The incredible stretch of heat made for tougher than usual fishing conditions. The evening trips provided some relief as the morning trips were very hot from about 7:30AM onward. At night in upper Tampa Bay the bioluminescence was a beautiful sight. Fish darting around looked like rocket fueled lasers. The sweep of the paddle also created beautiful fluorescent green puffs.
Early June was exceptional. The past few trips have been difficult. I had Steve and Mark out on back-to-back days. Only ten pompano the first day. I was happy they caught a few of them late in the morning because it had been SLOW. Still, they enjoyed it. Local, they know how to do it now and they had a great dinner that they would like to do regularly. On the second day we went for trout. The topwater bite was not what it was a week earlier. One week earlier we had a day where it was 50 trout over 17 inches. That’s incredible. They got hooked up but not in numbers like that. As the morning wore on I switched them to the SlamR instead of the topwater and that led to more action. We finished jigging silver trout. One location they have been there year-round for as long as I can remember.
Pompano trips had been excellent. We went over 30 fish every day for two weeks since the last report. Their size gradually went up. Overall not as big as last year, they usually continue to get bigger as the summer wears on. We have not been doing them at bridges yet.
The big drum are on the bridges. They are pretty easy. Same as pompano fishing, you use the Silly Willy. You use Uncle Neil’s Teaser. You get it to the bottom and for drum: Slow jigging. The rod doubles over deep, that’s a drum.
The hopes are that the action goes strong again with the full moon approaching. Could it have just been the tides? Is it that it is summer?? Water temperature approaching 90 about a month early, we are into the long stretch of summer now. My thoughts: It is now July. Getting through June to me is a win. We have July, August, September. October things are still warm but things start to change. Where is the fast-forward button?
In absence of snook, very rarely are we doing night trips. We are starting at 6AM and winding it down by 10. That is one of the things I like about summer. I’m home by 11AM. Snook remain a sore subject with my closest fishing contacts. Small fish, they need to be protected to big breeder size. If the state wants a great fishery again they need to not screw it up. They are closed and they should stay closed for 3 to 5 years. No argument. It is what would be best.
Make a plan. Do it right and have better trips. Get up at 4AM. That’s part of your plan. Work in some pompano jigging. That’s a great choice in the month of July. Make some trips near a Gulf pass. The water temperatures close to 90, moving water usually has more oxygen and the fish that are near the passes usually feed better.
As always: Be careful out there!
Neil Taylor
Guide Services-Tampa Bay Region
Strike Three Kayak Fishing
www.strikethreekayakfishing.com
(Cell) 727-692-6345
LivelyBaits@aol.com
- The Neil Blog… - July 26, 2023
- The Catfish - July 26, 2023
- update - July 22, 2023
