Report: Flats fishing with Southern Drawl has been good. Slams have been par for thecourse over the last two weeks while casting the shallows of Bishop Harbor offsouthern Tampa Bay.    The incoming tide has been the key. Topwater action has been good aroundmangrove islands along the northeast side of the harbor, with snook, redfishand spotted seatrout cooperating. Top snook was a 27-incher. We’ve takenredfish to 28 and spotted seatrout to 16. Most fish were taken on RapalaSkitter Walks, D.O.A. ¼-ounce gold glitter shrimp and CAL Jigs.    Trout action also has been good in the middle of the harbor around scatteredgrass patches.    We paddled to the spoil island at Port Manatee on two occasions. The first time resulted in eight snook to 25 inches, three redfish to 24, four trout to 17,five jack crevalle, two gag grouper and 11 flounder. Most of the fish hit atthe bottom of the tide along the edge of the flat. Top lure was the D.O.A. CALJig (1/8-ounce head) and gold paddle-tail grub.    Another outing at the spoil island produced 15 spotted seatrout to 19 inches, a remora and two jack crevalle – all on CAL Jigs.    John Garrity and his son, Jake, of Toledo, Ohio joined me for a half-dayouting on Sarasota Bay. We fished Buttonwood Harbor and the flats south of WhaleKey. Action was slow, but John and Jake managed flounder, spotted seatrout, jackcrevalle and ladyfish on CAL Jigs with shad tails.    John, who recently purchased a home on Siesta Key, was so impressed with theNative Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 that he purchased one the next day from EconomyTackle/Dolphin Dive in Sarasota.    Ken Taylor of North Port joined me for an all-day outing at Bishop Harbor. Ken caught a plethora of spotted seatrout and a few ladyfish on CAL Jigs, D.O.A.Shrimp and D.O.A. TerrorEyz in the harbor and on the flats in Tampa Bay.    The long hot weather finally has come to an end and that should be the sparkthat turns the fish on. I look for very good action on snook, trout and redfishon the flats when the weather and wind settle. Bishop Harbor, southern TampaBay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound should be hot spots.    Freshwater action also should improve with the weather change. Bass, bluegill, shellcracker, speckled perch and channel catfish are expected to begin theirpre-winter feed. Top area lake is Lake Manatee.    We’ll begin running our Everglades trips for the exotics (oscar, Mayancichlid, peacock bass) in December. These all-day outings usually result inabout 100 fish per angler.

Nov. 17, 2009 -  The wind finally settled and the tide was predicted to be extremely low. So, that meant a trip to Pine Island Sound was in order. The Sound is a great place to look for tailing redfish on a negative low tide.  Launched the kayak just before dawn and began paddling to a lush turtle grass flat that often holds tailers. It took about an hour before I saw my first tail.  In all, I saw about 12 tailing reds. I hooked up one briefly on my First Cast.   The fly, a crab imitation, was named First Cast Crab because I hooked a nice spotted seatrout the first time I cast it.  The FCC also produced several more spotted seatrout and a bunch of mangrove snapper. I found trout, snapper and snook in cuts on the outgoing tide in the backcountry. I caught a snook and some snapper on a chartreuse and white Super Hair Clouser.

Later in the afternoon, I hooked up a nice red on the Clouser. The red was in a foot of water on sand. There were a number of reds back there as the tide turned to come in.  Sight fishing has been pretty good, although the fish haven’t been large.  Still, small snook, reds and trout are great when you see them before you cast and watch them eat the fly.  The beauty about fishing out of the Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 is that I can stand up, pole and spot fish. It’s a very stable kayak and I love fly fishing out of it.

Tides are good the rest of the week for tailing reds. For those who prefer spinning tackle, tailing reds will blast topwater plugs and weedless jerk worms. Jigs work well to take reds and snook out of the numerous sand holes along Pine Island Sound. Snook will take jigs, jerk worms, D.O.A. Shrimp and topwater plugs.

If you're interested in fast and furious action on Oscar, Mayan Cichlids, bass, bluegill and other species, it's time to book your Everglades trips. Clients average more than 100 fish per outing (sometimes 200 and more).  If you've never fought an Oscar or Mayan, you're missing some of the fastest and most exciting freshwater action Florida has to offer.  This is an all-day outing only. We leave Sarasota around 4:30 and start fishing about 7 a.m. We're off the water at 4 (or soon, if you'd like).  We usually have dinner at the Islamorada Fish House at Bass Pro Shop on the way home.

Cost is $350 (each additional angler is $75). All tackle, lunch and drinks are provided.  We'll begin these trips in December when the water level falls in The 'Glades.

Steve Gibson
Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing
www.kayakfishingsarasota.com
(941) 284-3406