I launched the kayak at low tide right at 7:45 that morning. The wind was higher than predicted and was more out of the SSE than the East. The water was quite roiled up too and not nearly as clear as I've become accustomed to there. Regardless, I set out paddling the kayak into the breeze and incoming swells.
I like to start out my paddling trips going upwind while I'm still fresh so I can have a wind assist coming back when I'm more apt to be tired and a less motivated paddler! I threw out a large Yo-Zuri Tobimaru plug in a greenish mullet pattern on my tarpon rod and a small Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow on my trout pole and trolled both behind me as I paddled. Just for grins, I decided to paddle around Bowditch Point and head down the beach towards the Ft Myers Beach pier. The water was pretty bumpy and the breeze was what I would estimate to be a steady 12mph, so it was a tough paddle.
I actually paddled beyond the pier and was just passing the Lani Kai building on the beach when the Yo-Zuri Tobimaru got hit!
I knew it wasn't a tarpon, but whatever it was it was a feisty fish putting quite a bend in the 8 foot Shimano Terramar Rod! It was no match for the Terrimar and the big Penn 750ssm though and soon I had leadered a nice sized bluefish! As I lifted the leader for a photo opportunity, the bluefish flipped itself off the lure, into the kayak and then out of the kayak into the water before I could snap the shutter! Oh well. You'll just have to take my word on that one!
I really wanted to try for tarpon and my hopes were to catch ladyfish to use for bait, so I stowed the tarpon rig and threw out another small Crystal Minnow on my redfish rod. This lure was chartreuse and silver and a twin in size to the blue and silver lure on my trout rod. Trolling both small lures, I headed back. Within seconds, I had a bend in the redfish rod! I think it was another bluefish but it managed to self-release before I actually got a look at the fish. Seconds after getting underway again, I had a strike on the trout rod but there was no hookup from the hit and consequently no fish to fight. As I headed back north along the beach, I had to work to stay balanced in the following seas. It was bumpy enough to be uncomfortable in a kayak, but nowhere near rough enough to be considered dangerous.
Soon I was passing the pier again on my way back towards Bowditch Point and Bunche Beach.
My course intentionally carried me further offshore on my return route and once I rounded the #1 Channel marker off of Matanzas Pass,
I swung the nose of the kayak east with the wind hitting my starboard side straight on. My plan at this point was to head for shallower water in the hopes of picking up ladyfish off the spoil banks north of the pass and further inshore. My plan worked. I caught a smally ladyfish - about 15 inches overall length and immediately started searching through my tackle bag for a 6/0 or larger circle hook to use on him. I left the majority of my stuff back in the car and it turns out I had just one, slightly rusty 6/0 circle in the gear I'd brought along. The point of the hook wasn't very sharp, but it would have to do since I'd left my sharpening stone in the other gear bag too! Oh well. I quickly cut the Tobimaru off my tarpon rig, tied on the rusty hook and hooked the ladyfish through lips and freelined her out to swim wherever she felt like going! I let the wind (now nearly due south) push me along and I stowed the paddle as I drifted the ladyfish and began casting the Yo-Zuri on the trout rod.
Within minutes of starting the drift, I had a big hit and a nice fight on that little trout rod! I've caught a lot of grouper at Bunche Beach and that sure felt like what I had on the end of the line! Sure enough! It was a very pretty 14 inch red grouper!
Co-incidentally, it was now after 10:00am and the bite seemed to be picking up along with the tidal movement! After releasing the grouper I continued casting the Yo-Zuri. I hooked another fish that fought really hard and got off the lure before I could see him. My guess was it was another bluefish. The very next cast to the same area and Pow! - then an instantaneous limp line. I reeled in and inspected my leader to find it bitten clean through just above the lure. Definitely bluefish!
I quickly tied on another Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow and continued casting. Soon I had a hit and reeled in a 14 1/2 inch trout, just shy of the 15 inch minimum.
As I reeled this trout to the surface, I saw flashes of bigger fish swimming circles around the trout. The trout MIGHT have been 15 inches before these other fish bit off half it's tail and a portion of his anal fin!
I tell ya! It's a brutal world out there in the food chain!
I continued to drift along between 1/2 and one mile per hour. Around 11:00am, I got a BIG slam on my lure and watched the pole bend double as a fish ripped line off the drag on the little Shimano Symetre 4000fj reel. (I fish those reels on both my trout pole and redfish rod, spooled with 15# braid. You can't beat 'em for under $100! Perfect for kayak fishing where you KNOW your reels are gonna get splashed with salt water and you don't want to ruin a more expensive reel!) Anyways, I had my hands full for a while there with that fish! It fought like the dickens! It was a nice big (by Gulf standards) bluefish! I just LOVE the way those bluefish fight! This one weighed close to three pounds and fought like it was a 12 pound fish!
The bluefish went into the ice chest. He was destined to be either lunch, or to get frozen and kept for bait on a future beach sharking expedition! After I'd unhooked the bluefish and clunked him in the head to stop him thrashing around (but before I had a chance to drop him in the cooler), something hit the live ladyfish on the tarpon rod! From the way the drag was screaming on the big Penn 750, it HAD to be a tarpon! (Though I never got to see the fish.) When I tightened the drag even further, the fish spit the bait which was still attached (and still alive, though badly battered) when I reeled the line in. The ladyfish had been scraped down the sides and was missing lots of scales, but there were no bite marks on it, leading me to believe it was a tarpon that had hit it and run with it. (Mental note to self - visit Dan Weich at Lehr's Economy Tackle and pick up some new Owner 8/0 circle hooks before you go bait fishing for tarpon again!)
I cast out the still living ladyfish again, put the tarpon rig in the rod holder and commenced casting the Yo-Zuri again. I just love fishing Bunche Beach! You never know what's going to hit your lures there! My next hit was from a keeper 11 inch mangrove snapper that also went into the ice chest. With lunch secured, the bluefish in the cooler had just been relegated to shark bait for sure! I was so excited about catching lunch that I forgot to take a picture of it! But hey! You see one eleven inch mangrove snapper, you've seen 'em all!
I was a bit worried that that little snapper might not make a big enough lunch when wham! Another hit on the Yo-Zuri! This time it proved to be a fat, 16 inch trout!
That trout joined the snapper for my lunch!
When I'd launched earlier I nodded a greeting to a father/son team in the process of launching a tandem kayak. My drift was taking me right near them. I was about 100 feet away and just about to holler "Hello!" at them when the tarpon rod went off AGAIN! Big time! This time the rod was bent double and I felt the fish! Drag was screaming and he was RIPPING line off as the kayak turned and started to follow the run! Suddenly there was like a "pop pop" feel and the line went slack. I reeled in to find the hook still attached, but empty. I think the first pop I felt was the hook slipping out of the tarpon's mouth and the second pop was the ladyfish ripping off the hook. That's what I get for trying to use a dull, rusty hook! My bad!
I chatted a bit with the other kayak guys. It was indeed a father and son visiting from Minnesota. They'd watched me fight that tarpon for the 15 or so seconds he was on and were quite excited about it! They asked what I was using for bait. I explained I had caught a ladyfish on a Yo-Zuri and used the ladyfish live for the tarpon. They were fishing with shrimp and had fished all morning with just two catfish to show for their efforts. I scrounged around in my tackle box and found a spare Yo-Zuri which I gave them along with instructions on how to fish it and how to rig the ladyfish they hoped to catch with it. They were happy with the lure and it made me feel good giving it to them. Always nice helping out fellow fishermen too!
I set off paddling back to where I'd caught the ladyfish so I could catch more bait. But all I was able to convince to hit were three small jacks about the size of this one.
I hooked one on and fished him live for a while but had no further tarpon action. The bluefish, trout, grouper, ladyfish and snapper bite completely quit too. At 1:30pm, I paddled in, loaded up and headed home.
That afternoon I saute'ed the lightly seasoned trout and snapper fillets in butter and white wine and gorged myself on fresh fish and Sameul Adams Pale Ale.
Life is good! :)
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