Catching Trout At Pine Island

I strayed from my usual trout hole, Gasparilla Sound, to fish Pine Island on Saturday. I have only fished Pine Island 5-6 times, so I’m still learning the area. There’re some nice grass flats with “pot holes” right out from the kayak launch site.
My experience in fishing Pine Island has been catching fewer trout than Gasparilla Sound but larger ones. In Gasparilla Sound, there had been times when I have taken a couple of clients out, and they caught 50-60 trout in a 4-hour charter, but only 2-3 of them would be keepers.
This trip I decided to go for quality instead of quantity, so my son and I went to Pine Island. We caught six trout along with several strikes on our top water lures without a hookup. Two of the trout were 13-14 inches long, and the four keepers were 16-18 inches with plenty of meat on them. We caught two on a red and white Spook Jr, and the other two were caught on shrimp under a popping cork.
When we got to the monument kayak launch site I remembered why I prefer to go there during the week. Although we got there at 7:15 am just as it was getting light out, the five car parking area was already filled up. After we unloaded the kayaks I had to park my truck a few blocks away.
It was a perfect day for throwing topwater baits with calm winds and overcast skies. I had a strike on my very first cast, but no hook-up. In the past getting a strike on the first cast has been the start of a productive day and other times it would take a few hours to get another bite.
We caught four of the six trout in the first hour of fishing. We found them in 2-3 foot of water. The second hour we caught the other two trout, then nothing in the last hour. After 3 hours of fishing, we decided to call it a day. We had enough fish for a nice fish fry.
If you go to the monument launch to put in your kayak be sure to bring some insect repellent. Yesterday wasn’t too bad, but as summer approaches, the mosquitos can be very bad in the morning. Also, wear some water shoes that don’t come off to easily or you will lose them because there is a lot of muck at the launch site.