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Sports

Tampa Bay Area A Kayak Fisherman's Heaven

The Myakka River, just one of many pristine kayak fishing destinations locally, produced snook, bass and a gator on a recent adventure.

"There's a line of demarcation you can't cross," Steve Gibson rattled from across the river. "Probably at that palm tree. Then he'll be gone."

My kayak crept toward an overhanging cabbage palm on the Myakka River on Feb. 2. The gator, about 6 or 7 feet in length, did not move. The kayak passed the palm, to within 30 feet of the gator. Now 25 feet. And closing ...

"He's got his eye on you," Gibson said.

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The closest picture (included in a slideshow with this column) came from about 20 feet away. Then a crash. As though lightning snapped from the overcast sky, the gator burst into the water. A few rips and swirls could be heard from beneath the water as the lizard king swam away.

This is the beauty of kayaking and, in particular, kayak fishing. You are part of the environment. A kayak leaves no horseshoe prints in mud, no Nike signs in sugar sand, no gas fumes strangling the atmosphere. Fish, birds, gators, otters, turtles -- they hardly heard our kayaks. That is, unless we crossed the line of demarcation.

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The Tampa Bay area is one of the top spots in the world -- believe it or not -- for kayak fishing. Shallow waters, winding rivers as abundant as a spaghetti pile, and an array of inshore species that frequent freshwater spots, make the Bay area a kayak fisher's heaven.

A front was beginning to pass through as we began fishing "Snook Haven" on the Myakka River at 7 a.m. A dropping barometer can tend to trigger a heck of a snook bite because of the associated low air pressure. A few snook came to bite one of the DOA 4-inch jerk worms or paddle tails Gibby and I threw with light spinning rods, 10-pound braided line and 25-pound fluorocarbon leaders.

Around 10 a.m., on an outgoing tide (outgoing tides seem to produce the best bites on many local rivers), Gibson, a kayak fishing guide for Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing Charters out of Sarasota, brought an estimated 30-inch snook to the vessel before it wore through the leader. Snook have mouths as gritty as sandpaper, a reason it is important to often check and change leaders.

But it was the largemouth bass, about a dozen in all, that wound up crashing our artificials and skyrocketing from the tea-colored waters.

Those crystal-clear yet tea-colored waters, whipped by 25 mph gusts and surrounded by cabbage palms (the only palm trees native to Florida) are just part of an array of natural Florida vegetation.

"This scenery," Gibson said as he scanned the towering shoreline, "is what it would have looked like in the 1400s."

And the Myakka River is not the only spot. There are many canoe and kayak launch points in the Bay area, and kayak/canoe owners know some of them. But below are some Bay area spots where just about anyone with a hook and line can rent a canoe or kayak and indulge in Old Florida.

(And if you want to snap a picture of a wild gator, do not cross that line of demarcation.)

  • Rays Canoe Hideaway on the Upper Manatee River, 1289 Hagle Park Road, Bradenton, FL 34212-9106; (941) 747-3909
  • Siesta Key Bike & Kayak, 1124 Old Stickney Point Road, Sarasota, 34242; (941) 346-2580
  • Alafia River Canoe Rentals Inc., 4419 River Drive, Valrico, 33586; (813) 689-8645
  • Sail Honeymoon, 61 Causeway Blvd., Dunedin, 34698; (727) 734-0392
  • Wind-n-WaterSports, 4154 U.S. 19, New Port Richey, 34652; (727) 736-8663
  • Lake Rogers Park, 9010 N. Mobley Road, Odessa, 33556; (813) 264-3917
  • Canoe Outpost on the Little Manatee River, 18001 U.S. 301 S, Wimauma, 33598; (813) 634-2228
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