April and the start of May have been "a lot of the same" with the theme: "fighting the wind." Many trips were postponed. Others were taken in the wind. Rarely was there a day that winds were light, and usually it was just after days on end of ripping winds and churned-up water. What seemed like endless waits for breaks in the wind were followed by significant time on the water.

Mike connected with redfish throwing the 3-inch 12 Fathom mullet. The first one he hooked was a giant. The lure popped out and he stopped to lament the loss and I said "cast, cast!". Immediately after the lure hit the water, he was hooked up again and learned a valuable lesson. You don't waste time mourning lost fish, you get another cast out to the other fish that are there.

Illinois Dave got out with me on a poor tide but has tremendous action, connecting on redfish, trout, mackerel and ladyfish all on the same lure (the 3" mullet, clear gold). Casey, Seth and Steve got out with me on one of those stiffer wind days. Seeking the protection of an island to get out of the wind, redfish were cruising the shoreline and rolled on lures many times but not eating them. That was exciting for them but the redfish just weren't going to eat the lures that day. They settled on some trout and enjoyed the time on the water, never bothered by the brisk east winds!

Joe B. from Ohio had it set up with me for months, "5 days of kayak fishing." I'd chosen a perfect stretch of tides at a time of year where I thought the weather would have the best chance of being steady and consistent. Joe was greeted with 30MPH winds the day he arrived. He showed up rigged and ready for the task: Rods, reels, tackle he had it all and he did his research on his gear selection which was just about a carbon copy of my supplies. Day 1, I took him out to visit the Fosters at the Skyway pier to catch some mackerel and pompano on Day 1. The forecast for the following two days was even worse in what Joe calls part of the "Joe Jinx." I told him he had Day 2 off because on Day 3- I was going to put him in the kayak in that wind. I got him out in the kayaks the last three days. Kayak-fishing potentially his retirement hobby, I worked with him to learn everything he needed to know about the boats, the fishing tactics. The one thing that was missing most of the time was "feeding fish." On Day 4 and Day 5, the conditions were such that I could get Joe to locations I'd intended taking him earlier in his visit. Unfortunately, the effects of days of ripping winds were apparent and we only found the fish feeding for very short periods of time.

Joe talked about the "Jinx" but it was tough luck a lot of people experienced in the month of April. Talking to other guides, high winds knocked so many of their fish schools out of normal feeding patterns and they also had difficulty finding fish that were eating. A shared problem and not a " bad JuJu, Mojo or Jinxing", better fishing will greet Joe when he gets back down here. The allure of kayak-fishing was still so apparent in this case. Joe admitted that he isn't the most patient guy on Earth. But he put in long hours out there with less action than expected and was still entertained. On the very last day, he finally got into a little bit of action. Here's Joe with a 23-inch Trout!

Jon and Mary, visiting from Montana wanted to do some fishing (Jon) and nature watching (Mary). Jon caught a trout on his very first cast of the day. On one of those perfect days for a paddle, light winds and blue skies, we wandered in for redfish after a little action out deeper.

In the next report: John and Suzy; Neal and Crissy get Basic Training. Jason's sundown redfish and giant trout; Phil catches some trout; and John Cici connects on a solid redfish bite.

As always: Be careful out there!

Neil Taylor 
Guide Services-Tampa Bay Region 
Adventure Kayak Fishing 
www.adventurekayakfishing.com 
(Cell) 727-692-6345 
LivelyBaits@aol.com