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We've got a good low tide coming up this Wed. evening -- 0.4 in Port Tampa and 0.3 in Dunedin --- unusual for this time of year. I've had this marked on my calendar for weeks. Anyone going out to take advantage of the skinny water?
I know I'll be out there.

Mike Hodge wrote:We've got a good low tide coming up this Wed. evening -- 0.4 in Port Tampa and 0.3 in Dunedin --- unusual for this time of year. I've had this marked on my calendar for weeks. Anyone going out to take advantage of the skinny water?
I know I'll be out there.

I've been waiting for this tide for weeks. One of the lowest lows we've had, fishable ones at least. And it $%&@ rains. Damn.

The rule of thumb with the weather, at least in my experience, is to never make your intentions known. If mother nature finds out that you made plans, she will make plans too.

I got caught in it. As soon as the tide was perfect the heavens let loose. Had a couple shots but the fish were skittish as hell.

Went back out Thursday evening. The low was 0.1 at 8:30. Couldn't fish the incoming because PIsland closes at dusk. Had to hustle back to the launch around 8. Barely made it out of there in time.

Back to the flats: This was the first real low tide I'd fished since moving here and I now understand what my main problem was: Too much water. A super low tide makes a huge difference in visibility from a kayak. Can't wait for fall and winter.

Might want to get ill tomorrow, late afternoon. Just sayin.

Dave: 0.2 at around 7, Port Tampa. Got it marked. Can stay a little later if I need to. Hopefully the winds will cooperate and if they don't, I should be OK because I'll be wading, so getting blown around in the native won't be an excuse.

... I'm finally catching on.

Gonna give my fishin hole a try. We'll compare notes.

Less bitchin' more fishin'.

Mike Hodge wrote:Dave: 0.2 at around 7, Port Tampa. Got it marked. Can stay a little later if I need to. Hopefully the winds will cooperate and if they don't, I should be OK because I'll be wading, so getting blown around in the native won't be an excuse.


... I'm finally catching on.

You learn quickly Grasshopper

Waded Legion flats. Had a 0.2. Got there before the low, which was 7 and stayed til almost dark.

Had a tough ass West wind 12-15. My guess is that pushed some water into the flat. It was skinny (though not as much as I had hoped), but there was a chop so it was hard to see, even harder to fly cast.

Saw plenty of mullet tailing.
Saw crabs and rays.
Did not see a redfish tail or back.

I think it was a wind issue. Legion doesn't offer much shelter from the wind, which I knew going in, but it's close to my house, which makes it ideal for late afternoon/evening trips.

I got someone to go tarpon fishing with off the beach Sunday. I've got an 11-weight and a ample tarpon flies. Looking forward to it because I might actually see the fish that I'm trying to catch. Summer-time reds, the tides, kayaks and sight fishing sure don't mix, that's for damn sure.

Cross the Bridge when the wind is from the West.

The wind was a bitch. I did see 3 fish but no takers on the fly. While waiting for he tide to drop I did catch 3 on the spoon up to 30" so all was not lost.

Glad I'm not totally incompetent.http://paddle-fishing-forum.com/posting ... 13&t=36904#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... I probably need to be a little more flexible and go to the spinning rod when conditions warrant. I'm pretty committed to using the long rod. That's good and bad, I guess.

After grinding away since late March/early April a couple times a week (at least) on the water in search of sight-fished reds, I've come to the conclusion that it's really, really tough in the summer. For good sight fishing conditions you need the tide, wind and moon to align (at least ideally). Well, that's pretty tough to get in the summer because the skinnier tides are in the evening when there's not much water movement and there's a bigger chance for wind because of the time of day.

Ideally, the a.m., super skinny tides are best and those really don't kick in until September. Am I on to something here?

Assuming I'm right, I'm going to focus on tarpon and beach snook and not waste so much energy on quarry that's not going to show itself a lot this time of year.

Skinny tides are not a necessity for sight fishing for redfish. Learning to stand in you paddle craft and having a stealthy approach will eliminate your need to only fish a 2 hour tide window once a month.