I was very fortunate to be asked to come join the team from North American Fisherman down in Florida a few weeks back. To say I was excited about the opportunity to go fish in Florida was an understatement. I felt like a little kid going on a new fishing adventure for the first time! I was a completely out of my element. Considering that I guide full time up here in the Midwest for freshwater species such as bass, trout, walleye's and muskies.
Saltwater fishing shallow water flats is a part of the fishing game I don't know much about. I've seen the shallow water television shows where fisherman site fish for redfish, Tarpon going acrobatic 10 feet in the air, and screaming drags from sharks. I was excited to do this style of fishing; it got my blood and adrenaline flowing at an all time high.
Our first day started chasing redfish: After 1 hour of fairly slow fishing, things started to come together. Our Captain Tyler Kapela (who's a fantastic captain!) got things rolling by chumming up a school of monster redfish.
While chasing these redfish I hooked into a "Gator Trout", according to Capt. Tyler. After a hard fought battle and a few photos we released the fish. A short time later Tyler hooked a gator trout, up shallow, on a live minnow. We both landed two trophy trout in the first hour of the trip.
Tyler maneuvered up into shallow water (1-2 feet), slowly sight fishing and looking for that huge school of Red Fish he had been on all week. We kept moving for 20 minutes and Tyler eventually found the massive school of redfish. The key to getting these fish hooked up was making long casts, chumming the school to get them active, all without spooking them. I loved how we had to spot and stalk these redfish, which was basically like hunting.
After a few hard fought, line screaming, battles we managed to put several redfish in the boat, on bait. We decided to try and land some fish with artificials, Tyler said “There will be a time when these fish get "Stupid" ", meaning the entire school starts busting on baitfish. That’s when you can cast top water baits and get these fish to commit.
Mid Morning we saw this exact situation start to happen. Tyler tied on a Sebile Bonga Minnow, rigged on a Pen battle reel, spooled up with 15-pound spider-wire ultra-cast invis-ibraid and a 25-pound stren fluorocarbon leader. This was similar to the rig we use for Brown Trout fishing up here in the Milwaukee Harbor.
Tyler moved us into position and these huge reds started slamming the Sebile Bonga Minnows. After landing my first Redfish on top water, two casts later I had another 30-inch red smash the sebile. I looked over my shoulder only to see Tyler hook up on a red with the same bait. For 15 minutes we had our way with this school of redfish—I was in awe! Not to mention, I was feeling it in my arms and shoulders, I still can't get over how much more powerful these saltwater fish are.
Next we made a short run to sight fish for tarpon. We fished for about an hour and saw six different "Giant" tarpon in the 120 to 180-pound class. Unfortunately they didn’t bite, even though we had a few close calls.
Then Tyler suggested we fish for sharks, out in the bay. Once we chummed up a bunch of lady fish we had sharks all around the boat. After 15 minutes of fishing—I could not believe how easy Tyler made this look. I casted out a cut up piece of lady fish and within seconds I had my first shark on. I was having a lot of fun catching sharks but Tyler wanted to put me on a tarpon.
We made the run out to the Skyway bridge and caught some fresh bait with Tyler’s cast net and sabiki rigs. Then we started drifting with the tide using crabs and Pinfish.
After 25 minutes of fishing with a crab and drifting around the bridge pilings, my line started peeling out. I closed the bail and started reeling. What happened next, was a moment as an angler, I will never forget—my drag started singing. Then a magical silver tarpon came flying 8-10 feet out of the water.
This was the fish of a lifetime! I hooked my first tarpon and it was a battle that I will never forget! This fish did exactly what I saw Tarpon do on TV. It flew out of the water several times, the drag was screaming, and it was pulling like no other fish I have fought before. Twenty-five minutes later I had the fish boat side and Tyler popped the hook out to release it.
The last hour of the day, Tyler asked if we wanted to fish out in front of the marina, where we launched the boat, of course I said, “Certainly!” Five minutes into fishing, 100 yards from the boat launch, Tyler had me on several Cobia which were incredibly fun!
I caught several of my firsts on this trip: Tarpon, Redfish, Sharks, Trout, Cobia, and Flounder. All I can say is I did not want to go home! Tampa Bay is a fishery I will most certainly return to fish again!