Another Tampa manatee

Weedon Island Mangrove Tunnels

I recently purchased a new kayak, as I had sold my Heritage Redfish 12 a while back. I purchased a Emotion Grand Slam Angler. With the new kayak my father and I went to Weedon island to do some exploring.

We decided to ride the tide out to the bay through the mangrove tunnels in the southern kayak trail. It is a wonderful 4 mile paddle, through all of weedon island preserve. Be wary of tides as it can be quite tricky to navigate if the tides are too high or too low.

We paddled around in the bay threw some plugs and got some trout. I spooked a a huge redfish sitting in a hole. Overall we did not fish to much, as we spent most of the time exploring and enjoying the wonderful scenery and weather.
If your interested in seeing real Tampa bay and its wildlife try paddling the Weedon island mangrove tunnel trail.

March Madness, not basketball but snook!

 Snook:
The waters have warmed up and the fishing is on fire. March starts the great fishing season into the summer when the Snook start there spawn on the beach. Right now the Snook have schooled up and are beginning to move toward the beach. Look for snook on spoil islands and around structure in the main bay. They are starting to move from there winter haunts up creeks and moving out into the bay eventually leading to the beach. Snook are starting to feed more and more sensing the warming trend. There are snook that did survive the cold snap. Remember snook season is still closed until further notice!

 Redfish:
The redfish have been more active with the warm water and have also started to school. You can find some schools of over 100 fish starting to pop up around the bay! Look for the schools on a just before and after a high tide when the waters moving throw a paddle tail on a jig or a weedless jerkbait, and you'll sure find some nice porkchops.

Trout:
The trout are also more active, look for the larger fish to start moving off the deep water and on to the flats in 2 to 5 feet of water. Try using a topwater lure for some real fun on the larger female gators that are starting to feed like crazy. The schooled up males are still in deeper water with grass and dark bottom. You can find some moving out into the flats and they will especially with the warm days in the forecast.

The best of the rest:

Look for black drum in huge schools through out the bay, especially close to the skyway and cockroach bay. Soon enough tarpon will be coming into the bay and beaches so get your rods ready. Some tarpon may already be here!

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