We started out the day a little late due to the cold weather and the negative low tides. When I was scraping ice off my windows , I wasn't sure what the day had in store for us. Luckily, when Phil and Matt arrived it was warming up quiet nicely. As we launched , the wind was very light out of the south. Decided to make a paddle south so that we could ride the wind all the way back. We headed up the beautiful creek, trolling Paddle tail jerk baits and mirro lures. the tide was very low making it hard to get out into the bay, so we continued paddling to the mouth of the creek. The water was very clear that day and we could see fish the entire way down.But no strikes! As we got to the mouth I looked down and saw three nice snook sitting right on top of each other. Phil casted out and hooked onto one almost immediately! As I paddle over to get some video of Phil's snook ,I hear Matt Yell out. I think I have a snook also! Perfect! A double header! After releasing Phil's I paddle over to check out Matt's snook and couldn't decide which fish was bigger.:) Both were nice fish! We paddled on to the next spot, on the hunt for redfish. Casting soft plastics into the pot holes,looking for reds. Matt has his line picked up and before he had time to set the hook the red came unglued. We decide to change things up a bit and throw some live shrimp into these pot holes. No love from the reds on the live shrimp, so we decided to start throwing soft plastics again. Boom! Phil's line starts screaming out line. I thought Immediately big redfish! As i get closer to get a better look, I see that is a huge blue fish! Phil fought it for a while and gave it the ol quick release.:) Nice fish to get the ol heart pumping! Knowing that we were coming up to my trout spot, we decided to drift the flat. Drifting shrimp behind us and fan casting jerk baits seemed to be the ticket for the trout. Phil and Matt wanted to keep a few for dinner so we threw four on ice and headed in.We ended up with six hours of amazing weather.Another BEAUTIFUL day in Sarasota!
Whitfield hold'n strong!
We launched out early that morning knowing the tide wasn't that great but we finally had a break in the weather. The tide was only moving one inch in a 6 hr. period:( So we paddled on our way. The water was calm as a lake so we decided to start out throwing top water lures. Matt had one blow up but, no love. I had nothing even look at at mine so I switched up to the ol jerk bait. Still not even a pin fish nibble! While we were drifting,I told Matt that a nice trout hole was coming up. Seconds after saying that, he threw out his jerk bait and hooked into a decent size trout. That gave us some confidence, that the fish might turn on. We paddled over to where we could see tons of mullet working the edge of the oyster bars. I stand up and start poling around on the look for redfish. Immediately I see one but it was to late , he was spooked. We decided to anchor up and start fan cast towards the mullet. Not long and boom FISH ON! The red was peeling out line like it was a monster.When we got him beside the yak was a healthy 24-25 inch fish but as big around as a football. Been eating good!lol! Picking up anchor and heading towards the next group of oysters and mullet, I knew it was game on. I casted out,got nailed but it came unglued. I casted right back at the same spot and BAMMM fish on! When it hit ,I thought I hit bottom because it didn't move at first. Then I think he realize he was hooked and line started peeling out line. Thats when I knew I had a over slot redfish! We get him in,snap some picks and released him.Well the released wasn't very graceful because I didn't realize how heavy he was. He shook his head and he kinda feel into the water! oops! He swam off in a hurry! Now it was time to look for a snook. We headed back into the creeks. Soon as we entered one of them I saw a monster! I casted into the direction of him and I got smashed! As I saw the head come up I realized it was slightly a smaller snook than I had seen. None the less it was a great fight as they usually are. We had our snook and now it was time to start heading back. We picked up some more trout on our ventures back to the launch. It ended up being a decent day after all. Few fish,warm weather, and no wind! What else can you ask for!lol!
Ruskin Reds on a tear before the front...
We started out a little early to beat the Sunday traffic at the boat ramp. It was the only nice day of the week so we new it would be packed. The weather had been warm for a few days so water temp was up a bit.That made it perfect for an early morning bite! As we dropped in, we kind of spread out to cover more area and find out where the bite was. Because there was a little water left before the negative tide ,I decided to stick close to the shore line while I could. It was beautiful outside. Temperature was perfect ,with the sun coming up behind us, Not even ten minutes of being in the water ,I hooked into a nice redfish Then not even five minutes later I hooked another! Both fish inhaled the lil john in golden bream. I heard Otis hooting and hollering so I came up to his yak. He hooked into a beautiful redfish that crushed his mirror lure! The morning was young and was starting out great. Minutes later the other two guys who were with us both hooked into reds on gold spoons. One measuring 21' and the other 26.5. The 26.5 inch red got hammered on the way in by a shark! Luckily it was by he head of the fish and didn't mess up the fillets of the fish. All the fish we were catching were in 1-3 ft of water but, the tide was moving out fast. We ere forced to fish the outer deeper edge. As the tide bottomed out so did the fishing for about an hour. We did manage to pick up a few trout,ladyfish,and small mackerel in the mean time. Once the tide picked up and there was some more water on the flat,we started picking redfish again. I managed to pick up 4-5 more reds all on lil johns golden bream and mama's 14k saltwater assassins. The other guys picked up more reds on the good ol mirror lures. Turned out to be another beautiful day in Ruskin ,Fl
Vamo after the front!
We headed out to the launch a little later than usual due to the cold weather. Hoping that the fishing would heat up as the water warmed up, we paddled out. The tide was extremely low so the the first holes we came up to were completely out of water. Close to where we launched, we worked a point were we picked up a little flounder. We saw dolphins playing ,but didn't really see much going on for mullet or bait so we moved on. Pulling up to the next spot I notice the tide was picking up and started seeing mullet waking up which was a good sign. Not long after we anchored on our next point Richard hooked into a healthy snook. After putting up a good fight, we took a quick picture and released it. On our way to our next spot we saw a couple of manatees that were pretty cool. The tides were still very low so most of my normal spots were still dry with no water:( Heading into deeper water we ended up picking up a couple of trout and lady fish. Now we needed a red fish to finish the inshore grand-slam. So we headed on looking very hard but not really seeing many of them to throw at. While we were drifting and looking for fish we had a red tail hawk fly by us- seemed like a million mph! Sounded like a rocket flew right between us! CRAZY! Venturing on the hunt for reds, Richard managed to pick up another trout and a nice snook, but still no reds. Scouting hard for reds I saw one or two. The end of our trip was near and we had one more chance. We pulled up to a sandy area where reds hang out to warm up. Richard was now working his jerk bait really slowly to try and get a strike. All of the sudden fish on! We both looked at it and said "redfish!" at the same time. As soon as we said it, the fish came unbuttoned right near the kayak. Unfortunately the was our last chance valiant effort. Although no redfish this day was still a beautiful day with lots of beautiful wildlife!
Back water fishing In Ruskin!
It was a very chilly and windy morning so we decided to hit the back waters. We started to paddle up the creek which unfortunately the current was going against us. Already three strikes but we weren't giving up that easy. As we paddled on we started seeing small groups of redfish in almost every little cut but they were very spooky from all the boat traffic so we continued on. The further we got up the creek the less the traffic. It was so skinny in some places, we were almost getting stuck!lol! Finally we arrived to our destination. It opened up to what almost looked like a beautiful lake. The wind was still blowing pretty good so we decided to paddle across the lake and drift back. While we were paddling across ,we started seeing reds everywhere! Not even joking ,75-100 redfish. We get across the lake very anxiously to get a bait in the water. We started out throwing Mirrolures which we weren't having much luck with. Had one little trout come unglued at the yak. Soon as we started throwing soft plastics Otis hoked into a nice snook 25+ inches. Literally next cast he hooks into a monster trout! 24 inches and was a big as round as a football. Soon as we started talking about all the red we had seen and hadn't caught one. I get smashed by a little red that might have been the prettiest red Id ever seen. The spots went all the way though the tail. Not soon after Otis hooks into a nice red which it had hail of his tail missing. We ended up catching a few more reds with a few nice size jacks in between. We had plenty enough fish so we paddled back in. Despite all the obstacles in the begging it turned out to be a great day!
Thank you Weedon for points on the Board!
Started out the day later because of the cold. When we put in the wind was blowing more than expected so hugged the mangroves all the way out to the flats. We saw small groups of reds here and there but we new they were in big numbers out on the flats so we kept moving. Finally we reach the flats. Almost immediately we started picking up small tout and huge lady fish.But, no redfish were in site?After going through about a whole pack of jerk baits we decided to get closer to the bank. Because we had gotten a late start, there were a few boats already working the mangroves, So we patiently waited until we got an open. Soon as we got close I picked up a nice snook. As we drifted down the mangroves we started seeing redfish everywhere but they were very spooky from all the boat pressure. Mean while drifting we picked up a gator trout and another nice snook. We still had no reds! Finally the boat traffic cleared and the reds started get more active. One guy was throwing cut bait and he picked up the biggest red of the day at 27 inches. Two of us continued throwing artificial which we picked up our reds on mirrolures and jerk baits. The fish were getting so aggressive that they were literally fight over the top water lure! Managed to pick up a nice trout on the ol spook jr.. Turned out to be a pretty solid day me for being able to put point on the board for the tournament I was in. We headed in just before the park closed. Another great day on the west coast of Florida!
Ruskin Reds!
Started out the morning with a semi high tide but was moving out fast. We decided to stay near the mangroves while there was still a little water left on them. We through out everything from top water,jerk baits, to suspension baits .Nothing! Time to make a move. While heading out to our next spot I through out a paddle tail jerk bait to troll behind. Not even a minute in the water and boom a gator trout! We picked up a few more trout but ,when we had almost got to our spot. My Bait got SLAMMED! Almost literally ripping my rod holder off my kayak! Seconds of way of losing my rod and reel I grabbed it! Line screaming out I new right away this isn't no trout. Finally after wear the fish down I saw that it was a huge mackerel. Pushing over 30 inches it looked like a kingfish!lol! I held it up i the air by my leader (stupidly) to show Mike the fish and pop! There went the fish and my whole set up! After retying and regrouping from all the excitement , we paddle just a little more to our next spot. I stood up to see if there were any fish hanging in the area. I started seeing redfish and trout everywhere! We began casting at them with jerk baits but, they wouldn't eat them. Threw a mirro lure at them and we started picking them off one by one. Most of them being nice fish in the 20 to 27 inch range. After having our fulfillment of reds,we wanted to try and finish off our slam, Venturing off where my snook friends like to hang out. We decide to keep pitching the ol mirro lure sense we were having some much success with it on the reds. After working th mangrove linre pretty hard we drifted across this hole witch we ended up catching a couple of snook out of. One was nice about 25 inches and one was a little guy but fisty! That had ended a wonderful day on the water in Ruskin , Fl!
Fishing on fire in Sarasota bay!
The day started out good because one of my best friends and I were on the water ready to catch some fish! We headed out early in the morning with a beautiful sunrise in the distance. We were blessed with great weather- wind was blowing hard the day before. We headed down the intercoastal searching for some big snook. Casting towards the mangrove lines we managed to catch a few monster jacks. They put up big fights- my buddy's yak was spinning in circles- we had a good laugh about that one- got a great video of it as well. I will post that video on my youtube channel (search eric henson casting kayaks on www.youtube.com to see it) in a few days. We paddled on and picked up a couple of huge 'doormat' flounders- kept a fat one for dinner. : ) As we came up to a grass flat we started picking up lots of trout- a couple over 20inches! My friend (visiting from TN) really wanted to hook a redfish and the day was almost over. I took him to a hole where redfish hang out- he casted and BOOM- redfish on! Over 27inches- put up a great fight! What a great way to end a wonderful day. We didn't manage to catch any snook, but we caught a ton of fish and ended up with a great fish dinner! : )
Vamo on fire!!!
This morning headed out on the water a little late because of the cool weather. We started paddling out to the mangroves to see what was biting. First mangrove line we saw lots of mullet moving but, not one bite! We head to the next stretch and casted out the top water.It got crushed as soon as it hit the water. Snook on!:) We continued catching snook after snook with a couple of small trout in the mix. Now all we needed was a redfish to finish the slam. We paddled on to the next mangrove and on my way I see a 35-40 inch snook floating dead in the water. :( As we pull up in between two islands, there are mullet everywhere! The water is super skinny, six inches to a foot. I take a long cast with the top water and boom a red fish crushes it! I struggled to get the go pro on and got a little slack in the line. I reel the slack in and put pressure back on the fish.Pop! The lure comes out and almost hits me in the face! My next cast is into like six inches of water where I had seen redfish cruizing the mangrove line. Couple of twitches of the spook jr. and it gets SMASHED by a nice redfish! It was unbelievable watching the whole fish come out of the water and inhale my lure! The fight was on! When I got him close to the boat I realized he had completely swallowed the whole lure. So, I decided to bring him home. Then we paddled over to turtle beach, got out to stretch out legs and take a few casts on the beach side for flounder with jigs. We ended up catching 6 flounder within 1/2 hour. Then we jumped back in our kayaks and made our journey back towards the launch. We picked up a few more nice sized snook on the way home. Great day!
Longbar in Sarasota!
Started out the morning heading the opposite direction than I normally go do to diving birds. Tide was low and the bird were going crazy after all the bait in the water. There had to be 15 different types of birds feeding in one spot! My favorite of them are the all white pelican ,that are only down for the winter. They come all the way down from Canada and are twice the size of our normal pelicans! Beautiful, almost prehistoric looking. Anyways, as we headed towards the bait we realized they were diving in a foot or two of water. We start throwing top water and immediately we pick up a beautiful slot size redfish. Tail was lit up so blue. After catching a few more fish we decided to head down long bar heading north. I thought if we headed that way we could hopefully get sheltered from the wind a bit. Its laid down a little bit so I throw out the ol top-water again and BOOM a snook crushes it! Thinking he was a keeper ,I got him to the boat as fast as possible which wasn't easy. I could see the hooks barely in his mouth. I get the fish grips in his mouth. throw him on the board and he is a half an in shy of 28":( so I had to release him. Then we continued on our way picking up some decent trout. As we head back in we notice that the tide was so low that we were going to have to take the long route back. Even to skinny for kayaks! Oh well darn more fishing. Lol! We ended up catching a couple of more nice snook and few smaller trout. Despite all the wind and obstacles we had a great day! Got some cool pics of birds and also got some good video footage of a manatee that wouldn't leave my kayak alone!:0 will try and post video soon!
Winter low tides have arrived!
The winter low tides have Arrived! The winter trout are starting to arrive also:) Started out the morning throwing top water. Caught a couple of med. size snook and a gator trout right off the bat! The other guys caught a couple of nice size trout also. Then the dead tide hits and it takes the tide over an hour to start moving again. finally the tide starts moving and the fishing pick back up. I picked off a couple of jacks in the super shallow water looking for reds. After a bit we decide to make a move into the deeper water. Soon after we began picking up trout after trout. We caught ,not even joking over 50 trout with in an hour! The other guy managed to sqeek out a nice redfish at the end.We had our limit so we decided to head in and clean all our catch. Another great day on the water in Sarasota bay
Hunt for Red October! Site casting for Huge Bull Redfish!
40+ inch redfish in Sarasota Bay (The Hunt For Red October)
Well my day started out cooollllddd.... It was the first cold snap of the year. I decided to head out at sunrise like I normally do and it was not a good idea! lol! I didn't catch my first real fish fish till 11 am! Before that I had caught 3 lizard fish and 1 ladyfish. :( Once the water warmed up the fishing started getting a lot better. I picked up a few nice size trout. The jacks were everywhere I casted and my arms were tired from catching so many. So I started scouting out the area. Poling across the flats during the extreme low tides, you always find nice holes that you don't normally see on the higher tides. Meanwhile as I'm poling along I see this huge red log laying in the water. I take a closer look and see that it is a monster redfish! I pick up my pole with the redfish pattern mirro lure and cast it right in front of its face. Twitch it once and out of no where a jack comes up and eats it right out of the reds mouth. Now I'm quietly trying to real this fish in without spooking the red as the wind is pushing me further and further away. I take the fish off the hook. Pick up another rod with a golden bream lil john. Lather it up with some pro cure inshore sent. Put the Go Pro on and go on the hunt for red October. As I'm heading back, I'm praying I hadn't spooked him? Finally I see him out of the corner of my eye sitting right next to 2 other smaller redfish. I pick up my pole. Make a short cast right in front of his face. He turns his head and sucks my lure right up! FISH ON! My heart drops into my chest and the fight is on. The first time he comes to the top of the water I couldn't believe how big he was. I was praying to myself. Pleaaaaasssseeee don't break or come off. As I was reeling him in, other redfish started following him up. If there had been someone else with me, there would have definitely been a double hook up! I finally land him. My heart racing like crazy! I quickly throw him on the measuring board . When I first measured him I thought he was 39 inches but when I went back and looked at the pictures, I realized he was almost 42! I was in all! I put him back into the water to revive the beautiful bull when two guys and a dog came out on the flat. They were nice and snapped a couple of more pictures for me. I then turned the Go Pro back on for the great release. It was truly beautiful watching the redfish head back to nature for another day:)
Going back to Ruskin,Fl :)
Headed out this morning and the moon was bright like the sun. It was so beautiful watching the moon setting in the west and the sun rising in the east. Launched out the normal spot. The three of us started out throwing top water. Fish were following us up on every throw. The tide was kind of slow but, the jacks didn't care!lol! After our arms were done burning from all the jacks we paddled on. We came up to a super shallow flat with deep pot holes. Bait and mullet were everywhere. We started throwing top water again and this time it was reds,trout and snook following us up. We all caught a few few fish each and decided to move.. As we cut across the channel I casted out a brand new mirro dine into a pod of white bait. Boom a huge snook crushes it! I turn on the Go Pro and before I knew it was behind my kayak. It ends up getting tangled in one of my poles in the pole holder. So I grab the line and start pulling it in by hand!lol! I get it next to the boat and as I was pulling it up to show it off. POP the line snaps. It sat there for a second but as soon as I tried grabbing the fish it took off with my brand new lure.:( Then we saw huge schools of mullet everywhere. We followed the mullet pretty much the rest of the day catching Reds,Snook,Trout,and Jacks. The Reds were eating top water late into the day which was nice! The three of us almost all got triple slams (Red,Snook,Trout) Another Great day on the water!
keeper snook!:)
Tearn' it up in S. Sarasota
Headed out of the Vamo launch to see what was going on? The morning started out slow! Catching only one jack on top water in the first hour I was out there. As soon as the tide picked up though the fishing picked up. While I was paddling to my first spot i see the water erupting about a half mile down. I new it was probably a school of reds but, I had to make a though decision. I decided to stay put and hit mt favorite spot and boy glad I did! The first cast i took as I came up to my spot I hooked into a big ole snook. Pulled me around like a rag doll. I finally landed it and anchored up. Bait was busting o top of the water so I decided to throw the ole skitter-walk. Boom! It gets crushed by another snook. After that I threw the lil john in the mix and boom a beautiful redfish! My day was getting better fast. Lol! I ended up jumping a couple of more snook and moved on to the next spot. I continued catching snook allllllll day and even caught a nice blackdrum of all things. I saw many more reds but they didn't want anything I had for them. lol! Also got into a couple of schools of big jacks that burned the ole forearms up. I was done before 11:30 and caught over 15 snook! Thank you Sarasota for another beautiful day!:)
Heading to Ruskin,Fl for a Kayakers Heaven!
We left out at 5am from Sarasota for Ruskin FL. When we got there it was crazy! Forgetting tht it was a holiday weekend... we had to wait in a long line of boats all putting in on one single boat ramp. We finally got our kayaks in the water and on our way we immediately hear bait getting busted on the top of the water everywhere. I take a long cast along the mangrove line. Pretty much as soon as it hit the water, fish on! The sun not even coming up yet and this beast of a snook whoops me, pulling me into the mangroves! Luckily we had our headlamps on. I was able to finally land the snook. Now we had to decide what our next move was going to be? It was hard to leave but we had just put in and boats were blowing by every two seconds. We paddled out to the right working the mangrove line all the way to the mouth of Little Manatee River. We probably caught 15 snook mostly on top water plugs like spooks and skitter-walks. It was sooooo beautiful as the sun came up watching our top water lures walking side by side getting smashed every few feet! Some of the hits sounded like gun shots blowing the lures completely out of the water. next we decided to head out into a little deeper water to target some trout. Got a couple of them on top water but as soon as we switched to Jerk baits we started catching them almost every cast! While we were drifting we came across a small school of reds. Matt was able to pick one up on a flat wrap by Rapala. By the time I got close enough to him to take a cast they had moved on. Now the flat that we are on is about a foot or two deep. We decide to stand up and look for pot holes. The fist pot hole I cast in my jerk bait gets crushed by a big ole snook, Next thing You know we start catching snook, trout ,snook, trout. Those fish had some backs on them. They were eating good! We were catching so many fish that boats were trying to follow us. They kept getting there engines stuck in the flats. When that happened we shot across the channel to hit up the other deeper flat. We started catching snook and trout when Matt saw a bobber in the distance. He casted near it and snags the line connected to it. His line starts peeling out! Finally he wears it down and when it gets close to the boat he realizes it is about a 3-4 ft shark. It had broken someones line and he caught it. We were able to save the shark by removing the hook and line that was all over the poor thing. After a long day of catching over 30 snook ,30 trout,1 redfish, and a few other kinds of fish we decide to start heading back. On our way back Matt hooks a 35 -40 inch snook that came off the hook right at the boat.:( An amazing day in good ole Ruskin Florida.
Keeper Snook in Sarasota Bay
Started out the morning in the Buttonwood area because of the heavy winds. They were blowing pretty good out of the WSW, but, where I put in it was glass! Before I even put the kayak in the water I could hear bait getting crushed on top of the water.Luckily I already had my Rapala Skitter-walk tied up ready to go. My first cast I had something follow me up all the way to the kayak. Second cast, Fish On! I continued catch trout after trout! I had just put in so I decided to start venturing further north. I saw large schools of mullet so decided to start casting both top water and jerk baits . Nothing! So I paddled on and saw birds diving on bait I hurried over there and pitched my line right in the middle of all the running bait. Immediately started ripping in good size trout and a couple of my lady fish friends. While working the school of bait I saw out of the corner of my eye a fin cruising across the top of the water. Looks like Mr. sharky wants some of the action also so I decide to paddle on. the sun was coming up further in the sky so i decided to go hit the lip of the channel. I ended up catching a perfect drift along the whole channel while catching lot more trout. They were so aggressive all I had to do was literally reel the jerk bait straight in!Lol! Meanwhile all the sudden a school of dolphins show up to mess my fishing up! They were acting very strange. Not sure if they were playing ,mating, or just trying to scare all the fish away in the area! So I got some good Go Pro footage because they were so close and acting crazy and then I paddled on. It was getting late in the day so I decided to start heading back to the launch. On my way back to the launch ,I was in about 1 1/2 ft of water so I stood up in the kayak to take a look at the water. I saw a few deeper pot holes in the middle of the super shallow grass flat so I take a long cast at one. Bump, it lets go! I jig it one more time and BOOM it gets smashed! Line starts peeling out like a freight train! In the super shallow water the fish was kicking up so much mud, I had no idea what I had but i new it was nice! I turn on the Go Pro and the fight begins. Finally I turn the fishes head and see that it is a beautiful snook. After wearing the fish down and get a good look at him and I think to myself is this the first slot size snook that I've caught this year ? Anxious to get him on the measuring board. I carefully put him on the board and he is the perfect slot size! It has been over four year since I've had snook because of the ban on snook since the freeze and all of my snook have been either too big or too small so far this season. After being blessed with that fish I put the poles away and headed straight in. A great ending to a beautiful day in Sarasota Bay! I will be posting new videos on youtube tomorrow of my today's adventures!
Schooling bull redfish in Sarasota Bay
Check out my newest video!
The Rain Has left Sarasota Bay Finally:)
Today, I headed out for the first time since all the rain! The water was a little fresh and really dirty. But, It was a beauuuuutiful morning! Light wind blowing out of the NE. I think the temperatures are finally starting to drop a little.:) My second or third cast into the trip I caught maybe the smallest redfish I've ever seen! It was almost the same size as the jerk bait I was using. Lol! We continued on catching numerous amounts of trout. Most of them were really good size for this time of year. Soon the gator trout will be here. Caint wait! In the middle of catching trout, we managed to catch a few medium size snook. Nothing huge but big enough to pull some drag and a couple of nice jumps! Headed in early to get ready for my trip to Chokoloskee .(10,000 Island) If You ever want to go to one of the best places to fish in the world, that is the place! Let me know and we can set up an overnight trip.