By Brent Bensmiler:
Summer is here and the bait is plentiful! Bring your cast net and load up on white bait along the inlets or 
beaches, before yakin’ to the bay. As always, look for diving birds and action on the surface of the water, to locate schools of bait fish. It should only take a couple throws with the net to black out your bucket. Fishing from the beach will put your tackle to the test, with plenty of sharks, snook, and huge tarpon lurking within yards of the shoreline. These fish will be more than willing to take a live pinfish or white bait that’s cast within reach. For you guys that like throwing artificials, try using a gold spoon or root beer colored D.O.A baitbuster. Make sure to get on the water at sunrise and look for rolling tarpon. When you find a few rollers you will most likely get a tarpon hanging below to chew, so hang tight and hold on. Focus on these schools of fish for a couple hours and if they don’t cooperate, move on to the reds and snook inshore.
July is a great month to target reds, snook, and tarpon in the back waters too. Locate mangroves near the inlets and fish the deeper sides or any holes you can find on the flats. If you are new to fishing the area, google maps is a great way to find the deeper water and great fishing spots. Position your kayak within 50ft of the mangrove tree line and anchor up. This will be a good distance to ensure bigger fish will not be able to pull you into the trees. Bring a light to medium setup and free line live baits along the mangrove edge to get hooked up. Make sure to always cast as close as you can to the mangroves to catch game fish, otherwise you will catch unwanted trash fish. Oyster bars will also be holding huge schools of mullet and you can count on game fish to be hanging nearby. You have plenty of options for kayak fishing this time of year, so get out and catch a slam! Wake up early and get on the water before sunrise and it’ll all be worth it. Tight lines guys.