Zman Flappin CrawZ

http://www.bassmaster.com/gear/z-mans-durable-flapping-crawz

Nice review of the new Zman Flappin Crawz.

Cooler weather = Spec Fishing!

Growing up in Florida, you become accustomed to hot weather and summer time fishing patterns which tend to last the majority of the year. Contrary to what some people north of the state believe, it does get cold here in Florida and does have an affect on fishing. Most fish slow down in the winter leaving anglers scrambling for ways to find fish. However, the speckled perch (crappie) love the cooler water temperatures and will school up making for some fun days on the water. Saturday was one of those days for myself and Dad. It was around 48 degrees early in the AM with a 10+ wind expected to increase to 20+ by noon and the weatherman was right on his prediction. Since the wind was so high, we decided to "just" go spec fishing on the Withlacoochee River instead of chasing reds in the shallows. We ran up river to an old phosphate pit which is typically good for us around Thanksgiving/Christmas. Mostly it is open water casting in deep holes, but this time there was a large mat of grass/pads in the area we like to fish. As soon as we started dropping the Myti-Mite jigs down through the grass, we were pulling in 10" + specs. We ended up catching two dozen and keeping the 10 slabs for a fish fry at lunch. The grass was sitting over a 20 ft hole but the fish were suspended anywhere from 3-6 ft under the grass.

Spec fishing is something that all fisherman have probably done during their lifetime but doesn't get all the attention that bass, reds and grouper receive. I am guilty of this and don't go spec fishing as much as I once did. But there is no more enjoyable day on the water than what I had Saturday and it is something that any person/kid can easily do. All you need is a light action spinning rod or even a jig pole. I prefer to use jigs but live minnows are a staple for spec fisherman and provide a great way to catch a good mess of fish. The jig of choice for the day was the Myti-Mite in the Christmas Tree (Red/Green) and Powder Puff (Pink/White). Here are a few pictures from the day.

Zman PaddlerZ

Zman will be rolling out several new lures in their Elaztech line for 2012, one of which being the 5" Scented PaddlerZ. I got the opportunity to test out the New Penny PaddlerZ last week in search of some redfish. I have been hearing reports that the bull reds have been moving in schooling up near the outside points and islands so my Dad got out on the water in Yankeetown for two quick trips. The PaddlerZ did not disappoint as we boated 10 reds over the slot between the two days. The awesome thing about Elaztech is we both are still using the original PaddlerZ we started with. The largest caught was an enormous 34" incher. Versatility is the best feature of the new PaddlerZ because they can either be fished on the weighted swim bait hook under the surface or ran across the top of the water. Dad figured this out quickly and his 30" came charging after it from about 10 yards away and exploded on it. If only I would have had the flip to catch that on camera. Do yourself a favor and make sure you add some Scented PaddlerZ to your tackle box.

Keys trip (part 2)

Two trips to the keys in one summer...I definitely could get used to that lifestyle down there. We just got back from a week staying in Marathon where we rented a house on a canal off the ocean. The place was great and the weather was perfect other than it being 100+ degrees every day. Unfortunately, this made the inshore and near shore reef fishing a little slow but we still were able to find some fish. The highlight of the trip was the 40"+ barracuda my sis caught while reeling up a nice yellowtail. She was really pumped and I was amazed we were able to land that fish with only 14lb. test line and a 30lb. mono leader. Most of the yellowtail and mangrove snappers we caught were on the small side but we did manage to find a few keeper fish. I had some fun the last afternoon catching several nice barracudas and snapper on a Blue Glimmer MinnowZ. The Elaztech in the Zman baits is really some awesome stuff because I was able to use the same bait for all of the fish and it never tore. The snorkeling out of Marathon was unbelievable on the Sombrero Reef and the whole group had a blast seeing all the fish. Of course they don't let you fish on that reef but we enjoyed it anyways.

The most surprising part of our trip was when we were anchored off the 7 Mile bridge and the local Monroe County Sheriff's deputy pulled up to us in his boat. My initial thought was of course he is going to check all of us for licenses and I am going to have to pull out all my safety gear, but this encounter was different. The deputy yelled out to asking if we could do a favor for him. I said sure whatever you need us to do. Not only did he not ask us for any licenses or safety gear, he was actually coming to give us some advice on a better place to fish. We followed him into the bay where he put us on several nice rock piles where we caught many grunt and snapper. I guess you just never know what to expect.

Quick afternoon trip

I had some work in Dunnellon Wednesday afternoon, so after I was finished, I met up with my dad to hit the water for an afternoon trip. Little did we know that this day would be full of big fish. We left out of Yankeetown around 4:30, and as we were running out the barge canal, we ran into a huge school of tarpon feeding on schools of bait. There must have been 50+ tarpon in there with most of them being 5ft+. I was even splashed by one after he struck at some bait right beside the boat. Unfortunately, watching them was the only thing we were able to do as they would not hit anything we were offering. We then ran out to fish around the islands to see if we could find some redfish. The first place we stopped didn't produce any reds but dad did lose his Mirrodine to a huge Cobia. This fish must have been between 40"-50" and was too much for his light tackle rod to handle. We finished the day searching for reds as the tide began to fall. As we approached an island that has always produced fish, dad noticed a huge fish tailing on a mud bank. I threw a Rootbeer/Gold Scented ShrimpZ just to the left of him and the fight was on. About fifteen minutes later, I landed the biggest Black Drum I had ever caught. This fish must have been over 30 pounds. It wasn't my red I was looking for but who can complain about a big fish like that. It was about 8:00 now and just as we were fixing to leave, we noticed several nice reds tailing in the shallows. We were able to spot five reds tailing and dad got one to take his Booyah spinnerbait. Seeing reds tailing in shallow water is sure an awesome sight.

We had a great time and were sure lucky to come across that many big fish in such a short time. With trips like that, I might have to make it apart of my weekly work schedule.

July 4th Scalloping

We decided to hit the water early Saturday morning hoping to get a little fishing in before the sun got up and the mass of boats scalloping took over. Well, so much for this idea. We were met at the entrance to the ramp by Citrus County deputies routing all boats to one ramp because they had the Ft. Island Beach ramp shut down due to a bike race. After waiting in line for almost a half hour, we loaded the boat in and headed for the flats. It was an extremely strong outgoing tide in the morning which prohibited us from getting too far in the backcountry like I had hoped. I was able to catch one decent trout on a Smoky Shad MinnowZ. We then headed out to the scalloping "circus" off St. Martin's Key and did pretty well for just two people scalloping. Moved around a couple of times and found decent size scallops in both places. I wish I had taken a picture of the horizon around us but there must have been at least 500 boats in our view to the north and south. After scalloping, we decided to call it a day and head in to beat the crowds and the good ole Florida heat. All and all, it was a very nice day but I think I will wait to go fishing again until this holiday weekend traffic is gone.                                                                                                                                              

The past few weeks I have been on the road traveling with work and family and of course fishing where I can. I was lucky enough to spend three days in Islamorada with other agents from Farm Bureau on a "work" trip but honestly it was nothing more than a great fishing trip in the Florida Keys. Most of the guys ventured offshore for dolphin but we stayed in the back country and near shore since my Shearwater Flats boat isn't quite made for the deep waters the dolphin are in. We targeted both yellowtail and mangrove snapper using live and cut bait. The fishing was excellent with my boat easily bringing in limits of snapper every day. The yellowtail were caught on several reefs out of Islamorada in 60-100 ft. I had never had the Shearwater in water that deep but I was pleasantly surprised how well it handled the water and seas. Although most fish were caught on live bait, I was able to catch a few nice mangrove snapper like the one above using a Zman ShrimpZ. We even had a nice barracuda steal one of our snapper and it put up a good fight for the few seconds it was on before the line was cut. It doesn't take long for those big cudda to snap mono line. All in all, it was a great trip with many fish caught and another relaxing time in the Keys. Looking forward to heading back down there in July and maybe catching a bonefish or permit this time.

After getting back from the Keys and working a few days I traveled to Williamsburg, VA to visit family. It was a short trip but I did squeeze in a little bass fishing on the Chickahominy River. The boat was left in Florida so I was fishing out of a kayak this time. Kayak fishing is not something I do a lot of but it does eoffer a much different perspective on the water. My baits of choice for the weekend were the Zman ZinkerZ in the PB&J and Junebug colors and the bass were liking what they saw. I caught several nice largemouth bass fishing the creeks off the main river channel and did have a 4+ pounder throw the hook right at the yak. There is something exciting about hooking into a bass only to have him drag you around in the water. It was a lot of fun catching bass in a new area and I look forward to the next Virginia bass fishing trip.