Tide: 1.1ft Low at 4am, 2.0ft High at 10:30am, 0.2ft Low at 7pm
On Saturday I fished the Tropic Bay Kayak Fishing Classic out of Pine Island and Matlacha. Tarpon, snook, redfish, and trout were the eligible species for the tournament with a 40" maximum length for the tarpon. I eliminated a couple areas in two days of prefishing so on tournament day I headed to a spot where I hadn't been in several months but have grand slammed many times in the past. I launched at 6am and luckily found some fish on the way to the tarpon incubator. First up was a little snook.
Not long after I noticed a fish push off a very shallow shoreline. I led him with the topwater by 10 feet and gave a twitch as he honed in on it. 27.2" of backcountry gold.
I pushed further back and made it to the incubator where I was greeted by many happy rollers. After a few casts with a DOA shrimp I put one in the air.
I pedaled around some bends and found trout moving in with the tide. After a few short strikes I stuck one that was 18".
It was now 7:23am and I had all 4 species. I caught fish for the next 3 hours but was only able to upgrade the snook by 3" bringing my grand total to 89.8". Out of 25 entries, third place came in with 60.4", second had 61.3", and with a 10" bonus for completing the grand slam I took first with 99.8". The prizes were relatively sub-par with my major winnings being a Bending Branches paddle, a Deep South fishing rod, a $140 gift certificate for Ocean Waves, and a C-tug kayak cart. To be fair this tournament was part of an 11-leg series in which two kayaks will be given away during the invite only championship at the end of the year.
After the weigh-in I dropped my loot off at the house and headed back out at 6pm to catch the low tide. The reds tailed onto the flat like clockwork in impressive numbers. They were everywhere. The majority of the time I was hiding under the mangroves avoiding lightning strikes but I still got a couple in between the lulls.
