Moving from Orlando to Tampa has been a good good move for me and my wife.  We love this side of Florida much better than the other side; but then again it might just be about where you’re comfortable and grew up.

One thing that I’ve missed moving to this side of the state is buddies.  I’ve had them just about everywhere I’ve been since we moved from Lakeland in 2003; in NC, in Orlando, NOT in Africa–could’ve been a reason for a mass failure, and so far nothing to speak of in Tampa.

But through Twitter I met Rob aka @abadbackcast.  We did the twitter thing back and forth a few times then decided we’d meet up.  I’m really a novice yak angler so I knew this would be a learning experience for me.  Rob said he was bringing along a friend, Keith.  They wanted to come down to my neck of the woods: Apollo Beach, because they’d never been on my side of the bay.  (They live over in the St. Pete/Clearwater area.)  When we met, one of Yak Angler‘s founders, Mark, and his wife tagged along.  (I’ve never yaked with so many people.)

So many yak anglers. Love this shot!

We dropped in about 6:30am and headed out.  The water was calm and the temps were nice.  I kind of felt like a guide showing all these good folks my side of proverbial pond, so to speak.  Mark was the first one to land a nice Red Drum.

Mark with his nice redfish

 Shortly after he landed one, I pulled in a borderline sized Spotted Sea Trout.  I hooked another one, but it was a “quick release” as Rob said.  After that, it was pretty slow going.  The water temps this time of year just don’t make for good fishing.  I believe that when the water cools down in a few months, my side of the bay is going hot with fish.

Mark and his wife did have a great encounter with manatees, as they swarmed their yaks, playing with them and pushing them around.  It sounds frightful, but a vegetarian isn’t going to do much damage to you.  Really!

We all wondered if we could set up ecotours to this place.

Burly yak anglers

So, thanks for time dudes!  Looking forward to hitting it again soon.

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