Florida....2/12- 2/16

As many of you know Neil and I took a trip down to Florida last weekend to do some inshore kayak fishing. The weekend wasn't quite what I had expected of Florida, but I had a blast none the less. Air temperatures were in the mid to upper 50's nearly every day, water temperatures were similar. The fishing was slow, but we did manage a few good fish. As always I'll start from the beginning and walk you through our adventure.

Tuesday I received an email from Neil asking me what time I could get off work Wednesday to leave. We previously talked about leaving after work around 5pm Wednesday night. He then informed me that there was a bad snow storm heading toward Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama all of which were states that we had to travel through to get to Pensacola. The storm was to hit the region around 8pm Wednesday evening and was predicted to drop a couple inches of snow. After a few emails back and forth we decided to leave as soon as we could Wednesday morning and try to beat the storm.


Wednesday February 12

Wednesday morning I woke up around 4am and loaded the car down with gear, clothes, equipment, kayaks, etc. I then took off to work  to run a few samples before I left town. I got to work early and began running my water samples, I finished everything up and hit the road around 8am. I quickly took note of the air temperature, hopefully it would be the last time I would see these air temps and snow. My car read -5 degrees just west of Peebles, Ohio.


I then made the 2 hour drive up to Dayton where I met Neil and loaded all of his gear up. We then hit the bank and grabbed a bite to eat before leaving Ohio. Around 11am we were officially on our way, a nearly 12 hour journey to Florida. Things were going pretty smooth up until about 4pm when we received a call from Neils step dad telling us that is was snowing an hour south of where we were. At this point air temperatures were still in the 40's so we didn't think much of it. As we made our way into Tennessee the snow began to fall. The further south we went, the larger the flakes got. After another 30 minutes the snow was starting to stick to the roads. This is where Neil began his passenger seat driving. Once I saw the snow starting to stick to the roads I slowed down to the speed limit (65MPH), I was doing 5 mph faster before which already had him irritated enough. Once I hit the speed limit he started making his jokes. "Whats the matter, you've never driven in a little snow before?.....Your from Ohio aren't you?...You want me to drive?....", etc.  I told him that we will get there when we get there. I just wanted to make sure we made it down to Florida.


We pulled off at a gas station in southern Tennessee and I took a quick picture of the snow flakes, I figured it was pretty rare to see in southern Tennessee. We filled up the tank, used the bathroom, grabbed some snacks, and hit the road. Once the sun set and temperature dropped the snow began to completely cover the roads. I had slowed down to 45 mph and was getting passed by semi truck drivers, which really got Neil going. We drove for 3 hours at this pace. Once we hit the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia line Neil needed a break so we decided to hit an exit and stop by Bass Pro Shops. It turns out that 2" of snow completely shuts down Alabama and Georgia because not only was Bass Pro closed, even Mcdonalds had even shut down. The roads at this point were covered in 2-3" of snow, there was little to no traffic, and no sign of salt trucks or plows around. At one point we were on a interstate that was completely covered with 2-3" of fresh snow and no tracks from previous vehicles. I had no idea where one lane started and the other stopped, this particular highway was a 6 lane so I had 3 lanes to chose from. There wasn't a single car around so I chose to use all three lanes. I weaved back and forth between lanes at about 20 miles per hour, which called for some more passenger seat driving from Neil. "Left...go left, your in two lanes.... What are you doing?...Those are the reflectors from the other lane your hitting. ......Follow those tracks, NO STAY IN THE LANE." I just laughed and kept driving. About halfway through Alabama the snow turned to rain and we got back onto open roads. Around midnight we made it to Florida.


Thursday February 13

In the morning we got up around 7am and made our way to a local bait store. We needed to get our Florida licenses and Neil wanted to pick up a reel. We got our licneses and I picked up a few baits, including Gulp Alive Shrimp, DOA Shrimp, popping corks, saltwater jig heads, etc.

Neils reel wasn't in stock at any of the local bait shops so we took a trip to a local bass pro shops. Neil picked up his reel, and we grabbed a few bags of frozen shrimp in case the bite was slow. We then drove over to a local boat ramp and hit the water at around 3pm.....finally some fishing.

The game plan was to work a pair of bridges in a sheltered bay. The bridges attracted fish of all species and Neil was certain we'd find fish here. We quickly worked the first bridge with artificial (Gulp Alive Shrimp on a 1/4oz Jig for me personally), but failed to find the fish. We didn't waste much time at this bridge, Neil said the other bridge was in deeper water and was much better fishing. We made the 10 minute paddle over to the other bridge and began working every pillar we could. This bridge wasn't nearly as sheltered as the first one (seen above). The wind and current was ripping through making it hard to stay in one spot long enough to make a cast.

We worked the bridge with artificial baits for over two hours before we decided to paddle over to the bank and take a break. Neil assured me that the fish where here. At this point it was an hour before sunset so we decided to stick this spot out and see if the wind died down and the fish started feeding.

I pulled off my Gulp Alive Shrimp and threaded a frozen shrimp on my jig head and went back to working the bridge area. If anything was going to catch fish it was going to be real shrimp. I hit the front side, the back side, in between pillars, etc.. but nothing seemed to matter. The fish just weren't willing to bite. We stayed till dark and then made the paddle back to the boat ramp. This was not how I imagined this trip going at all. All we could do is hope that the fishing was better in other spots tomorrow.

 We loaded the car up, grabbed a bite to eat, and drove back the house. Once we got the house Neil's step brother Jon asked us if we wanted to go out on the big boat in the morning. We looked at the weather and decided that if we were going to take the big boat offshore fishing, that Friday was the best day to do so. The wind was supposed to  be calm until around noon, and the waves were only forecasted to be 1-2 feet transitioning into 2-4 feet afternoon. We set our alarms for 5am and went to bed.

Friday February 14

Friday we woke up, loaded the truck and boat, and hit the water. We made our way out of the bay and drove about 10 miles offshore to a spot that always produces fish. We got to our destination and dropped anchor. We then broke out the cigar minnows and squid. Our rigging was simple, a modified dropshot rig with extremely heavy weight. I had a 6oz pyramid sinker tied onto the bottom and then a 2' leader with a 2/0 circle hook about 3 feet above the pyramid sinker. We wanted to get our baits to the bottom (100 feet plus deep) and keep them there.  Jon, Neils step brother, dropped a line down before the boat had even drifted into position. As soon as his bait got to the bottom....BAM, fish on!. Everyone then scurried to get baits on and in the water. The first fish of the day on the first cast of the trip was a little Red Snapper. Jon quickly released it and went back to work. Mike, Neils Stepdad, was the second one to land a fish a small Gray Snapper mere minutes later.

Then Jon's girlfriend got in on the action too, with an impressive Red Snapper.

The bite was hot, this is how I imagined inshore fishing out of kayaks. Less than 15 minutes later Neil got on the board with a very cool looking rock fish.(The coolest looking fish of the trip, in my opinion)

About 30 minutes later I had gotten my first fish of the trip, a little red snapper.

From this point forward everyone caught 2 or three more snapper each, and occasionally a new species would make its way to the surface. My coolest fish of the trip was a small 10" Sea Bass.

About halfway through our trip we were interrupted by a very curious dolphin. Everyone else had seen dolphins before so it wasn't a real big deal to them, however I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

At about noon (Florida time....my camera was still set for Ohio's time.) we noticed a school of fish busting about 40 yards away from the boat. As time passed the shcool of fish grew and got more aggressive. Jon was pretty dead set on trolling for these mystery fish so we decided to pull anchor and see what these fish were. Neil's stepdad, Mike, went to work making wire trolling harnesses. We rigged up two cigar minnows and tossed them out 30 yards behind the boat weightless. We then began trolling at about 5 miles per hour. I think pretty much every one but Jon thought that trolling was a waste of time.We made a couple passes through the school and then all of a sudden one rod goes down. Jon jumps up and grabs the rod, making sure to tell us that he told us we would catch them trolling....and he was right.

After a 3 to 4 minute battle he brought a nearly 30" Bonito into the boat.

 We trolled for another hour but we failed to catch another fish. The wind had picked up and the school was either harder to see or had left the area completely. We then decided to drop anchor and see if we could jig up a few more fish before the wind and waves got worse. We dropped anchor and Mike quickly pulled up a nice red snapper.

Less than ten minutes later I added a new species to my list, a Trigger Fish.

Neil soon added another species to the boat as well, this time with what I believe to be a Red Porgy.

Shortly after Neil's Red Porgy the wind picked up and the boats anchor began to slip. The wind picked up quick and so did the waves. After a few minutes we decided to call it a day and head back in before the 2-3 foot waves turned into 4-5 foot waves. I headed up to the nose of the boat and begin pulling the anchor up against the wind. I get about 50 feet of rope in before I start to feel resistance. At first I thought Mike must be extremely strong. He had pulled the anchor up earlier when we began trolling and he did it with ease. I on the other hand was struggling to get the anchor up this time around. After about 2 minutes of trying I looked back and told him that I thought his anchor was snagged. We then both began tugging on the anchor rope while Jon eased the boat forward. It was hung up, and hung up good. Eventually we got the anchor up and squared away.

It was probably a good idea that we decided to head back when we did because the ride back in 3' waves was rough enough. If it had been 4 to 5 footers, I'd still be sore.

We got back to the boat ramp around 4pm and began loading the truck up. We then drove back to the house. With a little under 2 hours of daylight left Neil and I decided to go out and look at a few spots to see if we could fish them in the morning. We were concerned with wind and the current created by the tides. We stopped at the first spot and it was pretty obvious that if there was any wind at all we'd be in trouble. We then drove 30 minutes over to another spot that Neil had fished before, this was his Sheepshead spot. The way I understood Sheepshead was that they were similar to bluegill fishing in Ohio. If the fishing was tough we could at least catch sheepshead. This spot was a small canal that had some deep water nearby. It was protected as well, so we decided to give it a shot in the morning.


Saturday February 15

Neil and I woke up at 6am and drove over to a local bait store to pick up fiddler crab for sheepshead bait. While at the bait store we struck up conversation with the older gentleman behind the counter. We talked for nearly 30 minutes about how the fishing was, and where he thought the fish would be. At one point we asked him what was biting to which he replied "Nothings biting well. These last two weeks have been cold and have shut almost everything down." He then continued, "You may be able to catch a few sheepshead down by the bridge", which was exactly what we had in mind. With a hint of reassurance we grabbed a couple dozen fiddler crabs and hit the water. 

We worked every square inch of the bridge, both sides and failed to catch a single fish. After 4 hours on the water without a bite I was pretty upset.....and to be honest I contemplated dragging the kayak up on the bank and taking a nap. Instead I paddled over to the other side and began working a the bridge again. I dropped a fiddler crab down on a drop shot rig and began to bounce it as I drifted back with the current. I then felt a tap...tap. I waited for a second and lifted my rod slowly. I didn't feel any weight, I paused for a few seconds and then began to reel my bait to the surface. I had gotten cleaned,  I officially had my first bite of the day. I worked this spot for another hour, losing at least another 10 crabs to the bait thief. The sudden surge of bites had fueled my spirits enough to continue fishing. At about 4pm Neil and I gave the bridge a break and decided to paddle over to a nearby grassy flat. The thought was that the bright warm sun would move fish into the shallow waters......well that didn't work out for us. We worked the flats up until an hour before sunset. We then paddled over to the bridge and went back to work probing the depths for sheepshead. At around 6pm Neil hooked into a fish. He then proceeded to bring the fish up out of 20 feet of water. After a short battle Neil had got the first and only fish from a kayak of the trip, a 13.5" sheepshead.

We worked the bridge until we could no longer see, but failed to land another fish.

Sunday February 16

Sunday we woke up at 6am and started packing up our things. Neil wanted to go look at a spot and possibly fish it for a few hours before we made our way back up to Ohio. I on the other hand, was not interested in wasting time fishing for these stubborn Florida fish. We had a 12 hour drive to Dayton, and then I had another 2 hour drive from there. I just wanted to get back home and get some rest before I had to go into work Monday. Instead of fishing we went over to Joe Patti's Seafood Market and got some fresh Shrimp, Crab, Grouper, and Snapper for the road. With a cooler of fresh sea food we hit the road and began our 12 hour journey back into the freezer that is Ohio. We left Pensacola at 8am with air temperatures at 63 degrees, I arrived in Peebles, Ohio at midnight with air temperatures hovering around 10 degrees and well over 5" of snow on the ground. At that point I realized that not catching fish in 50-60 degree weather wasn't so bad after all.