I took out a client from Massachusetts on February 13th for some kayak fishing. The trip was a Christmas present from his wife. She booked the trip onwww.fishingbooker.com. He was excited to go saltwater fishing from a kayak. My client, Scott, plans on moving to Venice in the near future and wanted to gain some knowledge of saltwater fishing in our area.
We launched behind Uncle Henry’s Marina in Gasparilla Sound. Our target for the day was Spotted Seatrout. Scott fished with a Cajun Thunder popping cork with live shrimp. Within a few minutes, he caught his first trout. He caught 6-8 trout that morning, releasing all of them. I caught several trout on artificial lures, using a suspending mirrorlure and a topwater plug.
Scott also caught his first shark, which was a Blacktip shark about two feet long. It put up a good fight on my light spinning gear. I helped him get it off the hook and release it. When catching fish from a kayak, you have to be more careful when taking fish off the hook, especially a shark. A two-foot long shark isn’t too bad to handle, but I have caught 3-4 foot sharks before, and when you get a hand gripper in their mouth they can shake violently and hurt your arm.
It was a beautiful day on the water, clear blue sky with a few clouds. Scott enjoyed the day on the water and took away some knowledge about what to look for on the grass flats. I told him to look for spotty bottom, grass with sandy potholes.