Out with the old, in with the new!
The year's over. Thanks for fishing with Capt. Clay in 2007!
The year's over. Thanks for fishing with Capt. Clay in 2007!
12-31-2007 - Is this really the end of the year?
Jim couldn't have picked a better day in December to go fishing. The weather forecast predicted high temperatures in the low 80's and calm winds. To top everything off, another guide friend of mine let me in on a little secret the other day. He told me where to find scaled sardines for bait. Thousands of them to be exact. We almost never have them around in late December and they proved to be the ticket to some really nice fish. Unfortunately, they probably will disappear with tonight's cold front.
After running to the bait spot and loading the live well, I ran back to the ramp and picked up Jim. He's from Missouri and tagged along with his fiancé on her business trip to get away from the frigid temperatures they had back home. While he was here, he thought he would try his hand at saltwater fishing for the first time. He's no stranger to fishing mind you, in fact, he's president of his local fishing club. But this was the first time that he'd feel salt course through his veins.
We started of trying for and got a few decent trout while we waited on the tide to get right for redfish. The tide was sluggish and the bite really never turned on. So after a few fish, we decided to go hit the reds early. It paid off.
We didn't get into the double digits with reds but they were quality fish. In the first couple of hours, Jim managed a 20", 22", 25", 29", and a 33" red. Though we saw several fish and even spooked a school of reds nearing 100 fish, the bite was kind of slow due to a weak tide. But, at least the fish he caught were big. I think he was happy, judging from the grin on his face, and I've maybe added another addict to our saltwater fold.
12-27-2008 - Quality Fish
We again had a negative low tide this morning in the Tarpon Springs area so I asked Curtis and Nikki if they wouldn't mind starting the day when the tide was coming in. So I picked them up at the ramp around 10am and we headed off to try and find some low water trout. The bite was slow but just as the rest of the day would play out, it was a quality bite. We didn't catch a ton of fish today but the ones we did catch pulled drag. If you ask me, one drag puller is worth 25 dinks.
We landed trout from 18"-25" and redfish from 24"-27". The first few trout of the day were caught on white/red tail curly tail grubs and rootbeer colored curly tail grubs fished on 1/4oz. jigheads. The redfish were caught again today on cut pinfish around oyster bars and mangrove points. They didn't want anything to do with a live baitfish. All I can assume is that the lower water temp has them a little sluggish and looking for an easy meal. The last few, and biggest trout of the day, were caught on cut pinfish as well. I've never caught trout on cut pinfish before this week and yet we've managed to boat 5 trout fishing like that this week.
Hopefully as we get farther away from the full moon the number of bites we get will increase again. That's the only thing I can think of that has slowed the bite down a tad. Oh well... we may not have caught the huge numbers of fish on the last two trips but the fish were good fighters and have been on the larger side.
12-23-2007 - It's not how you start...
...it's how you finish! The trout bite has been really good lately and the average size fish has been fairly large. With this in mind, and knowing that we had a negative low tide in the morning in Tarpon Springs, I made plans to take Steve and Heidi to some troughs out by Anclote to get on some trout. There were fish there but we struggled for bites for a good 2.5 hours. I must have just missed the bite there or just missed the fish because I had a friend within earshot of us that limited out on big trout in 30 minutes. We did catch 4 or five but it was disappointing to compared to what has been going on for me out there.
I couldn't take the slow trout bite anymore so I told Steve and Heidi that we were going after some real game fish. So with a live well full of pinfish (and one keeper trout), we headed north. It took about 15 minutes to find my redfish. Only problem was that they didn't want to eat. the tide had just started to become slack and I was hoping the bite would kick in once it started ripping out. Once the tide started flowing, the bite still didn't turn on. We could see the fish, they just wouldn't eat. It was time to try some different presentations. We took the corks off and threw out tail hooked pinfish. That coaxed one bite but that was it. Then I lightened the leader to 20lb and started cutting pinfish in half. That was the ticket!
The bite lasted a solid 1.5-2 hours. the fish would never stop moving though. So after we'd hook up with one or two reds we'd have to move farther down the shoreline to keep up with the fish. I lost track of how many redfish we caught but he was a few double hook-ups and even caught the too biggest trout of the day, on cut pinfish no less. That was a new one for me.
Anyway... the day started slow but finished with a bang. It's like I always say, "Inshore fishing is often hours of boredom interrupted by moments of chaos." Luckily for us, we had more "chaos" than "boredom" today.
12-10-2007 - Smorgasbord.
Ron was in town for a surprise visit to see his father on his father's 75th birthday. Ed and Jim, Ron's brother-in-laws, were in town for the event as well and they all couldn't resist the temptation of our wonderful fishery. So, they took one day out of their family visit to chase some fish with me today.
On the agenda was to get on some of the redfish that I've been tracking for well over a month now. We had one of those really low winter low tides and again I needed high water to reach these fish. So, I asked if they could hold off on their trip in New Port Richey until around 11:30am and they were game.
After catching some pinfish on the flats I headed to the ramp to go pick up my crew. We then headed out the river and went North to some potholes and oyster bars that had been treating my previous clients so well. Things looked great when we first got there. Mullet everywhere and the tide was ripping in. The only problem though was that the redfish hadn't received the memo that this is where they should be. After poking around for a while looking for them we headed south of the Cotee river to another stretch of shoreline that had been producing. It took a little while to find some fish but when we did, there weren't many of them. We did however manage 6 or so hookups and landed four or five nice redfish.
By this time the bite has slowed and the tide was now ripping out. We couldn't stay at the redfish spot much longer and I asked Ron if he would rather keep searching for more reds or head for a spot where we had been getting a mixed bag of everything. He said that they would love to just keep a rod bent steadily. So off we went to one of Pasco's prettiest flats on the backside of a barrier island.
On the very first cast at this spot Ron hooked up on a nice trout and from there on out the bite remained pretty consistent. What a mixed bag of fish it was. Trout, ladyfish, spanish mackerel, baby grouper, jacks, and bluefish all came over the side of the boat.
Then the sun started setting and we watched it sink into the Gulf as we headed in. Not the kind of day I was anticipating but it wasn't a bad one. We did get a few reds and much, much, more.
12-3-2007 - Picky Eaters
Maybe it's the cold front we just had pass through or maybe it's the fact that I ran out of all of my favorite lures and just used some stuff I bought in the bargain bin at Fisherman's World this week. The fish have been eating so well for the past few weeks that I figured I could get away with using a bottle cap with hooks on it if I had too. I guess that's not the case. I'll be heading back up there to get the good stuff this weekend during their "Fishing Frenzy Sale" I guess.
I had only one Mangrove Red colored Exude RT slug in the whole boat and it drew all 8 strikes for me before it was finally destroyed. Nothing else could entice a bite. If I was stranded on a sub-tropical island that had shallow grass flats surrounding it, and I could only have one lure, that would be my choice. Not only have I caught the most fish on it, but all my personal bests were caught on it. I caught a 53" Redfish in Mosquito Lagoon on one, a 44.5" Snook in upper Tampa Bay on one, and a 31" trout in the Indian River on one. Anyway... I'll do my best to make sure I never run out again.
I was fishing in New Port Richey again today to get ready for some up coming charters. I was poking around in more nooks and crannies that I haven't hit before and also checking on one spot that's been holding some big trout. The trout were still there and the redfish were everywhere. However, like I mentioned before, they were picky eaters.
There are redfish on nearly every flat between the Anclote River and Hudson. I'm finding most of them in less than 1.5' of water and they are hanging on the edges of mullet schools. One thing I did notice today was that they were bunched up more than they had been in the past few weeks. Maybe this cold front schooled them up as I pushed 3 separate schools of 75 fish ore more.
If you're looking for reds in this area, just get on your trolling motor and go. If you start pushing fish, slow down and work the area real hard. They will settle down and chew for you, once you find them, as long as you slow down and don't make too much noise.
Christmas is coming and I usually go see my family for a week and then go deer Hunting for a week. For the first time in 10 years I am staying home. I'd like to spend some of that time fishing with you guys so if you're going to be around during your Christmas vacation, book a charter with me and we'll tear into some fish.
Phone: 813.300.2147
Email: GoFishing@CaptainClay.com
Email: GoFishing@CaptainClay.com