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| Redfish action heated up in July and is expected to peak in August. This red was caught on a topwater plug in Sarasota Bay. |
Spotted seatrout, snook and redfish were the mainstays of July, a month that saw unseasonable westerly winds.
Top spots for Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing included Buttonwood Harbor and Stephens Point.
We also fished a couple of days on Tampa Bay out of Bishop Harbor and scored on some large seatrout.
Fly angler Jack Feldstein fished a half day and managed mostly spotted seatrout. Fishing the east side of Sarasota Bay just north of the Ringling Mansion, Feldstein caught mostly undersized (less than 15 inches), but did manage a 3-pounder on his first cast of the morning. All fish were taken on chartreuse-and-white Clouser Deep Minnows.
Randy Ruskey and sons Eric and Jon joined me for an outing at Stephens Point. We were met by strong westerly wind that prevented us from venturing into Sarasota Bay. However, Randy Ruskey landed a 23-inch snook on a Gibby’s Snook Duster while fishing around a lighted dock.
We fished the bowl at Stephens Point and did fair. Eric Ruskey landed a pair of snook, including a 27-incher. Both fish fell for a 1/16-ounce CAL Jig with a gold paddle tail. We also landed three flounder to 18 inches on jigs.
Fred Hart joined me for a half-day outing off Stephens Point and had a fair day. He landed several trout and ladyfish on CAL Jigs.
Erick Ruskey and Jon Ruskey, both from Illinois, fished with me at Buttonwood Harbor and had a fun day. They both caught a number of spotted seatrout on CAL Jigs. Jon also landed a small redfish on a topwater plug. In addition, we caught ladyfish, mangrove snapper and flounder.
Later in the month, redfish began to cooperate at Buttonwood Harbor. We caught several upper slot (18 to 27 inches) reds on topwater plugs, MirrOlure MirrOdines and CAL Jigs with D.O.A. 4-inch jerk worms. Best day was five reds to 30 inches.
Vinny Caruso of Sarasota joined me for a fun day of topwater fishing. We combined 25 trout to 4 pounds and a pair of flounder on Zara silver Super Spook Jrs., and MirrOlure MirrOdines.
I did a solo venture recently and found some big reds around mullet schools. I caught four redfish on MirrOlure MirrOdines, Zara Super Spook Jrs., and MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigheads.
Dave Robinson of Sarasota joined me on the last day of the month for a backcountry outing. Testing out his new Native Watercraft Versa Board, he did well. We combined for six redfish to 27 inches and a number of trout to 4 pounds on MirrOlure MirrOdines, Zara Super Spook Jrs., and MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jig heads.
Beach snook fishing has been pretty much non-existent because of wind and rough surf conditions. That could change this month. August traditionally is a good month for beach snook for both fly and spin anglers.
Night snook action continues strong around lighted docks.
My schedule is filling up nicely. Be sure to book your trips early to assure an outing.
Steve Gibson
Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing
www.kayakfishingsarasota.com
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