Dan Carns
If you have been reading my articles for a while you’ll note that I write specifically about kayak fishing related topics, but not fishing forecasts. Anyone who fishes as much as I do could write forecasts, but there is a slew of qualified writers in this magazine that cover the month to month happenings expected here in SWFL. There are some general rules to follow; redfish in October, trout in the winter, snook in the spring and tarpon in the summer; but the truth is you can catch them all year round. This requires some serious tactical changes on your part but the beauty of fishing is that while you may love to follow a routine, adapting to new environments or switching to lures that are unfamiliar, can only make you a better angler and will lead to more fish more often!
I, like you, have my favorite launches and locations that I return to time and time, again knowing full well where I’m going to catch specific fish depending on the time of year. So when I recently moved, I found myself in unfamiliar territory and went in search of some advice from a friend. Mike assured me that my new neighborhood had an abundance of the usual species and maybe larger fish than I’d grown accustomed to. So, when my move was completed I picked a flat calm morning and launched my kayak into the upper Caloosahatchee full of promise and hope. Mind you that we are kayakers and can only cover so much ground at one time, but I felt as though I had enough time and distance to find some fish. Boy was I wrong, not only did I not see any fish (except rolling tarpon) I managed to catch 1 ladyfish in 4 hours and wasted two of them throwing the kitchen sink at said tarpon, all the while using what I consider to be standard setups. On my next outing I switched everything around, bright colors instead of natural, larger presentations instead of small, swimbaits instead of paddle tails and then I started looking around for drop-offs, ambush points and deeper access points where the fish could make runs onto shallow flats, but still have quick exits to deep water. I next focused on active bait pods and sure enough hit pay dirt! The next 3 hours were a clinic in changing tactics, environments, and making a mental map of the underwater structure so that my return trips will again be successful and worthwhile.
Kayakers are in a unique position to better understand an area as we tend to return to the same spots over and over due to distance restriction, as we cannot just fly off to the next spot and must take advantage of every little chance to find fish. I encourage you to expand your range and find new places to fish, but be forewarned it may take a few trips and some adjustments to dial it in!
Its A Wild World-Get Out There!
Fishman Dan
