Belly Up Behemoths

[fishmaster892]

Jacob and I headed out to one of my favorite spots in Tampa Bay. With all the reports of fish kills in this area I wasn't sure what to except. When we pulled up to the waters edge around sunrise we were greeted with scene that could not be any worse. Dead fish of all different species everything from cat fish to snook with everything else in between. The smell was also horrible as it was a reminder of red tide I never wanna smell again. We began paddle to the flats and about every 100ft there was another dead 40in + snook! :bang: Several other large fish were around including massive jacks up to 30lbs +.


Well after seeing the horrible scene we attempted to catch so fish. But it was hard to get those images out of your head. The mullet were out and about all over the flats once the sun got up a little higher. Well I got split up from Jacob and drifted the flat for a while casting in to pot holes. After 45 minutes of that I saw a massive red probably 35inchs. With my brand new rod I casted a gold and glow doa cal. I didn't even get a chance to pop it when my line started screaming off my reel. It felt great to catch a good fish on a rod I built. The red ended up being right at 30inchs. It was also my first no spot red!!!!! Jacob also caught a really nice trout and I got a small flounder.
Jacob has a lot more pictures I'm waiting to get.

These are some of the cold weather victims

[mudfish]

Sweet catching on that Red Merrick. Guess those lures work after tourney's too.

Seeing those big girls floating breaks my heart.