Sea trout and a scare from a manatee by Basil Dubrosky

Posted on November 27, 2017 by VHFC

I left the dock at 8:30 A. M. and headed to the Sarasota North Bay about 5 miles away. When I got to my spot at 3 foot depth near a grass flat, I grabbed my spinning rod and was shocked to see what I thought was a huge brown boulder in the water next to the boat. My first thought was that I was going to damage my motor but then I realized that this was a huge manatee. He lingered for a while then gently paddled away.
I baited a 1/8 oz. green jig with chartreuse 4 inch Gulp swimming minnow. The spotted sea trout pounded the bait for the next hour until I used up the entire pack of Gulp. I kept 7 large trout.
I motored over to long bar, a 4 mile long sand bar in the middle of the bay. I caught several more large trout as I drifted parallel to the bar in 3 feet of water. I returned home at 12:30 P. M. Tomorrow I will depart at 7:30 A. M. so that I have longer fishing time before the action stops.

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