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Tampa Bay black drum and pompano

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  • Tampa Bay black drum and pompano

    I left BWI in the rain at 9:00 this morning. The flight landed in Tampa at 11:20. Over the next 45 minutes I retrieved my luggage, got my rental car, drove to meet kayak fishing guide Neil Taylor, and launched. That really amazed me -- 45 minutes from plane touch down to kayak launch.

    Today we fished some bridge pilings in 15 ft depth jigging light lures with medium spinning tackle. The targets were pompano, big black drum, and cobia. Neil ties a light jigging spoon (Silly Willy) and a second hook with pink bucktail onto the same loop knot.

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    The bite was slow (according to Neil's standards). It took an hour to get my first fish, a pompano. In addition to being very tasty these silvery flattened fish are incredible fighters. The ~14" pompano I caught fought as hard as a 22" to 24" rockfish.

    003.jpg

    A few minutes later I had another bite. The fish was so strong that I could not move it. It took the 15-lb braid off the reel and bent the rod into a big inverted U shape. I tried to back myself away from the bridge pilings to avoid getting cut off by barnacles. After 5 minutes of just holding on without gaining line back, the fish managed to run against the pilings and cut the leader. I hooked two more of these huge black drum. On the third of these powerful fish, we had drifted 200 yds away from the pilings and I thought we were safe. Neil told me to palm the spool -- I guess I palmed too hard because the lure popped free. As I wound the line back I felt some resistance. It turned out to be one of the scales of the big drum. The scale fell off the hook just before I was able to pick it up -- it was the size of the top of a coffee mug. Neil has caught many black drum at this spot and suggested these fish were in the 50 to 90 lb range. It amazed me that they would hit such a small lure as the ones we were jigging.

    Later I hooked one more fish that was powerful but not as strong as the first three. It got off the hook on its own. Neil thinks it was a smaller drum or a cobia. So although I have no photos to show of my near-miss fish, I know that I came close to some epic catches. Over the next three days we will fish flats areas for specs, reds, snook, flounder and anything else that shows up.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

  • #2
    John,
    Sounds like you are having a great time!
    Harry

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    • #3
      Sounds like it's going to be a fun trip. Hope you get to land lots of fish!

      Originally posted by J.A. Veil View Post
      Neil has caught many black drum at this spot and suggested these fish were in the 50 to 90 lb range. It amazed me that they would hit such a small lure as the ones we were jigging.
      I don't think bait size matters to black drum. I've caught some big black drum out of the surf on just a single sand flea. Many of the ones you land will be crapping out coquina clams smaller than your pinky fingernail. They must cruise along the sandbar and suck the tiny clams up like a vacuum.
      Brian

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      • #4
        Going fishing as soon as you land, that's a start of a great vacation!! Keep up with the pictures John and enjoy

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        • #5
          John, I will have to live my fishing dreams vicariously through you. Your trip sounds so fun. Thanks for sharing the details.
          Peggy

          Native Slayer Propel 12.5 Max
          Cobra Explorer

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          • #6
            Sounds like you're having a good trip! Look forward to more reports.
            Originally posted by J.A. Veil View Post
            The bite was slow (according to Neil's standards). It took an hour to get my first fish, a pompano. In addition to being very tasty these silvery flattened fish are incredible fighters. The ~14" pompano I caught fought as hard as a 22" to 24" rockfish.
            All fish with a forked tail fight stronger than fish with a fan tail.
            Hobie fleet:
            2017 Quest 13
            2015 Outback
            2014 Outback

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            • #7
              Day 2 -

              Day 2 was not so epic. We fished hard from 7:30 to 2:30 at a shallow water spot near the southern side of the Tampa Bay mouth. The weather was good and the water clear, but the fish were not biting. We each caught a few snook, speckled trout, and flounder, but all were small. All were caught on 1/8-oz jigheads and 12 Fathom soft plastics (Fat Sam mullets and SlamRs). We were unable to find any redfish. Neil even tried using cut up pinfish that he caught earlier. We had three bites on the pinfish, but none stayed hooked up for more a few seconds.

              We did see a mother and baby manatee swimming just beneath us in 5 ft water depth. We also saw a 6 ft bull shark chasing fish in 5 ft water depth -- its dorsal and tail fins were sticking out of the water 100 feet away. Neil tossed a topwater plug at the shark. It swung and missed the plug -- just as well, since it would have broken off the lure. Even though the bite was not spectacular today, it is a pretty spot -- sand and grass flats with mangrove islands.
              John Veil
              Annapolis
              Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

              Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

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              • #8
                I like fishing mangroves, been a long time since I did it though. Hopefully you got some good pictures of the scenery to bring back with you...those will be good to look at when it starts snowing up here.
                Hobie fleet:
                2017 Quest 13
                2015 Outback
                2014 Outback

                Comment


                • #9
                  John,

                  If Neil is going to cast to more bull sharks you might want to pay particular attention to your launch site so that you can find your way back to it alone, if necessary. Just saying...

                  Continued success to you on your current Tampa trip.
                  Mark
                  Pasadena, MD


                  Slate Hobie Revolution 13
                  Hidden Oak Native Ultimate 12
                  Lizard Lick Native Ultimate FX Pro

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