Steve Betz

It seems I don't get to spend as much time as I would like fishing with my wife. Karen loves to fish but seems that daily life gets in the way at times.

We made plans to get out this Sunday and do a little inshore reef fishing. As we approached our launch site I knew the plan was going to have to change.

Fog had set in and it was thick. I don't like running in the fog or sitting at anchor in the middle of the bay either. Its just not the safest thing to do as other boaters just can not see you.

So our plan switched to staying close to the mangrove's in areas the boats would not be running.

After making our way slowly to a very close destination threw the dense fog by GPS navigation we were soon baited up and fishing.

Karen was first up with a nice trout. Then it was red fish one after another. All on the small side. Then I started catching some trout when I heard Karen say " I dont know what it is but I have something big!"

I looked over and her rod was bent double. I told her to take it easy and let the rod and the reels drag do the work. That was all the coaching it took and her old fishing censes kicked in and it was reel down and pull up.

The fish made some runs ripping off drag but Karen soon won the battle and landed a nice 30" Red Drum.

After a quick picture and release we continued to fish as the fog lifted.

The boat traffic got heavy so we decided to call it a morning and made it back home in time to watch our Tampa Bay Buc's get there butts whooped by the Jet's.

Fish Species: Red Drum and Trout
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Steve Betz

About The Author: Captain Steve Betz

Company: Fishing Tampa

Area Reporting: Tampa

Bio: I have been fishing the Tampa Bay area waters for over 30 years. My specialty is redfish,snook,and trout along with targeting shallow water grouper,tarpon and sharks.

813-727-8843
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Steve Betz