Thread: Moving to Tampa

Originally Posted by CrappieTim

I am moving to Tampa and looking for a couple of good crappie (I'm speck) lakes. I will be fishing from the kayak for a while until I get a boat. Does anybody have any recommendations?

Post your question here in the Florida Forum. http://www.crappie.com/crappie/florida/ You may get a few more nibbles and responses to your question.

Some of the lakes here are Lake Tarpon, Lake Manatee, Kissimmee and plenty of others depending how far you want to travel. If you can hitch a ride with Huntinslabs the huntin is usually a misnomer, he already knows where they're at. Harold, fishin813 is out sorts right now but should be back on the board in a week or two. Now the saltwater is all around Tampa. One forum among many is theonlinefisherman.com. Plenty of info there and they have a paddle fishing forum.

Thanks Yelim, I am getting pretty stoked about the fishing oppertunities near Tampa. It will be different fishing strictly from a kayak after having a boat and doing a lot of trolling. Thanks for the tips

Don't forget the Gators!

When I was stationed at McDill AFB in Tampa I used to fish Tarpon Lake a lot. Caught a few big bass and LOTS of big Bluegill but not many Crappie. I had a 16 ft Jon boat and it was adequate for fishing in the bay around the smaller bridges and canals. We would anchor and put out a chum bag and caught everything from Spanish Mackeral and Mangrove Snapper to an occasional shark and even a few Cobia. Lots of Sea Trout, big Jacks, Salt Water Catfish, Pomano, Sheapshed, Black Drum and more.

Originally Posted by Cane Pole

Don't forget the Gators!

Em cute lil lizards wont bother ya.

Big green water lizards won't bother you unless someone has been feeding them and they have lost their fear of humans. But then they won't tell you if they have been fed either. If they don't shy away from you then I would shy away from them. Don't leave fish hanging over the side of a kayak. Tim when you get to saltwater kayak keep Cockroach Bay on your list. Google it on Google Earth if you have it. It's a free download if you don't. Also you can look at all the lakes in Central Florida. Give yourself plenty of time to learn the area and ask questions. Lake Tarpon and Lake Manatee are very good crappie lakes although Lake Manatee has a 20 horse power engine restriction. Lots of auto traffic around lake Tarpon. Lord willing I will be spending some time there end of Sept or early Oct. Don't know how you will do from a yak for crappie but Bass are very good in both lakes. There will be lots of places you will want to fish but you don't have to do them all the first day. Hwy 27 corridor, St Johns River and the Florida Keys are wonderful places to fish. There are hundreds of small lakes in Florida that I still haven't fished and I have been here almost 70 years.

Unfortunately I knew that I would miss out on some good crappie fishing this year. The wife and I decided to rent an apartment for the first year so we could get the lay of land before we buy a house. Once we get into a house I be back in the boat with the electronics and other essentials. Crappie are my favorite but big gills are a close second. I should be able to catch some nice gills from the kayak.