Fishing has been good in between cold fronts



Spotted seatrout have been providing a bulk of the action.



December fishing has been a matter of dodging fronts and scraping ice off the kayaks.

During any warming trend, we have been finding excellent spotted seatrout action in Palma Sola Bay. Most of the fish are being caught on D.O.A. CAL Jigs with gold paddle tails, MirrOlures Tiny MirrOdine and Clouser Deep Minnow flies.

The trout have been ranging from undersize to 22 inches. There have been outings where a majority of the trout run from 17 to 22 inches, with few small fish.

Tide is the key. Most of the action has been taking place along channel edges on the incoming tide.

Redfish are making their presence known, too. Most are small, but we have taken a few in the slot (18 to 27 inches). Reds are holding along channel edges and around docks. D.O.A. CAL Jigs are the ticket to redfish success.

Flounder also are cooperating. A slowly worked jig along the bottom is a sure way to find flatties.

Dave Robinson of Sarasota fished with me and we totaled more than 50 trout, 10 redfish and several flounder. We used CAL Jigs, jerks worms and MirrOdines.

Dick Badman, a winter visitor from Pennsylvania, caught some really nice trout on Clouser Deep Minnows.

I took a busman’s holiday on Friday and did well before the wind started to blow. Started out with eight trout and a flounder on my first 10 casts. Ended the day with 30 trout, two flounder and two reds.

I look for good action between fronts. A warming trend should spark bluefish, pompano, Spanish mackerel and spotted seatrout over the deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay.

Even though the water temperature plummeted to 53 degrees, I haven’t heard of any substantial snook kills. We don’t need any more cold weather.

My calendar is filling up, so figure out what date(s) you’d like to fish and let me know.

I would like to thank my sponsors: Native Watercraft, D.O.A. Lures, Temple Fork Outfitters.

Happy Holidays to all!

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

(941) 284-3406

Fishing has been good despite the cold weather

I'm pretty impressed by the fishing, considering the freezing weather we've experienced over the last two weeks. There has been ice on my windshield nearly every morning.
A week ago, I fished with Dave Robinson of Sarasota and totaled 28 spotted seatrout, eight redfish and a pair of flounder. Many of the trout were in the slot or slightly over (slot limit is 15 to 20 inches).
On Thursday there was ice on the kayaks when I pulled out of my driveway to meet Dick Badman of Pennsylvania. We fished Palma Sola Bay and did well, catching and releasing 20 trout to 21 inches and a flounder. Most of the fish were taken on a 1/16-ounce D.O.A. CAL Jig with a gold paddle tail. The MirrOlure Tiny MirrOdine also produced a few fish.
I'm thinking the action should really improve if we get a few days of warm weather.