Took the kayak out to Cooper's Bayou this morning. I got there before there was much water in the bayou. So, I fished the flat's on the east side of Cooper's point for a while with nothing. Saw a big stingray come up after my shrimp while I was retrieving and decided to go back into the bayou as I didn't feel like dealing with sting rays.

By this time, the tide had come into the bayou. I fished the mangroves of the island on the north side of the point and still nothing. At this point, I was starting to get frustrated. But I paddled over to the west facing side of the point and threw a shrimp under the mangroves. Not 10 seconds later, WHAM! Unfortunately, I was not very optomistic and didn't anchor up. As a result, I ended up with a face full of mangrove, but still landed an 18" red.

After I got him on the stringer, I paddled away from the mangroves put an anchor down this time. Another shrimp under the mangroves and something ate it off my hook. Next cast and I felt a "tap tap" but didn't do anything. I was thinking that it was just a jumpy shrimp because my line never swam away. A couple minutes later, I was retrieving the bait to check if it was still alive and my drag starts singing! I see the shadow of a nice redfish run the opposite direction of my line. After all is said and done, I pull up a 25" red who swapped spots the 18"-er from earlier and came home with me.

What started as not a bad day because I was on the water turned into a pretty good day with a couple nice fillets in the fridge for tonight.

Nice!

Thanks for the report and welcome to the site! :greet:

Welcome aboard.

I'm glad you caught some fish. I'm not a fish cop but that's a no no.

Just for the education of those who are not familiar with the law, It is illegal to Cull fish in Florida.
Sanctioned Redfish Tournament fishing is the only exemption.

In saltwater culling (catch, hold and release) is not permitted for any species with the exception of red drum during a licensed tournament with a valid exemption permit.

Perhaps you didn't know....now you do and others will too.

Thanks for the tip. I did not know that rule existed. And had to do WAY too much searching to confirm what you told me.

Thanks again.

Pfffft, I won't tell if you won't!

To further address IntimiGator's heads up -

So, here is what the rule is. If you catch and hold a fish for anything more than measuring the fish, you have "harvested" that fish for your bag limit. Too late now, but the moment I put that first redfish on a stringer, I harvested it, and my redfish bag limit for the day was maxed out. By FWC rule, I harvested two redfish today.

I hope this passes the understanding that I gained along to someone else.

Nice work at Cooper's Bayou. That's a great winter fishing location and glad to see the reds are still hanging around. I haven't fished there in a couple of years.

Are you launching from the park on Bayshore or the Courtney Campbell?

I would be careful with fish on a stringer, especially in that area as there are lots of sharks just off the flats to the north of that point (south of the Safety Harbor / Clearwater city line) I caught a few there before.

I had to abandon my stringer for a Kayak Cooler Bag from Seattle Sports. I still think the stringer worked better but I had encountered too many larger sharks in these areas and decided to play it safe.

No one follows that rule. Especially offshore where you could only take one or two or now zero grouper. So you see fish that are keepers floating around be cause somebody swapped them out. Another example of a rule that does exactly the opposite of what it was supposed to. It's a no no? Ha. Oh well. Don't have stupid rules like you can keep ONE redfish or only 4 red grouper per boat. I caught like 100 red grouper yesterday and could have caught 1000. There is no shortage at all.

Not trying to insult anyone but attitudes like those expressed by gulfscuba and k3anderson are part of the reason why fishing sometimes gets a bad rap. The rules and laws are there for a reason and whether or not you agree with them, you are still required to abide by them. Those fish you see floating around demonstrate a wanton waste of wildlife and complete disrespect for not only the resource but also for fellow anglers. Perhaps the problem doesn't always lie with the rules but rather with the fact that some people choose to blatantly disregard them.

-Geoff

GeoffS wrote:
And you never drive 70 in a 55?

Unrealistic or ill-informed rules are often those most likely to be circumvented or bent.

I've fished multiple times with one of the guys you called out and you couldn't be further off base. There are some really generous guys on this board that are willing to expend their time and resources to help bring people into the sport...I think that entitles them to an opinion within a fishing oriented community such as this...

B)

Stop !.

None of us are perfect. I can't walk on water.

I saw a learning moment about culling saltwater fish in Florida.

We can agree to disagree.

You can choose to obey or not. That's on you.

It's never right to do wrong and it's never wrong to do right.

My intent was not to bad mouth either of you guys but rather point out that regardless of how we feel about a rule that we are still bound by it. Sorry it came out that way.

Anyway, crboggs, I could not agree with you more in that the posters on these forums are a wealth of information and that everyone is entitled to an opinion. I admit it is largely because of this site, and the posters, that I have become so interested in this sport so thank you to everyone who contributes.

Thanks IntimiGator for putting us in check, and again, gulfscuba and k3anderson my apologies.

I launched right off of Bayshore there at Alligator Lake park. Ended up catching the fish under the mangroves directly across from there.

No apologies needed. My disdain was directed at the person(s) who dreamed up that law. I never knew about culling salt water fish not that I have ever done it because I release almost every fish I catch. I really don't see any harm in it, bass fishermen do it all the time. Thanks for the heads up anyway.

Ha Ha Ha. :starwars: