[erayyak]

Well, I am back. Short trip. Left Thursday after work, made it to the last GA exit on 95 before sleeping for a few hours in a cheap hotel...then back on the road early am and at the ramp in Tampa by 8am....I even beat my friend Mark and he lives there.

We fished Friday at a place called Weedon Island. In all my time of living down there I never went there. Wish I had fished it more. Not that I did that good, but there were tons of fish, and Todd, Mark and Peter all had really good days. I managed one decent jack and one rat red. I think Mark caught 5 reds, and a couple of trout. Todd had 3 reds, 2 trout and 1 snook. And Peter caught at least 5 reds and a couple of trout. Some good fish. Most of the fish were caught on either topwater or a Gold Exude Dart. It is amazing that standing in between Peter and Mark fishing the same pothole on a grass flat...they caught most of those reds and I didn't even have a hit. Mark was using the Dart and Peter was using a baby bass Exude Slug. I never have understood that.

Tournament day was Saturday for the Erick Bell Memorial....and I repeat I am not dead in case someone I know sees this. Conditions were windy and rainy but 63 anglers showed up anyway. 6 of which were fly guys. The lure I chose was a White Redtail Jig. The fly guys use white clousers. The lures were all from the same company, and each angler got a 1/8 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/2 oz. So everyone used the same thing. A TON of fish were caught including 6 slams with the winning slam (red, trout, snook) being over 70 inches. The largest trout was 22 inches caught on fly...that was impressive with the weather. I did ok catching a dozen trout between 14 and 20 inches....about a dozen pinfish, some lizard fish, a few ladyfish and a snapper. But again I got skunked on the reds and snook. Mark and Todd (who are my teammates on Team Wildy for Wilderness Systems) both caught some nice trout and a 22 inch red and 21 inch red respectively. Neither could find a snook to finish out the slam.

My intentions were to take tons of pictures...but here is what I got from Friday. With the pouring down rain the only pics were of my trout for the tournament. The negative tides made for a tough day, but the reds on Friday were up on the flats tailing and sitting in a few select pot holes in the grass. These are the pictures from my camera, if they send me any I will add them to the thread.

 

[tcfisherman]

hey, looks like you guys had a good trip...................chris

 

[Jeffonc]

Love the snook and creeping through the forest on the kayaks - two things that I'd like to do some day.

Looks like a good time had by all. Thanks for the report and the pics.

 

[backlash]

Thanks for the report. Looks like an awesome ride.

 

[erayyak]

Did I say Rooster Tail....I did, corrected...it was a White Redtail Jig....or Redtail Hawk....white bucktail body with red tail from Dans Custom Jigs. Picture added so you will know what I was talking about.

The trip through the mangroves was pretty cool. Prior to getting to that point, we were in an area barely deep enough to float a kayak. By that point, it was easier to drag. But in the area were snook everywhere, but they spook so easily because they see you first. But it was a good trip and I love fishing down there. It is the only thing I miss about it.

 

[lefty]

I tell ya, Eric, ya got me dreaming of the first annual NCAngler winter-break road-trip....

 

[sundrop]

Man thats a nice adventure.!! I love any kind of roadtrip. Just FYI when using similar baits and others around you are catching and you're not. Consider what line you are using and any attaching hardware that may be visable to fish. Also take note if they are using scents as this can make a huge difference sometimes. Line color, clarity. Hardware flash from a swivel etc. may spook wary fish. Action on the retrieve can be an issue too. Is the lure running straight, jigging poorly etc? All things to review when the honey hole all around you is soured in your spot....

 

[erayyak]

We all tie the same the knots. Nobody used swivels for the leader to line or leader to lure.

I was using 20 lb test flurocarbon leader, they were using 30 lb. All about the same length of leader. So I was using lighter smaller diameter leader.

I was using the exact same set up as Mark. Actually using his hooks, because I was going totally weedless with no weight at first. They both were using slighlty weighted hooks. So after 3 double hooks and not being involved I switched.

The only thing I could figure was maybe I got some sunscreen on my lure....but I didnt think about that till after. I didnt put on my Dart till later in the morning after I had used sunscreen. It is possible that made a difference. Who knows!

 

[Druminator]

Sweet. I love fishing Florida.

 

[Coach D]

Man...those mangroves look a bit snakey for my tastes. Glad you all had a blast though.