longboat Key rim canal. 

After the sun came up, we paddled out into the bay and found cooperative trout in several spots. But when we hit the "outer elbow" off Whale Key, we started getting trout from 2 1/2 to 4 pounds. Must have caught 15 before they quit hitting.

We caught all of the trout on MirrOlure MirrOdines, a suspending plug that is seemingly magical on a variety of species. Key to success with the MirrOdine is working it correctly.

I like to hold the rod horizontal to the water to my left. I twitch the lure a couple of times, then reel up the slack. I repeat this retrieve until I'm ready to make another cast. Most often, fish will hit as the lure is suspending.

Lee Soares of California battles a leaping seatrout.

It's important to work the lure slowly and allow it to perform its magic.

In addition to trout, I've also caught ladyfish, jack crevalle, snook, mangrove snapper, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and redfish on the MirrOdine. I don't think there's a fish out there that won't hit it!

Vinny Caruso of Bradenton and Capt. Bob Zola of Fort Lauderdale joined me to explore the waters off Vamo in Little Sarasota Bay. We caught 15 trout to 24 inches, several ladyfish, three snook and a flounder. We caught the fish on MirrOdines and MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs.

Howard Beemer of Fort Myers and his son in law, James Wies of Illinois fished Little Sarasota Bay and caught 10 trout to 23 inches, ladyfish, snook and flounder on MirrOdines and Lil Johns.

Mike Skalla holds a decent black drum.

Mark Skalla and Mike Skalla hit the water an hour before daylight and had a fair day. Mark caught a couple of nice snook on jigs while fishing dock lights around Longboat Key. They also caught three black drum to 10 pounds, two jack crevalle, mangrove snapper, spotted seatrout and flounder.

Vince O'Boyle of Venice caught flounder, redfish, mangrove snapper and a black drum on Lil Johns and light jigs in the rim canal at Longboat Key.

Ted Tolliver of Ohio had a fair day. He managed a dozen trout to 17 inches, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and bluefish. We fished the Longboat Key rim canal and deep grass in Sarasota Bay off Whale Key. Most of the fish were taken on Lil Johns and MirrOdines.

Lee Soares and Susan Bostwick of Petaluma , Calif., fly fished on a tough day, but their persistence paid off. Each caught his/her first snook. Lee's 28-incher was the day's best. They fished lighted docks in Bowles Creek.

Mark Skalla's first snook.

After daylight, we moved out to deep grass patches in Sarasota Bay. They caught spotted seatrout to 23 inches.

The significance of their outing was that a day prior, 21 anglers fished the Fly Division of the Sarasota CCA's Photo All-Release tournament. Those 21 angler caught a total of four trout and one redfish.

Lee's best snook and trout would have made him grand champion of the Fly Division in that tournament.

Pat and Penny Martin of New York joined me for a four-hour outing. We launched at Buttonwood Harbor and fished the rim canal at Longboat Key. The morning was very slow. We caught flounder, jack crevalle, ladyfish and missed a couple of snook.  We estimated one of the snook at 20 pounds or more.

Everette Howell of Longboat Key hooked a pair of tarpon and a snook while fly fishing around lighted docks. After daylight, he switched to a MirrOlure Lil John on a light jig and landed a 25-inch snook.  We caught one other snook and a jack crevalle.

Greg Tango of New Jersey and Mike Tango of California caught four snook to 27 inches, mangrove snapper, jack crevalle, flounder, silver trout and 20 spotted seatrout to 21 inches fishing around dock and seawall at Stephens Point and deep grass patches in Sarasota Bay. They used MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs, MirrOdines and D.O.A. Deadly Combinations.

We fished Lake Manatee on a couple of occasions and did fair. Launching at the Verna-Bethany Bridge at the east end of the lake, we caught largemouth bass to 3 pounds and hand-sized bluegill on popping bugs. We moved up the river and caught bluegill, bass and stumpknocker on nymphs.

We launched at Lake Manatee Fish Camp on another occasion and caught six bass to 3 pounds on poppers. We also caught bass, bluegill and channel catfish on nymphs.

I drove down to Casey Key and spent a morning looking for snook in the surf. It's still a little early, but the snook population in the surf will increase daily. I saw about 10 snook, but didn't catch any.

MAY FORECAST: Snook and tarpon are the best bets on fly rod around lighted docks along the east and west sides of Sarasota Bay. Spotted seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle and a few bluefish should cooperate over deep grass on both sides of the bay. Snook numbers should increase in the surf for those who like to sight-fishing with fly rod or spin tackle. In fresh water, I anticipate good action on bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish.

May is a great time to fish Sarasota Bay and surrounding waters. In addition, I look for decent action on peacock bass, Mayan cichlid, bluegill and shellcracker in south Florida waters.

I anticipate vastly improved sight-fishing for snook in the surf.

Fishing from a kayak is one of the world's great activities. I've been doing it since 1986.

If you'd like to fish, please give me a call!

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

941-284-3406

When the sun sets, grab your fly rod for tarpon and snook in the dark

A happy Jack Littleton of New York shows off his first fly-rod tarpon. 

Night fishing is a time for bright results. If you've never landed a snook or tarpon or fly, you should consider a trip after dark.

I've been fly fishing at night around dock lights for quite a while. And a few years ago, I began offering guided trips after the sun sets.

It has paid handsome dividends for several clients.

Recently, repeat client Jack Littleton landed his first fly-rod tarpon while fishing with me at night. He hooked two, but broke the second fish off. Dr. Everette Howell of Longboat Key and Nashville, Tenn., jumped six tarpon and landed two on a recent outing.

Other clients have landed their first snook, a fish that seems to be a tough one for most fly anglers.

In addition to snook and tarpon, we sometimes encounter spotted seatrout, lookdown, jack crevalle, ladyfish and maybe even redfish.

You never know just what's in store when you head out after hours.

I've had people advise me that they don't like fly fishing at night because "it's too easy. Like shooting fish in a barrel."

Well, we do have times when the fish are plentiful, hungry and aggressive. But it's not always that way. In fact, conditions change almost nightly and go from great to slow in a hurry.

And, anyway, what's wrong with being out there when the fish are aggressive and hungry?

Like any saltwater endeavor, we're dependent on the tide and weather. If I had my druthers, I'd select a night when the tide is predicted to run out hard. That seems to be the optimum time for good action.

In addition, it helps to have minimal wind.

But I've seen slow action on great tides, great action on bad tides and average action in both situations.

If you go often enough, you'll encounter that great outing.

There are a number of keys to success:

1. Get out on the water. If you don't, you'll never enjoy this type of action;

2. Learn to cast with minimal false casting. Since we're fishing from kayaks, there' s no need to set up 50 or more feet from your target. You can get as close as 25 feet. And at that range, there's really no need to make five or six false casts in order to deliver your fly to the target. Simply pick the line up  and put it down;

3. Kayak control. You're the boss and your kayak goes where you want and points in the direction you dictate. Fish with the paddle across your lap and fine tune the kayak's direction by dipping one paddle blade or the other and adjusting. Remember, wind and tide do affect your kayak. So, adjust accordingly;

4. Line management is critical. Nothing is worse than hooking the fish of a lifetime, only to lose it because your fly line catches on something or  knots up. Since I own a fleet of NuCanoe Frontiers, line management is a cinch. Simply let it pile up on the floor of the kayak directing in front of you. And because of the Frontier's open, uncluttered design, there's nothing for it to catch on;

5. The most critical thing is to keep a big fish out of the pilings. Since we're fishing around lighted docks, pilings stand in the way of landing a fish or breaking it off. The former is preferred. You have to keep the fish out of the pilings. To do so, you have put apply maximum pressure to the fish while paddling your kayak away from the structure. Sound difficult? It's not. I can hold the fly rod in one hand, and paddle the kayak away from the dock with the other. If I'm holding the fly rod in my right hand, I place my right elbow on my right knee. I take the paddle in my left hand and can paddle backwards by creating a fulcrum against the ribs on the right side of my body. It's pretty simple with a little practice. Remember, with the paddle across your lap, it's already in the triangle you create when you place your right elbow on your right knee. If it sound difficult, don't worry. I'll explain how to do it.

Fly choices are pretty elementary. I use just a few that I've created for night fishing: Gibby's Snook Shrimp, Gibby's Salty Myakka Minnow, Gibby's Night Minnow. I sometimes will use a Gartside Gurgler (a surface fly made of foam) when the fish are aggressive or ignoring other offerings.

I prefer an 8-weight fly rod with a matching floating line. I use a 9-foot, 20-pound fluorocarbon leader.

I have several spots around Sarasota Bay that are good for night fly fishing.

My ultimate goal is to guide a client to a Saltwater Super Slam -- snook, tarpon, spotted seatrout and redfish on fly in the same outing. This rare feat can be done.

If you've never caught a snook or tarpon on the fly, night time is for you. Just give me a call (941-284-3406) or shoot me an email (steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com) and you're on your way.

With a little determination and luck, you can check a couple of species off your fly-fishing list!