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?
Printable View
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?
Hit up fishin813 and yelim on the Florida board. They live on that side. But do not overlook the saltwater fishing in the Tampa area from that kayak. Stellar fishing is to be had. Plenty, plenty, plenty of fishing opportunities from the kayak in Florida everywhere. Not great without a boat of some sort except surf fishing but a yak or canoe opens up some great stuff.
Thanks huntingslabs!
I hope you're planning on fishing the salt, too. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieTim
Lots of good saltwater fishing in that area.
Yep, I plan to chase some redfish and trout
In addition to trout and redfish I also intend to try my hand at this new exotic fish that I hear lives in Florida. I think that they all it a Speck :)
They not exotic, plenty to go around, just not sure of the Tampa area. Harold and Miley should be along shortly, I put a link on Florida board for ya. On the salt google "microskiff" great forum with a bunch of guys local to the Tampa area. If you can get a feller named Ducknut pinned down, listen very close to what he has to offer as well as shadowcast and anytide. When ya moving down? Things will start to turn on here mid September for Specks.
I start my new Job on 8/3. I am looking forward to hitting the crappie down in Florida. It has been a lean year up here in Nebraska. It rained all spring so I completely missed the spawning bite. For some reason I have not caught a ton of crappie. I have had a banner year with the gills catching several over 15". I am pretty sure that I through back an Iowa State record gill a few weeks ago without thinking to have it looked at.Quote:
Originally Posted by huntinslabs
Good luck on the new job. Fish around a while here before buying a boat. Figure out what and where you will be spending time. The west coast from Tampa thru the panhandle is not very friendly to glass boats. Tons of rock and oyster formations. If yer off on Saturdays and have settled in by October and dont mind a long early morning car ride to the other side of Orlando, your welcome to hop a seat in my boat some Saturday if ya dont mind longlining.
Don't forget your are nothing but gator bait in the canoe.
My sister lives in Tampa and I went down a few months ago. Lots of water and bridges. Caught a lot of different fish and had a blast. Lots of traffic down there for this country boy. Looked at the area for retirement and did not see a lot of crappie lakes on the coast. Good luck and be safe.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieTim
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.
Em cute lil lizards wont bother ya.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
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.
Very wise choice on all accounts. I would seriously spend maybe 2 years looking around and get a really good feeling of where you want to live. Try and shy away from communities with HOA if possible or at the very least very very carefully read any HOA documents. Some around here are extremely ludicrous. Usually good rural living can be within 30-45 minutes from anywhere. But hopefully this doesnt sound horrible cause it aint, pretty nice living down here but gotta pay attention. And yep great fishing on all accords. But make sure at some point ya make it over to Rainbow Springs State Park and float the river. And will especially appreciate wearing shorts in January at times.
Have you leased an apartment yet? I ask because there are some complexes on nice lakes. Depends on where you will be working and how much driving you want to do. Lake Carlton Arms is one, Lake Magdalene is another. Carlton Arms apartments are usually on water. One is on the Hillsborough River.
Ha! And Redfish, Snook, Speckled Trout, Jack Cravelle, Flounder, Tarpon, Drum,Spanish Mackeral, cobia, Sheephead, very large Bass, Sharks, you are moving to a very very fishy area. Epic adventures await you. The kayak will not slow ya down on the catching once ya get a feel for everything. Heck there is even a population of Gag Grouper in the Bay around the skyway bridge. You should be very excited. All the talk and press that Mosquito Lagoon gets, I feel that the area you are moving to dwarfs Mosquito Lagoon on quality and diversity of fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieTim
We will be at the Island Walk apartments in the Town and Country area. Our unit is right by one of the freshwater canals. There is two ponds on the property as well. I won't have to go far to get the kayak onto water. I am hoping the canals there have a few decent gills and bass.
Cant tell for sure, but looking at google earth I bet those are saltwater canals as close to Tampa Bay as that is. Either way should be a plenty of fish. A great place to fish is just southwest of you at Ft Desoto. Heck everywhere around you is great fishing.
What company are you working for down here?
Tim The area around Island walk is mostly salt. If you look at Google maps you can follow the canals to Moody Bay. Moody Bay and the areas north of Courtney Campbell Causey are known as Upper Tampa Bay. You are just south of Lake Tarpon. Lots of yak water in that area. The farther inland you go on the canals the fresher the water will be. Rocky Creek is a good area as is Double Branch. Double Branch has a County or State Park with a canoe or kayak launch. Lake Tarpon has 2 parks to launch from. Very good area for a kayak. Get a GPS so you can get back home. Easy to get turned around in those salt marshes. Also gators in salt water, but few.
Thanks Yelim, this helps me plan my immediate fishing. Before your note I was thinking the canal by the apartment would be freshwater so I was planning on attacking gills and bass. I am a rookie at saltwater fishing but it looks like it should not be a difficult transition from gills and bass to redfish and trout.
Mullet, mud minnows and Pilchards ILO minnows and shiners, and Shrimp ILO crickets and worms. Bass tackle and baits work remarkably well just have to be vigilant on clean up afterwards. Biggest difference is the saltwater fish are mean and have no mercy on the fight, and lots of teeth. A Spanish Mackeral and Speckled Trout will make a Pikes mouth look like a meth addict. And do not get anywhere near the gill plate on a Snook things are like razor blades.
Salt water everything bites. Don't walk barefoot on the rocks (barnacles) or on oyster beds Rocky Creek and Double Branch. Remember The Online Fisherman for salt water inshore fishing, join in and read the forums. Most members will help you get started. Like HS said watch the teeth and gill plates on Snook. You can lip snook like bass, same kind of teeth. Be sure to let us know how do when you get here.
Just a little summertime tease. The Online Fisherman http://www.crappie.com/crappie/flori...t-lakeland-fl/
https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recre...mpabypass.html This canal holds some very good fish. You can launch at this park, go south to US 301 and I-4 bridges for structure that hold crappie, redear, gills and snakeheads.
Several good Spec lakes on west side of state, also central part holds good numbers,
Crappie bite year round down here.
Lake Tarpon - has 2 & possible 3 pounders avail. (2,500 acres)
A small lake west part of Hillsborogh county (Medard Park)
800 acres........just getting back into real action - was drained 5 yrs ago to
rebuild dam. Rumor is heavy they are several 2 lbs in there.......
Lake Manatee - down by Bradenton - 2,500 acres - excelland fishery
When you settled in down here send me e-mail or pm. Will try and help you get
started on right foot & direction to have furn.
I am vp/sec Florida Crappie Club - we do 20 tournaments a year in Florida
Harold McGhee
[email protected]
813 215-9759
Knowin as fishing813 on CDC. also have Florida Crappie Forum here.
Will give mountains of information about state of Florida and what is used
to catch.
Welcome to Florida - hope your stay will be a long one
Watch out for gators. They everywhere. Saw about 70,000 in a stadium.:yikes
We make a gumbo out of em here. :Rofl
Those have become toothless the last few years. LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
Hope you got moved O K with all this rain.