My dad took a picture of a nice big ol manatee sunbathing today in the bay off of a dock. Here it is:

Well its a new year, and the water is clearer than ever!

Trout season is back open. So you can keep 4 trout between 15"-20" and 1 trout out of 4 being larger than 20" per person. I decided to get out to get on some trout for dinner. Of course all i can find are huge schools of ladyfish!

I did manage to catch some small trout in the mix all around 13" so no keepers, as they were too lethargic compared to the vicious ladyfish. I caught over 50 Ladyfish. I moved on and caught a small 16" Redfish. And a handful more trout. I called it a day as the dolphins wouldn't leave me alone, seeing me catch so many ladys.

We launched at about 7am right at slack tide. We paddled to our spot and began casting doa paddle tails in the new "watermelon clear holographic" color. We coated the soft plastics in pro cure bait sent to make the lures more enticing. We managed to catch a few trout.

We then came across some manatee that came to close for comfort. So we had to move in fear they might flip the kayaks if they felt threatened. It was nice to see so many manatees in good health but the large sea cows can be quite intimidating in a plastic kayak.





 We continued fishing a new area and came across a large redfish sitting in a sand hole in a oyster bar area with no luck, we moved on to catch more trout.




Pat Practiced proper handling techniques using a lip grip and trying to handle the fish out of the water for the shortest amount of time possible. He made sure to wet his hand before touching the fish ensuring the protective slime coating would not be removed from the trout. Please remember to practice proper handling techniques especially as it is trout breeding season, therefore season is closed on the trout. So remember to practice catch and release.

I managed to catch quite a few trout also but only took one picture of a large 18" trout.

As Always,
Tight Lines