Wind and rough water couldn't stop us from catching fish

Bonnie Hickey of Bozeman, Mont., battles her first beach snook.

We were able to catch a decent number of fish during May -- despite strong wind, rain and rough and dirty water.

Weather certainly has been a major influence on fishing throughout southwest Florida so far in 2018.

 We're hoping things settle down and we can get back to "normal."

This unusual brown peacock bass was impressive.

Early in the month, we made a number trips to The Everglades where we walked in and did quite well on peacock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, oscar and Mayan cichlid. Despite our success, those trips are over until the next dry season. High water, heat, thunderstorms and mosquitoes will keep angling action in The 'Glades to a minimum for a few months.

That being said, it could be the time to think about an Everglades trip down the road. If you've never caught a peacock bass, you might want to seriously consider this trip.

Over our last four outings down there, we caught and released more than 200 peacock bass. It's some great fly fishing, for sure.

Most of the fish were caught on Junior's Craft Fur Minnow, a creation of Junior Burk, an Indiana fly tyer. We also caught peacock bass on Gibby's Myakka Minnows.

Gibby's Myakka Minnow was effective on peacocks.

I did get out on a couple of beach snook trips in May. Conditions were not good, but we still encountered snook. Mike and Bonnie Hickey of Bozeman, Mont., joined me on a marginal day. We first tried Manasota Key, but encountered rough water and quite a bit of red algae (not red tide) in the surf. We drove north to Casey Key and found better conditions.

At Casey Key, Bonnie Hickey landed a 23-inch snook (the fish broke loose as I was holding the leader). She and Mike also hooked a few others. In all, they got maybe 15 shots at snook, including one fish we estimated at 10-12 pounds.

Jeff Marshall of Venice and Sherri Soper of Arizona spent a day with sight-fishing the surf in trying conditions. The water was calm enough, but the sky was overcast  which resulted in extreme glare on the water, making spotting snook pretty tough.

This over-sized redfish was sight-fished in 18 inches of water.

Still, Sherri  hooked a 24-incher and had a couple of other s take her fly. Jeff landed a decent spotted seatrout and lost another.

John Weimer of the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers in Sarasota joined me on a trip to Lake Manatee. We launched at the Verna Road Bridge on the east end of the lake. The results were fair. We landed 25 mostly hand-size bluegill on popping bugs and Gibby's Snymphs under strike indicators.

Weimer also fished with me late in the month around Buttonwood Harbor off Sarasota Bay. We caught and released five snook, two redfish to33 inches, a number of spotted seatrout and a few ladyfish. Snook were caught on Gibby's Snook Shrimp, while the reds went for MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jig heads. Fish of the day was one we didn't land. While casting for trout over deep grass, I jumped a 60-pound tarpon that put on quite a show before I lost it!

Marshall  Dinerman of Atlanta caught spotted seatrout to 18 and ladyfish on MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs around Buttonwood Harbor. We also landed a fine, late-season pompano on a MirrOlure MirrOdine.

JUNE FORECAST: I can tell you what it should be. Snook should be plentiful in the surf  and willing to hit a Gibby's D.T. Variation. This is the best sight-fishing around when conditions are right. All we need are a light easterly breeze, calm surf, clear water and sunshine! Around Sarasota Bay, I look for decent snook action at night around lighted docks. Spotted seatrout should be plentiful over deep grass. And I think redfish action is beginning to (finally) pick back up after four sub-par years. I've already caught and released more reds this year than in the last four years combined.

If you want to get in on some of this exciting action, please give me a call (941-284-3406) or email me (steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com).

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

941-284-3406

December was a potpourri of action: peacock bass to large spotted seatrout

John Weimer of Sarasota shows off one of the may large spotted seatrout he caught from Sarasota Bay. 

For the past two months or so, we've been concentrating our efforts around the freshwater lakes and streams of southwest Florida.

First, we like to catch fish. And we've found that the state's lakes and streams result in bent fly rods!

Second, there's much more to Florida than salt water.

The author and a fine peacock bass caught on 5 weight.

We've been fishing the state's salt waters since 1971. We began fishing the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay around Fort Walton Beach. I was in the Air Force then, and stationed at Eglin AFB.

We moved to Sarasota in 1975 and have been here ever since.

What we've discovered is that the region's lakes and rivers often are overlooked and underfished. That's a good combination for those who want to catch fish on fly.

For the most part, we target hand-sized bluegill, shellcracker, largemouth bass and channel catfish. That's particularly true when we're fishing around Sarasota. Our favorite spot to fish in Lake Manatee, a 2,400-acre reservoir located 9 miles east of Interstate 75 on State Road 64. This lake is lightly fished and chock full of bluegill, speckled perch (black crappie), shellcracker, largemouth bass and channel catfish.

John Weimer's bluefish put up quite a battle.

We also fish the Manatee River, Myakka River, Upper Myakka Lake and Benderson Lake.

For this, we use .5- to 6-weight fly rods. I like to cast No. 12 Gibby's Snymphs  (simple nymphs) under a strike indicator on my .5-weight TFO fly rod. I'll rig my 2-weight with tandem Myakka Minnows. I'll cast a small popping bug on a 3-weight TFO.

Best time of year to fish Lake Manatee and other nearby waters is November through May.

I also love to travel south to fish Alligator Alley and the waterways around Naples.

At Alligator Alley, I target oscar, but also catch bluegill, largemouth bass, Mayan cichlid, peacock bass and stumpknocker. I most often cast a 3- or 4-weight rod loaded with floating line and 8-pound fluorocarbon leader. My fly of choice is my Myakka Minnow in gold, copper, brown or black. If you don't get cut off or lose your fly to a snag, often you can fish all day with one fly.

When fishing Alligator Alley, we often catch more than 200 fish each. I estimate that 60 percent of the catch will be oscar, an exotic that was unintentionally introduced into south Florida waters in 1954. Oscar are extremely strong and readily take a fly.

The waterways around Naples can be even better -- not in terms of numbers, but in quality. All species (oscar, peacock bass, bluegill, shellcracker, largemouth bass) seem to run a little larger than average.

I fish Naples from May through December. I've found the colder months to be a little slow.

Peacock bass there range from just a few inches to more than 5 pounds. My largest on fly is a 5 1/2 pounder that I caught in November . We usually cast 5- or 6-weight rods, floating lines, 8-pound fluorocarbon leaders and JR's Craft Fur Minnows or my Struttin' Peacock Fly. I've also caught plenty of peacock  bass on nymphs, Myakka Minnows and popping bugs.

Peacock bass are very strong and will test the skills of any fly angler.

Butterfly beacocks were introduced into south Florida waters by the state in 1984 and have thrived. Maximum size of butterfly peacocks is about 10 pounds, but the average size is 2.

I've found peacocks like to hang out around docks, rocks and aquatic vegetation like hydrilla.

Saltwater fishing shouldn't be overlooked. After the onset of cooler weather, the pattern changes and fish can actually perk up.

One of my favorite spots to fish this time of year is Palma Sola Bay. I find spotted seatrout to 4 pounds will pile up in holes and canals. I've had some fantastic days there over the years. We average 40 fish per outing, but have topped the 100-fish mark on several occasions.

For this fishing, we use 6-weight fly rods with an intermediate sinktip line, 10-pound fluorocarbon leader and a variety of flies. Clouser Minnows and Bob Popovics Jiggy Fleyes are good choices.

In addition seatrout, we also encounter snook, redfish, ladyfish, jack crevalle, flounder and pompano.

Around Sarasota Bay, spotted seatrout are the main catch, but snook, pompano, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, flounder, ladyfish, black drum and (occasionally) redfish also are available.

We like to get out an hour or so before daylight to target snook around dock lights, using an 8-weight rod, floating line and 20-pounding fluoro leader. Fly choices include Gibby's Snook Minnow or Gibby's Glass Minnow.

At daylight,  we will target snook,  redfish and black drum in canals with fly or spinning tackle.

We'll spend the rest of the day on the flats or over deep grass, targeting redfish, snook, spotted seatrout, flounder, pompano, bluefish, ladyfish, jack crevalle and Spanish mackerel.

When fly fishing, we'll use Clouser Deep Minnows or baitfish patterns. On spinning tackle, we like the mini MirrOdine by MirrOlure. We also like to cast MirrOlure Lil Johns on 1/16-ounce jig heads.

We encountered some very good spotted seatrout action during the month. In fact, John Weimer of Sarasota obliterated his personal-best seatrout several times during one outing, catching and releasing trout to 27 inches. Fly of choice was Junior's Craft Fur Minnow.

I did a solo trip and caught a bevy of trout to 28 inches on Craft Fur Minnows. In addition, I managed bluefish, pompano, snook, redfish and jack crevalle.

Jesse Ehrlich of Sarasota joined me and a great tide, but we didn't have a great day. We caught about a dozen spotted seatrout to 23 inches. In addition, we lost a decent redfish that went for a Craft Fur Minnow.

Another solo outing resulted in a bunch of trout to 26 inches. Most were taken on chartreuse-and-white Clouse Deep Minnows. I also caught jack crevalle, ladyfish , bluefish and pompano.

Marshall Dinerman of Atlanta, Ga., caught a pair of snook from a Longboat Key canal on Clouser Minnows.

JANUARY FORECAST: Usually this is the month for big snook in the Myakka River. The action hasn't been great the past two years, but then again the weather hasn't been cold. And cold is the key to pushing the big snook up the river. We'll see what the month has in store. We look for excellent night snook around lighted docks, plenty of spotted seatrout in deep holes and canals and along the edges of the flats. In fresh water, we anticipate good action on bluegill, speckled perch, channel catfish and largemouth bass in Lake Manatee. Of course, Alligator Alley is a prime spot for oscar, Mayan cichlid, bluegill and largemouth bass.

We're approaching "The Season." That means the demand will be high for kayak fishing services. Be sure to book your trips early to assure you get in on the action!

You can call me at 941-284-3406 or email me at steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com.

Happy Holidays!

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

941-284-3406