October comes to a close and it was a great month of kayak fishing in the Tampa Bay region.   Typical, the action has been solid for three main species:   Trout, redfish, pompano and bluefish.    Other options that have been available are jacks, ladyfish, a few flounder and mackerel to name a few.  It is a great time of year and November will be “more of the same”.  Flounder:  Just not great this year but they could roll in this month.

Getting away from the superheated waters and dropping into the Fall season, the fish have been very agreeable to eating lures with the 12 Fathom 3-inch mullet the top bait to throw to pretty much all species.   A trend that will emerge going into November, the fish may prefer the SlamR to the mullet as their diets may shift some from the baitfish to the shrimp in the seagrass.  November will probably be a time when both lures work equally well.

The targeting of the two mini-sets of species has everything to do with location and with presentation of the lures.   Trout, redfish and flounder are going to be caught if the lures are moved at a speed that always keeps the lure right down in their faces, just above the bottom.    The ladyfish, mackerel and jacks are a different story.   Lures moved at a much faster pace in areas of deeper water will lead to more action for the species that travel (and feed) higher in the water column.  Areas near Gulf passes or the deeper grassflats will be the best place to intercept these species.   It is often something I will have people do for a short period of time before moving into other areas for the main targets, which I will mention below.

Redfish

These are my favorite to target and have people catch, and in the absence of snook, are a in excellent numbers in most locations.    Parts of the northern region have been mysteriously down in numbers but all other areas of the Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties  have produced redfish action that demonstrates that this is a strong, sustained species.

Trout

The most popular Florida fish in saltwater, the cooling air and water will lead to greater action with the bigger speckled trout.  October was decent for trout action but not what it will be in the months to come.   Bend down your barbs:  Harm fewer fish.   Good fighting technique will translate to losing few fish but if you do, well, you would have been letting it go anyway right?

Flounder

Kind of an off year for a fish I have pursued since I was just a kid.   I’m not sure if September was slightly better than October or if we put in less time actually targeting them and honestly it wasn’t very good.   A common misconception on many species, but very big with flounder, is that you need to feed them a live bait.   Not true.  Obviously, fish eat live offerings but the lures bumped in front of flounder will be eaten just as easily as the baits that swim by them.   The only thing that has been necessary to create the action was to vary some technique.  Sometimes the flounder would eat lures that were dragged across the bottom in front of them, other times they ate lures that cruised just above the bottom that they ambushed but the other thing that worked when the first two methods didn’t?    “Hopping it”.   Lures that were methodically bounced up and down off the bottom excited dormant flounder (and doormat dormant flounder).   Trout will eat lures intended for flatties.

It doesn’t matter if you are throwing your lures to any of the species, no matter what you’re doing you need to adjust to get the strike.    October was great but I think that with some good luck with the weather, November may be the best fishing in 2017.

Enjoy the great fishing Florida has to offer and if you need help learning, hire a guide.

As always, be careful out there.

Neil Taylor
www.strikethreekayakfishing.com
(Cell) 727-692-6345
LivelyBaits@aol.com

 

 

Neil Taylor
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