 |
| A.J. Menard of Sarasota stands with ease to fight a fish in the NuCanoe Frontier. |
April was a good month for Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing. For
the most part, the wind and weather cooperated.
During the month, we caught a variety of species on fly rod
and spin, including tarpon, snook, spotted seatrout, redfish, jack crevalle,
ladyfish, flounder and permit. In addition, we visited The Everglades and
caught oscar, Mayan cichlid, largemouth bass, bluegill, shellcracker and
stumpknocker on fly rod.
 |
| This redfish made A.J. happy! |
Most of the action took place in Sarasota Bay around
Buttonwood Harbor. That's where Howard Beemer of Fort Myers and son-in-law Jim Wies
of Illinois caught snook, seatrout, jack crevalle, ladyfish and sugar trout on
MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs and MirrOlure MirrOdines. The bite was slow
and we had to work for fish. However, Jim was able to land his first snook.
Bob Tait of Sarasota had a good day on fly rod. He caught
snook under the lights and jumped a tarpon. It was that lost tarpon which
prevented him from obtaining the rare Super Slam (snook, trout, redfish and
tarpon on fly). He added a 29-inch redfish shortly after daylight, then caught
a number of small seatrout. He also caught a lookdown on fly. The fish were
caught on Gibby's Snook Shrimp, DuPree Spoon Flies and Clouser Deep Minnows.
Ash Amirian of Longboat Key and Jack Perrone of Naples
joined me for a day of fly fishing on Sarasota Bay. Wind made things tough, but
the duo combined to catch spotted seatrout, jack crevalle, ladyfish and
flounder. Most of the fish were taken on Clouser Deep Minnows.
Longtime client Kirk Klingensmith of Corning, N.Y., fished
two days and did well. He caught six snook on fly around lighted docks on
Gibby's Snook Shrimp. He later added spotted seatrout, jack crevalle, ladyfish
and flounder on Clouser Deep Minnows.
 |
| A.J. shows off his first permit |
The following day, we headed to Alligator Alley where we fly
fished for a variety of species. We caught 70 oscar, 25 Mayan cichlid, eight
largemouth bass, 15 bluegill, 10 stumpknocker and a pair of shellcracker. All
fish were taken on Gibby's Myakka Minnows.
A.J. Menard of Sarasota joined me for an outing around
Buttonwood Harbor. Fishing was tough, but A.J. caught redfish to 24 inches,
permit to 3 pounds, spotted seatrout, ladyfish and jack crevalle on MirrOlure
MirrOdines, MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs and gold Johnson Silver Minnow
Spoons.
Fly angler Robert Marcus of New York City caught his first
snook on a Gibby's Snook Shrimp and had a couple of others on. He also tangled
with ladyfish and jack crevalle. A very slow tide hurt his chances.
May is filling up, but I do have openings.
MAY FORECAST:
Snook should start spreading out along the beaches which should lead to some
excellent sight-fishing opportunities for fly fishers and spin anglers alike.
Night snook action (along with tarpon and seatrout) should be good around the
stronger tides. We expect improved redfish success on the flats. In addition,
we anticipate excellent action for shark, snook, redfish and spotted seatrout
in southern Tampa Bay.
If you're interested in a trip, please call me
(941-284-3406) or email me at steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com.
Steve Gibson
Southern Drawl Kayak
Fishing
www.kayakfishingsarasota.com
941-284-3406
