By: Dan Carns
There are a number of reasons that you might consider when it comes to hiring a kayak guide service. The most obvious reason is that perhaps your brand new to the sport and have neither fished or kayaked or both. Maybe you already are an experienced kayak angler but are new to an area and just want to get some pointers. Most of our clients fit somewhere in the middle and either need help adding a kayak to their already extensive fishing experience or want to add fishing in their kayaking travels.
We have several guides at Gulf Coast Kayak that specialize in the local environment and fish species, but our main objective is to teach all our clients basic and advance kayak fishing techniques. The primary reason is that we are not just guides but instructors as well. Once youâve spent time with one of our guides youâll be able to launch in S.W. Florida with confidence and enough knowledge to fish on your own and be successful.
We focus a lot on artificial presentation. There is a tremendous array of plastic options including hard and soft plastics and it can be very confusing when you try to understand what does and what does not work. Go to the local big box fishing store and be prepared to be overwhelmed by the choice of offshore, nearshore and inshore fishing lures. We tend to focus primarily on inshore tactics and species. Our inshore fishery is really quite simple once you learn a few basic setups and habitats because the three main targets, snook, redfish and spotted sea trout all inhabit the same areas and will all hit some of the same lures and baits! We tend to bring live or frozen baits on our guided trips because visually everything eats bait, so if the fishing is tough we know something will eat it as well as you should have a clear idea of how to store live bait and the techniques that work locally here in the Matlacha area.
Once you become accomplished inshore you may want to expand your fishing horizons nearshore or even offshore, but you will need some experience for this more advanced fishing style.
The local environment in the Pine Island, Charlotte Harbor and Matlacha area has seen some tremendous changes due to several major hurricanes in the last few years. If youâre expecting to fish in areas that youâve visited before you may be disappointed or intrigued by the alterations. Our guides have acclimated to the ânewâ environment even though we are still fishing the same area as before. We have new cuts, new flats and newly developing oyster bars that are proving to be very productive in what were nonproductive areas.
Are you familiar with the area but still either struggling or just not producing, consider spending a day with one of our guides. Certainly if you are new to the area or visiting I would recommend hiring our guide service to supercharge your time on the water catching fish!