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Lido Key trout - April 25

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  • Lido Key trout - April 25

    I finished my business in Florida late on Tues. I spent the night on Lido Key (next to Sarasota). Last Sun, the weather stunk. That morning, I visited the nature park near my hotel and talked to the kayak rental company to see if they did any kayak fishing trips. The guy told me that they did not do that, but suggested that I talk to the guy sitting in the black truck with a blue Wilderness kayak in the bed.

    I did have a conversation with him and immediately found another enthusiastic kayak angler. Todd is retired from law enforcement and now does guided eco-tours for one of the kayak rental companies. He told me that he would be happy to take me fishing on Wed, and said we could go either in his 16' Scout center console or in his two kayaks. We elected to use the kayaks.

    I met him this morning at 7:45. We launched the kayaks and made a short paddle across crystal clear flats to the edge of a mangrove island. He suggested that we fish using shrimp behind a popping cork (see 1st photo). Initially, Todd got more hits than me. But 20 mins later, something strong slammed my shrimp and began taking out line. A few minutes later I boated the fish -- a beautiful 22" speckled trout within eyesight of John Ringling's (the circus magnate) original house on Lido Key.

    We continued working the area until the bite slowed, then paddled around the shoreline of the island to another large flat. Initially the bite was off, but when we drifted near the edge of the flat and cast into deeper water, I started getting bites every 30 secs or so. Many of the bites were from pinfish (small panfish) that would nibble off chunks of my shrimp. Eventually, I caught another large trout -- this one 19".

    I needed to be back at the launch by 12:00 in order to get ready to head to the airport. As we slowly paddled 15 mins back to the ramp, we could see other species of fish swimming in the shallow, clear water (redfish, needlefish, sheepshead, maybe snook). We left the fish biting -- I am already looking forward to my next trip here.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by J.A. Veil; 04-25-2012, 05:08 PM.
    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
    nice John! heading down to Destin on friday for some fishing R&R i checked the reports from the area and king mack and cobia are hitting in the mornings and dusk close in maybe if im lucky i'll find some one with a spare yak also

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    • #3
      Very nice John!

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      • #4
        Ah the good ole popping cork and shrimp the Florida spec killer rig.
        Last edited by OBX_RAT; 04-26-2012, 08:31 PM. Reason: wrong
        '12 Ocean Kayak Prowler trident 13 Orange
        '09 Wilderness Systems Ride 135 Red
        Kayak Fishing Mafia

        -Both fish and men are often caught with artificial's-

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        • #5
          John,
          You are killing me.

          Anytime I see the word 'Key' or 'Caye', I go crazy especially right after I ordered additional two 8 pound weight for 7mm wet suits. .....Usually I try not to look at the posts or close the session if a title includes Key or Caye.

          But I read and saw the pics of yours. Through the pics and description of yours, I am snorkeling and seeing the all kinds of fish under the mangrove in the spring in the gulf side of FL.

          Ah!!!!! Please don’t do this to me.

          Joe
          Fish like there's no tomorrow.
          Youtube UserID: ComeOnFish01 (Over 300 kayak fishing videos in mid-Atlantic (DE, MD & VA)
          https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKb...JtmNcSJBi2Sazg

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          • #6
            Originally posted by ComeOnFish View Post
            John,
            You are killing me.

            Anytime I see the word 'Key' or 'Caye', I go crazy especially right after I ordered additional two 8 pound weight for 7mm wet suits. .....Usually I try not to look at the posts or close the session if a title includes Key or Caye.

            But I read and saw the pics of yours. Through the pics and description of yours, I am snorkeling and seeing the all kinds of fish under the mangrove in the spring in the gulf side of FL.

            Ah!!!!! Please don’t do this to me.

            Joe
            If you want clear water for snorkeling, you will have better luck on the Atlantic coast. My report described very clear water on the flats -- keep in mind they were 6" to 2' deep. Once you get deeper than about 4 ft, you cannot see bottom. I suspect there are some spots with good water flow from offshore that off better viz. Each time I go to the Gulf coast, I take a mask and snorkel. I never took it out of the suitcase this year.
            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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