Florida Fishing Reports

Oct 4 - Trout - Family Fishing - Artsy Hippy Shots

Greetings angling aficionados. I have been laid up for awhile (6 long weeks!) which has annoyingly cut into my fishing. I herniated a disk in my back and in addition to the mind numbing, life reevaluating pain it pretty much totally precludes a person from fishing. I've been lucky to get out of bed. Now that I'm better I have been fishing with my son a lot which is not prone to catching tons of fish but gives you a real chance to take some nice pictures while he drinks salt water, shrieks with glee and throws the rod into the bay. Report follows.

There's some crazy photos in this report

The waterproof Pentax Optio W20 takes a mean hippy shot. Really.

Awwwwwwwwwww!

Ohhhhhhhh!

When you're fishing buddy is a 3 year old, this is a 40 inch snook.

It's been raining some and I've been recovering all sorts of treasures washing out of the canals. These are like 6 bucks at Wal-Mart! Score.

Is this a legal PFD? I hope so cause that's what I've been taking out. Shoot, its only 4 feet deep here. Seriously, does anyone know?

This was caught on troll as I was screamed at to "paddle faster! paddle faster!". We were both pretty stoked.

Lightning hit our oak tree. It sent oak tree parts through the screen 100 ft away and melted the whole irrigation system and took out the cable. Stupid lightning.

How are the pods of bait everywhere? The fishing would probably be pretty good if mr. man would stop hammering the rod against the hull and screaming the spongebob squarepants song. Although you gotta love ol' spongebob. Hes a riot. "Yellow, absorbent and porous is he!" I love that part of the song.

This reel snapped in my hand during a tussle with a 16" trout. Really. This event is also the prelude into an Sarasota's Economy Tackle rant. I go in there (where I purchased this reel 6 mos. prior) and get the customer is ALWAYS wrong rap. Capt. Hungover tells me I must've dropped this and in his 20 years of making 9.50 an hour he's never seen anything like this. I'm like, "look, buddy, just please give me the address. I don't want to argue with you about the history of the reel." We stand there and finally he he gets a box for me and we literally are arguing over what happened to my reel. Jesus. What an oxygen thief. Economy Tackle is the lamest tackle shop in the history of time. What a tool shed. No fisherman should buy from those guys. I won't make that mistake again. I don't even really care about the reel. It's still sitting on my desk. It's the bad attitude those guys drop time and time again. When I was a kid it was the place to go but I'm done going there. They suck. Don't go there and definitely DO NOT BUY A KAYAK THERE. Seriously. Tell all your friends. I am.

With the exception of Economy Tackle, It's pretty nice living here.

I've been finding gear everywhere. This was in the tideline wrapped in some sticks and crap.

Yet another highly prized gamefish landed by the future 6x winner of the oberto redfish tour/nobel peace prize.

Want to keep a kid in a life jacket? Put it on like a straightjacket. Can't take off a backwards PFD.

Ohhhhhhh! Bill Dance topwater found in mangroves. This thing probably works insane. Bill would NEVER endorse a inferior product...

Dig this one, hippy

The tables have turned.

We caught some trout.

Interesting cloud formation #77231

I like how the cloud and the oyster bed are shaped the same. Clyde Butcher would totally dig that...

"Why would my father give me such a crappy reel? I think I'll throw it in the bay to express my displeasure..."

I told you there were a ton of hippy shots in this report.

The hits just keep on comin'

Hippies, rejoice.

Hornetbear.com - Sucking up bandwidth since 2005.

That's it! Sorry about the lack of actual fish photos but those all look the same anyhow.

APR 13 - TROUT EVERYWHERE - GALE FORCE WINDS

Here is the secret to catching fish. That’s right. The one absolute certain way to slay all forms of sea life and dominate your local fishing area. Do not tell anyone. Also, do not go publishing this on the internet on some kind of public forum either… I mean it.

1. Buy the Newspaper.
2. Read the outdoor section VERY CAREFULLY.
3. Absorb everything.
4. Reread mission critical sections if you have to.
5. Commit it all to memory as you will have to call upon it whilst out angling.
6. Now go out and do the exact opposite. That’s right. I said it. Opposite day, every day.
7. If it says no trout, be sure to go trout fishing
8. If it says fish in the morning, the night is the ticket.
9. Turn the fishing graph upside down and use it that way.

The newspaper is trying to trick you and you must fight the urge to believe it. That’s the same newspaper that said, “2004 worst hurricane year ever!”  That is also the self same newspaper that said, “Real Estate Continues Mercurial Rise!” I mean, who would put all the best fishing spots in a public newspaper and sell it for 50 cents?! That’s almost as stupid as putting it on the internet for free! These articles are just meant to deceive the unwary angler. Consider the local “fishing report” debunked. I have spoken on the internet, under an alias, so you KNOW its true. Trust me. Report follows…

I read in the local fishwrap that the trout fishing had completely shut off and there wasn’t a trout ANYWHERE in Sarasota.

“Worst trout fishing in 20 years.” The headline read.  “Guides unable to locate spotted sea trout anywhere.” it proclaimed.

As a conspiracy theorist, I knew what this meant. The newspaper was, once again, trying to hide something. I immediately suspected that the trout fishing was turning on in a big way.

I grabbed all my ultralight gear and headed for the closest grass flat, stat.  I was rewarded with, of course, wide open trout fishing. They were everywhere. None were bigger than 22 inches but man they were thick. Every cast thick. I’m sick of catching sea trout thick. Somebody send a ladyfish over here thick. It was 6 year old nephew fishing easy.

RED TIDE KILLED EVERY TROUT IN THE WORLD EXCEPT THIS LUCKY SURVIVOR, APTLY NAMED “LUCKY THE TROUT”


I BET I CAUGHT 100 OF THESE IN 2.5 HOURS


IT WASN'T ALL TROUT FISHING THOUGH. EVEN THE WILY SAILCAT MADE A CAMEO...


I WENT THROUGH ALL MY WHITE LURES AND HAD TO SWITCH TO GREEN WHICH REALLY SLAYED THEM.


“IF YOU COULD READ, I’D SHOW YOU IN THE PAPER THAT YOURE REALLY NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE”


The WIND was cracking. Oh man. I am sick of all this wind. I’d go as far as to say that the wind blows. It was whipping across the bay making for quite a brisk drift. There were whitecaps and sea spray and generally sucking conditions. Good thing there were fish. I just went with it and would drift along various flats merrily catching sea trout. The worst part about the wind is if you can’t get a fish instantly unhooked you start to really lose position on the flats. I’m ready for the doldrums of summer. Bring it on.

LOOK! SPOTTED TARPON! THAT’S AMAZING!


TAKE A GANDER OF THIS FREAKING MONSTER. WHATS THE IGFA RECORD ON 30LB LEADER? I SHOULDA BROUGHT MY CERTIFIED SCALE…


HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE WINSLOW HOMER WATERCOLOR WITH THE BROOK TROUTS JUMPING? IF YOU AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH WINSLOW HOMER YOU SHOULD LOOK HIM UP. HES A REAL ANGLER’S ARTIST. THIS PICTURE IS KINDA LIKE THAT. THERE IS SOMETHING SYMBOLIC ABOUT A FISH IN THE SKY. AND ITS PRETTY DARN FUNNY, I THINK.


SEE? THIS IS FROM A SERIES OF REALLY SPECTACULAR FISHING PAINTINGS HE DID. HE VISITED FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMAS A LOT, YOU KNOW…


YOO HOO? MR. HIPPY? YOU OUT THERE? TAKE A LOOK AT THESE TRIPPED OUT CLOUDS, DUDE.


UH OH. HIPPIES LOVE TRIPPED OUT CLOUDS BUT HATE MUSCLE BOATS… DILEMMA!  DRUM IT OUT, BROTHER. DRUM IT OUT.


TRAGEDY! THIS JACK WAS HUGE. LIKE 35 INCHES. I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM… PROBABLY GOT FOUL HOOKED. OR DECIDED THAT, IN THE LIGHT OF RECIENT WORLD EVENTS AND THE INSTABILITY OF HIS AGGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE SPECULATION, LIFE JUST WASN’T WORTH LIVING ANYMORE. HARD TO SAY


OHHHHHH! THAT’S A NICE LOOKING LIZARDFISH. I REALLY, REALLY NEEDED THAT CERITIFIED SCALE TODAY…


LOOK AT THE TAIL OF THIS LURE. SHEEPSHEAD? PINFISH? BRITISH PERSON?


YOU WANT TO WEAR A SLIVER COLORED WATCH WHEN CATCHING TROUT BECAUSE THEY MATCH REALLY NICELY.


HEY! WE’RE TROUT FISHING OUT HERE. SPLIT, PUNK.


MANY SPECIES WERE CAUGHT. ALL WERE RELEASED. THIS ONE IS PRETTY TASTY THOUGH. NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO WITH JUST 1 MANGROVE SNAPPER. TABLE FOR .3 PLEASE!


NOTICE THAT THIS GUY DIDN’T EVEN CARE IF THE LURE HAD A TAIL OR NOT…


Man! The fishing was fun. Nothing really phenomenal in terms of fish but it was fun and steady fishing. What’s exciting about fishing is you just never know what you’re going to see next. That’s the cool part. It’s the thrill of the unknown. The fact that the big one might be just around the corner… Fin.
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http://www.hornetbear.com
“I brought you a tuna sandwich. They say it's brain food. I guess because there's so much dolphin in it, and you know how smart they are.”
- Marge Simpson