By Neil Taylor, Kayak Fishing Report

The incredible stretch of heat made for tougher than usual fishing conditions. The evening trips provided some relief as the morning trips were very hot from about 7:30AM onward. At night in upper Tampa Bay the bioluminescence was a beautiful sight. Fish darting around looked like rocket fueled lasers. The sweep of the paddle also created beautiful fluorescent green puffs.

Scott bought a special gift for Ron. In 2007, I introduced this close father-son duo to kayak fishing after running into them at Dunedin Fishing Center one morning. They tease and taunt one another like old college pals rather than Dad and son but this one was particularly amusing. Ron immediately connected on three nice snook in a row and started telling Scott "hey lookie, I've got another snookie!" A sulking Scott would wink at me when Ron was concentrating on fighting his snook. Ron caught nice snook two years ago but caught his "biggest snook" on this trip



Poor Scott caught some really nice trout but never connected on a snook. It didn't matter, it was a great Father's Day for them both. It's complete family involvement with kayak fishing for the Ford's. Scott takes his own kids and his wife with him every chance he gets but he loves seeing his Dad get some time in fishing.

Ben Yu, visiting from N. California did a morning trip. In a Heat Advisory, the fish felt it too and though we were on redfish, they were in a very bad mood that morning. Ben had one snook whack the SlamR right in front of his boat, probably his best opportunity of the morning. We went deep and Ben mastered the speckled trout fast. I brought him out the following night to come along with Bob, a member of the Orlando Kayak Fishing club. Bob is "all lures all the time." Bob caught nice trout before sunset. Later in the evening, we made a move to get to more snook after Ben hooked and lost two. Bob demonstrated a new and creative kayak exit technique for us. After the water settled down, I handed Bob a St Croix rod with the Daiwa Tierra reel and a 12 Fathom SlamR (silk chartreuse). Suddenly there was drag sounding and I saw that it was Bob. He'd connected on his snook. Ben excitedly watched because he was eager to see a snook. We missed on several others that made a strike and jumped but didn't hook up to those fish.

Dan H. of Tampa, also a client since 2007 connected on a beauty of a sunrise redfish. We had snook swimming almost right up to our feet, but never really saw evidence that these fish were feeding. Fun to watch, but very frustrating. We went to The Pass and Dan connected on a variety of species there, catching a mangrove snapper and a mackerel immediately.

Kelly went on his first kayak fishing trip. Though it had been hot, the fish were a lot more cooperative. A 25 inch snook on the first cast with the pearl white SlamR. About half an hour later, in redfish waters, he tricked a 26 inch redfish on his first cast in that location using the 3" Fat Sam Mullet. Pressure on for the "Slam in Three Casts", I gave him some instructions as we paddled out to some deep grass. But the action: His lure hits the water and Kapow! Then it jumped. It was a huge ladyfish, about 29 inches long. Two casts later, he finished his "Slam" with a 14 inch trout. He followed with another that was around 18 and a third that was about 17". It won't be that easy every time, Kelly!

Lou Klein brought his friend David out for another one of the morning trips in this heat. David got hooked up to a snook early but the fish dove down to a submerged log. It was a heartbreaker because I'd have enjoyed the photo of David and his fish. It gave David a feel for the power of these fish and turned him on to inshore fishing. Lou caught a fat redfish from a snook trough, providing some dinner for David who really wanted to have one for dinner. Lou enjoyed trying out the Native "Ultimate" watercraft, a boat he'd really enjoy for his fly-fishing.

As always: Be careful out there!

Neil Taylor 
Guide Services-Tampa Bay Region 
Adventure Kayak Fishing 
www.adventurekayakfishing.com 
(Cell) 727-692-6345 
LivelyBaits@aol.com