# florida snook trip last week



## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

hit up florida last week for spring break. spent the first part of the week getting sunburnt and enjoying my break, etc.

thursday, friday, saturday we camped out over on tampa bay. only paid 10 bucks a night and our campsite was right on the mangroves with a kayak launch like 20 feet away. to make a long story short, we did pretty good on the snook with most being 22-26" fish and had one 31 incher. didnt do much with the redfish. we saw plenty of them but they were extra spooky.

all and all it was an awesome trip with even better weather. it was a bit breezy but it didnt matter since we stayed tucked up in the mangroves for the most part.

our first snook on the first day..


















underwater release pic









31", talk about a fight









big ol' mouth


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## yogai (Oct 21, 2005)

Good stuff
that last one's a good'un for light tackle. Wish I was out there, cept I don't like kayaks.


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## ruthless (Sep 5, 2003)

Was that Cockroach Bay? Also try out Bullfrog creek next time you go.


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

we went ahead and fished there in simmons park mostly since we had a launch right out of our campsite and didnt feel like loading everything into the car each time. 

went to cockroach bay for a few hours saturday afternoon though after we checked out. saw tons and tons and tons of mullet and i about ran over a manatee back there before where those buoys start . no fish though (saw a few nice sized reds but scurred em).

i think i launched into bullfrog creek back in december when i went to fish the kitchen. it looked like a good place if more water was in there, but it was a negative winter low tide that day. only caught sailcats:--| .


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## SeaSalt (Apr 29, 2002)

nice report as always ryan...


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## ruthless (Sep 5, 2003)

Bullfrog was low for us also, but outside bullfrog and to the right is a great place to get some big shallow water reds. We definatly need to plan a trip down there very soon.


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

let's do it man


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## fisherkid (Jun 30, 2005)

*glad ya like the sunshine state*

where it's always warm I live here and I've yet to catch a snook


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Great pics...*

Nice catch.


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## sandcasting (Jan 25, 2003)

nice snook. bullfrog creek is a good paddle spot. although i've never had a yak there, i have paddled a canoe there on many early mornings. getting to the kitchen via bullfrog on a low tide is almost impossible, especially during the wintertime negative low tides.

the mere mention of bullfrog creek will always bring back good memories for me. i caught my first inshore slam there (snook, redfish and trout) and added a big jack, sheepshead and mini flounder on the frog in one morning. too bad the bait shop at the launch closed last year.

the kitchen is loaded with fishy spots. caught my biggest snook there and landed some beauty reds. the combination of shallow water, mangroves and oyster bars makes the kitchen a great place to get out of any paddle craft and wade for a little while.

next time you make it to florida, try to get to ft desoto. my favorite fishing spot. paddling across the main channel to shell key wildlife preserve will put you in a magnificent nmz (no motor zone).

i just moved from tampa to state college, pa. wish i'd known you were headed to the tampa bay estuary, and i would have given you some spots. looks like you did well by yourself.


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

i know exactly what you mean about those negative low tides. my brother and i fished it one day this past december and ended up doing a lot of dragging and not a lot of fishing . oh well, at least i learned not to do it again. i'll give it a shot next time i go if the tides are better.

ft desoto is one of my favorite places to fish down there too. did pretty good last year on the trout and a few reds (not to mention ladyfish ) but didnt even try last time because i heard it still hadnt quite recovered from last year's red tide fish kills. from what i've read lately, it seems like things might be returning to normal, so maybe next time.


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