Posted 6.1.17
The transition to summer is complete. Memorial Day is the usual unofficial “start of summer” and it probably came just a few days before that. Into the long haul of summertime, the depressing situation is snook. The few we have are being beaten on. The hotter water, many don’t survive the encounter. Start to finish, badly managed, snook remain a sad story in the Tampa Bay region.
The action for the other species is excellent. We had one bad day. That is just the way it goes with fishing. Several days later the action exploded. Great action the ENTIRE time out there.
An area that was dynamite the past two years wasn’t producing this year. Three days ago it happened: Pompano were easy. Other species were fighting with pompano to get to the lures. The magical item: Uncle Neil’s Pompano Teaser. The Silly Willy provides the weight. The teaser catches the fish.
The obvious shift that we have made is either going much earlier…. or much later. The late afternoon bite has been outstanding. The early morning bite has been generous as well. The big three have been trout, redfish and flounder with almost every trip producing all three species. Flounder action has been exceptional this year. Trout action has been good all year, with great action in some locations and “off” as in not the usual in many of the areas that normally have such easy trout action. Redfish action I would have to put at “fair” overall. Again, one of my best redfish targeting regions has been void of fish for so long, no one can really figure out what the problem is. I believe that there will be some shift back into normal patterns as June rolls along. I think that it will be a great summer of fishing, mostly because we just have a lot of fish around here right now.
Throwing Mirrolure topwater lures has been fruitful especially for big trout. The 12 Fathom lures are still tricking them as well, like it was with these two fish. One, a big fat trout, ate the mullet. Shot #2 was a pure luck shot where the trout was following the client’s lure and I took a photo at the exact time of the attack.
June 25 is Kayak Fishing Skool! The topic is: Nighttime Kayak Fishing. As usual, there will be a raffle at the end of the session, brought to you by Strike Three Kayak Fishing sponsors. To be added to the email database for reports, feature articles and seminar announcements send an email to Livelybaits@aol.com and request to be added to the list.
The temperatures are heating up. I’m making the transition to Nocturnal Neil. Give a shout if you would like to get on the schedule! Your choices: The regular action; Pompano; Drum. A combination of all three? That is possible too. A lot of what I have been doing has been “Start out jigging” then move on to throw lures for trout and redfish.
As always: Be careful out there!
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
