Fishing Florida with Meghan Lorraine

A born and bred Florida girl, the sun, sand and surf have been my heart and soul since before I can even remember. However, I've only been traveling the waters of this sunshine state fishing for the last eight years or so. So when I can talk Jay down from the trophy reds and monster cobia of Virginia, I jump at the chance to get on the water together in my home state. 

As luck would have it, the couple that introduced us happened to get married in the Keys and we saw this as the perfect opportunity to take a mini fishing adventure in Florida with some amazing fisherman we've been dying to get out with. To kick it off, we got in a half day of fishing in my neck of the woods here in Jacksonville. The wind wasn't really cooperating and the water was chocolate milk, but Jay was able to spot a slot red pushing bait and hook up using a soft plastic.

His Under Armour fishing shirt matched the fish ;)

Rockin the new Buff

After starting on that high-note, we headed down to Key Largo to soak in some sun before the big day. It's hard being on the water without a fishing pole in our hands, but even the most dedicated have to take a break every now and then.

Fruity drinks and soaking in the sun in my new suit from Frankie's Bikinis were our only agenda pre-wedding

A little tarpon feeding at Robbie's

So, after a weekend of love, laughter and happily ever after with the couple, we got right down to business. We hooked up with Honson Lau, a well-respected and much admired fly fisherman (and former guide) to get on the early tarpon run down in Key Largo. Neither Jay nor I are very adept at fly fishing, so we had a couple backup plans just in case the fish weren't biting what we were throwing. 

I started out with a new design from SpoolTek and Jay hit up the pink Hogy. We must have seen 30-40 good sized tarpon run within easy casting distance, but they just weren't interested. Changing it up to see if some live bait action would entice them, we threw out a small crab on a wooden popping cork -- Jay's favorite -- right in front of their noses, but they didn't even bother giving it a second look. Sensing that they were more interesting in chasing the females than having a bite to eat, Honson started fishing a small fly to resemble the local worm hatch.

Honson putting a little heat on with his Nautilus fly reel

It was prime time, with small schools coming from both the North and South, and he got some great shots at each group, but nothing could turn their heads for more than a second. We decided they just weren't having it today and went in search of bonefish. Heading into the backcountry a little ways, we managed to find one lone bonefish, but a barracuda scared it off before we could get a good shot. So what do you do when you spend all day going hard on the water only to strike out? It's time for a drink!

Posting up dockside with Maverick Boats

A little day drinking makes everything better

Don't worry folks, we're going to head back down with Honson this summer to redeem ourselves and land our first tarpon before the season is over! 

Next up, we headed up to Fort Lauderdale to fish with Rob Valderrey  of Temensisfishing.com for my first offshore kayak fishing trip. Starting our day off early, we headed to grab some live bait at the local shop, but apparently lady luck wasn't on our side. After waiting an hour for the Goggle Eyes to arrive, only a few of them even made it alive to the water. The pressure was on, but we were determined to make it work. 

Now for the fun part...my first surf launch. The waves weren't too major so it wasn't like I was going out in a 4ft swell, but it makes you a little nervous to make it out the first time without going sideways and flipping over. Luckily, we timed the breaks right and I was able to paddle out without any problems -- success! The guys headed out shortly after...

Jay cutting through the surf on his Wilderness Systems Thresher

We started off trolling Rat-L-Traps on the way out with Rob catching a couple small bonitos and a spanish mackerel, setting ourselves up in about 150 feet of water to do a slow drift back towards shore. Jay caught a blue runner which he gave to Rob for bait, which quickly was chomped on by something massive that unfortunately let go halfway through the fight.

About that time, I spotted a weed line that I just knew had to have fish on it. I start trolling it when the line gives a quick tug on the drag, then it's quickly gone along with my bait. I snap up the last live bait we've got and get out there trolling again. Right about the time I was going to turn around and head back to the guys, my rod doubles over and the line starts screaming. I manage to get my rod out of the holder after about 20 seconds of struggle and get ready for a wild ride. 

My biggest fear when fighting this fish offshore is that a hungry shark will come take a giant bite out of my fish before I can even get it in the boat. So about five minutes into the fight, I start yelling to the guys to get over to me with the gaff. Apparently I was farther away than originally thought and they couldn't hear a word I said. Luckily, they did notice me spinning around in circles as I would muscle the kingfish up before he would take the line down for a another long run. By the time they got over to where I was, the fish was fatigued from the fight, and I got it next to Rob's boat where he was able to gaff it and throw it in my yak for photos.

Not one to risk my fingers, I quickly scooped up my Lucid grips and got down to the business of documenting this 46" beast as my first offshore kayak fishing success story. After Jay had gotten his fill of photos -- soooo many photos -- with no live bait and Rob having to work that evening, we decided it was time to head in.

Rockin Jay's Smith Optics

Thanks to YakAttack for helping to hook up my new yak

Tested out my Lucid Fishing Grips on this bad boy

When we got to shore and took out the fish for photos, the inevitable happened...everyone started asking Jay or Rob how they caught it. Not a single person while I was holding up the fish in my hands for better photos assumed I was the one who hooked, fought and landed this fish. We had to keep explaining that no, it wasn't Jay or Rob, it was the little blonde girl in the bikini. I get it, I really do...there's huge misconceptions or stereotypes about girls in the fishing or outdoor industry and unfortunately, they ring true with a portion of women -- especially in Florida. 

But whether fishing in a bikini, button-down or burka, we can still out-fish the best of the boys some, most or every day. ;)

My Adventure Technology paddle makes this shot :)

Fishing with Tex

Last week was blown out by the winds so we had to do the unthinkable...go freshwater fishing. The reports were all good, and I called my buddy Billy Ragulsky (www.AllOutkayakFishing.com) to see what and where. He told us spinner and the popular chatter baits should get us some bites. I spoke to Lee, he bailed and gave me Tex's phone number. I called him up and it was set. 

Chatter bait bass in the Wilderness Systems Thresher

Tex switched it up and went to a jig with immediate success

He hooks up again on the brush



I switch to the jig and got another

One thing I learned is that Tex fishes hard. We only had a couple hours to fish and there was no down time. He would have stayed into the night if I hadn't driven and had prior engagements. 

We lost a ton of nice fish. My first bass that took the chatter would have been a new personal best, but right after the first jump it spit the hook. I just smiled, hey that's bass fishing. I don't expect to get out again although the spawn bite is really getting good, but as tautog have started to turn that's where my heart is.

Tautog 

I called Tex and told him Saturday was looking perfect so we debated options until we decided it was time to make the first trip of the year to the island for tautog. My first drop yielded a 19" male on a fiddler, then it was pretty much on all day. My biggest was 21, Tex found a hole full of them and we played with them until 5 pm. Most were caught on blue crab that we were lucky enough to get from Andrew as he was paddling in, however my first two and biggest were on fiddlers. We spent eight hours on the water and decided to paddle in with little bait left, a slight tail wind and two limits of tautog.

The season closes on May 1, so if you want to get in on some of the best eating fish, the time is now and its only going to get better.

Pictured above is a female tog. In the spring we try to keep the males and let the fat females that are full of eggs go. This girl was about to pop.

A Bit Further Off the Beach

Quick report...

We got out after Christmas and made our way to the triangles 30 miles offshore for some black sea bass fishing. We used Simano Lucanus Jigs - pink seemed to work best - caught at least a dozen keepers and released three times that many undersized fish. The fun day of fishing was made even better by seeing whales and dolphins that hitched a ride off the bow of the boat while running to the next wreck.

Not many pics with Meghan accidently dropping my phone into the water, as the day only got worse with a rod tip breaking, ticket for trailer registration and the realization that the cobia tower kick stand ate an indentation into the deck......then I got sick that night to top it all off.

The next weekend we went out for Tautog and we got a limit, mainly due to Lee's reputation as a Tog Sharpie. Meghan got her first tog and topped the day off with her Personal Best of 18". We capped off the day at Back Bay Brewery for a couple to celebrate the trip!

Now that the winter is in full swing, I expect the amount of trips to slow down because of bad weather and good fishing slowing down. Even the rockfish bite has been non existent lately here in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. Good luck to those who make it out!

Being Thankful

I've gone through a lot in my personal life this year and had not been thankful for much up until recently. The fact is, that all changed when I was given an opportunity to meet a wonderful woman who loves fishing as much, if not more, than I do. When she learned I would be alone for Thanksgiving, Meghan decided to trek up to Virginia to make dinner for a buddy and I. But before we could have our turkey, I had to take her fishing. Meghan's personal best trout was around 23 inches, a very solid respectable trout. I told her we would beat it, so early Thanksgiving morning in brisk 30 degree temps, we trailered my Challenger 206 to the Elizabeth River and set out some live bait. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story!

We immediately caught several 20" class trout.

It began raining, but she still wanted to stay.

A 29" Monster she caught that eclipsed my personal best trout. Now she has me beat with a 53" Red and a 29" Speck, ridiculous.  



A few photos before release.

 Just before release we put her on the Lucid Fishing Grips to revive her.

I even got a 24.5" citation trout.

The puppy loved it!

The rain continued, but look at that smile!

Overall, it was a great day on the water before starting to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. It does make me disappointed to hear people discount other anglers accomplishments because a fish was caught on live bait, in a certain location and not the way another angler would have done it. The fact is, if an angler is enjoying themselves fishing the way they want, then why not be happy for them? It really comes across as jealousy when you put down other's accomplishments -- let them be happy and join in the celebration. 

New Plastic

The season is changing and the cold water is upon us, which means our targeted species are also changing. Water temps are now in the 50's, which means it's time for trout, striper and tautog. I haven't been able to get out due to the winds on my off days, but I did receive a new kayak, which is a great consolation prize!

I knew I was going to order either a Wilderness Systems Thresher 140 or 155. I decided with my weight at 185 and only 5'9" the Th140 would be better. Its diameter is only 28.75" and takes off as fast as my tarpon 140, which says a lot. The Th155 is 30" wide, so its take off is slightly slower but it maintains speed due to the longer length of 15.5'. The 155 is also more stable and fits larger anglers better than the 140.  More specs can be seen at www.wildernesssystems.com/kayaks/thresher.

I got a call from Rob Alderman who suggested we have demo day to help with some of the questions we were getting from the kayaking community. So it was set that on Saturday we would meet up and let anyone who wanted to paddle take our kayaks out. I wasn't going to let someone else have first crack at my kayak, so on Friday with the winds howling, I took the new plastic to trout fish. I braved the 20 knot winds, landing three trout -- 22", 23" and 24 1/4" citation speckled trout. Not bad for sliming the Thresher!

As you can see I upgraded this year to a dry suit -- finally! I went with Bomber Gear dry suit. They have a great reputation with the white water guys and it absolutely makes a big difference. It's really night and day fishing with the suit now. I don't have a lot of time in it, so I'll save a review until after more time with it on the water.

The following morning we had our Wilderness Systems demo day. Had a pretty good turnout despite the cold weather, and people were excited to try it out.

Afterwards, Lee and I headed out with only an hour of light to tog fish and test out the new wreck anchor he made. The anchor worked flawlessly, and we even caught some tog!

With the temps still dropping, let's hope we can stay on the inshore tog bite and hopefully the big striper show up for the remainder of the winter! It wouldn't really be fair to write a review after just one trip on the flats in a boat designed for the offshore environment. So be on the lookout for a full review after a little more time in the Thresher, the good with the bad.