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Captain Jesse Nofi
Osprey Bay Outdoors (Clearwater, FL)
Air Temp 82*F-66*F | Water Temp 76*F
Friday the 13th, 2012

Met my clients and launched at 5PM in the kayaks. The winds were blowing an easy 15-20MPH so We fished an area out of the wind. It took a good hour until the tide started flowing well.

Nick, Laura, and Myself all missed a few fish early on.  The wind was blowing hard making it difficult to feel for the bite*

As the sun began to set there was a small cove where a dozen or so mullet came flying out of the water as a group of Snook swalled some finger mullet.  The mullet were about six inches long so i grabbed a 5 inch live pinfish from the kayak.  I casted it up into the cut and handed Nick the rod.

As me and his wife Laura were discussing how to hook live bait Nicks drag started peeling off.

I turned around and ran over to coach him through keeping the Snook out of the Groves.

After a Minute or Two Nick landed this nice Common Snook or Centropomous Undecimalis.

Nick with a Snook

Laura thought she had a big hit, sure enough her bait was mangled.  I threw in a fresh live pinfish, It got eaten within seconds, and I handed over the rod to Laura.  After a battle she brought in this redfish for the dinner table. Redfish taste very good... If you weren't aleady aware*

Me and Laura w/ her Redfish

We continued to fish for a while longer. Running out of Live bait, the bite was somewhat dead.  As darkness approached everything seemed to come alive again.  2 live baits magically appeared in the  bucket which were impossible to find earlier.  We threw them out and Nick hooked a big ladyfish, Laura caught a Monster catfish.  By then we were out of bait and content with the trip.

The paddle to get there was somewhat long so we all wanted to head in.

Overall I wanted my clients to catch more fish, They were happy.

Here's the text I got tonight from Nick and Laura later on *

"Thank you again - we learned alot and had a great time ! Will definiteley go with you  again"

I work at Osprey Bay Outdoors in Clearwater, FL.  Stop in and check us out if you have any questions about Kayaks, Fishing Kayaks, Stand up paddleboards, or Anything at all.

Captian Jesse Nofi

Osprey Bay Outdoors

C: 727.253.9913

Fishing Treasure Island, FL - Capt Jesse Nofi

Saturday - Febuary 26th, 2012
Treasure Island Florida / Boca Ciega Bay
Water temperature (St Petersburg, FL 73*)
Air temp: 65* / 55* after sunset
Wind: 14MPH from the Northeast
Fishing Report and Insight

It was long sleeve t-shirt or sweater weather with cool winds blowing 9-14 mph. The skies were scattered with clouds but allowed enough Sunlight to keep lures visible to the fish.

 I went to a familiar place somewhat protected from the wind and sure enough my pet snook were feeding. As the sun set, the finger mullet began to scatter, and the snook started hammering lures.

I enjoy fishing this area because boaters can't motor in with the tides being so low. It's a kayak fishing area and if you don't know what lures to use, and how to use them, you're not catching.

Here's the first fish of the day. 

A 6-7 pound snook around 28 inches.

 The snook population north of the skyway bridge is on the rebound. I can remember nights in 2006 when wild shrimp were jumping out of the water to stay alive and snook were on the massacre popping shrimp on the surface one after another.

Based on how fishing was last summer, and yesterday, I can confidently say that every year since the freeze the populations have improved. Populations in Tampa bay are getting better as Snook aren't caught by most recreational fisherman but usually those who are die-hard snook addicts.

Here's a picture of one of the fish from yesterday. I caught about 4 this size, some less than and longer than 20 inches.  These fish are alot of fun as they will jump 2-3 times or more before giving up. Based on peer reviewed journals (written by scientists) that i've read about snook, these fish are 2-4 years in age which means in 2-4 more years they are going to all be around 26-30 inches and between 6-8 pounds.

If you have an interest in booking a trip on the boat or picking my mind before doing so feel free to give me a call.  Spring fishing is heating up and the fish are getting ready to blast live mullet and topwater plugs on the surface.  This is some of the most exciting fishing of the year.  I promise you'll remember our trip forever.  I already know that once you catch a snook, you'll be hooked, and calling me again next season. 

Thanks for reading the blog.

Private Charter Fishing
$250.00 1 person
$300.00 2 persons

Capt Jesse Nofi  
C: 727.253.9913

Snook Fishing Tampa Bay, FL - Captain Jesse Nofi

Febuary 4th, 2012

Captain Jesse L Nofi

Tampa Bay, Florida

Air temp 58*

Just as planned  the snook were eating according to schedule. I got a nice one on video for all the people who read the blog or watch my youtube. I landed an unexpected baby tarpon and a redfish after the snook. There were many more fish to be caught but when i'm out alone I like to leave the fish alone once I figure out where they are. If i'm fishing with a client we fish a hole until there's no more bites.

Springtime is right around the corner.  The air temperature is heating up lately which means the water will gradually get warmer untill it pushes the fish out of the creeks/bayous, onto the flats, and into the bays eventually working their way to the beach. Some of the best fishing of the year is heating up.
Especially for people who like to fish topwater plugs. Springtime brings rain, finger mullet, strong outgoing tides, and good fishing. If interested in scheduling a date to come fishing or picking my brain before doing so - my information is given at the end of the report.

Here's a video from last nights trip.
Please subscribe to my youtube channel if you can :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll8stvDq3AA

I plan fishing trips according to the weather, tides, moon phase, etc. It's not luck like most people think.  It's a simple science.You let me know what days you're available.

No Fish No Pay Guarantee. 2 Guests per trip maximum.

-Captain Jesse Nofi
  Treasure Island, FL
    727.253.9913

Febuary 4th 2012 - Captain Jesse L Nofi

It's goin down tonight snook are going to be on the chew when the sun goes down - and as the moon rises.
The tide's going to be slack from 2-5:55pm.  That's about 3 hours of zero water flow with very little or Zero feeding periods for snook; therefore, when the water moves the snook are gonna chew.. and they're gonna chew Hard for 40 minutes Nonstop. This short period of time will be the best fishing throughout the night.  The winds are blowing at about 15mph right now - once the sun goes down - the wind will die down to about 5mph and as the tide begins to flow the fish are gonna go nuts.. Why? There's a storm coming in the middle of the night. They're going to eat all they can before that rain and lightening gets here. It's just like when we rush to the supermarket to stock up on food because we hear there's going to be a shortage... the fish can sense the change inl barometric pressure - which tells them that a storms coming - and it's time to Stock up on food!

I'm bringing the camera mounted on my head tonight so i can bust out at least one video for Youtube, my clients, family, and anyone who reads the blog.

For the Locals: The docklights from St Joseph sound to Fort Desoto Park are loaded with speckled trout right now.  Live shrimp and small whitebait/pinfish are all a good bet.  Mirrolure little johns work too.

- Capt Jesse Nofi
    727.253.9913













A Shotout to Jorde the Artist - He painted this fish mural on my buddies wall all by hand.
The man is gifted - much respect.  I'll be getting a custom one done when i move into my new home.

January 26, 2012

Some time in 2011 When my hair was REALLY long! lol
Big black drum fishing tonight - excited.
-Capt Jesse L Nofi

Tampa Bay, FL January 28th 2012

January 28th 2012
I wanted to fish the night before but didn't get out of work until 6:30PM and was tired. The plan was to get hooked up on Snook with some redfish and ladyfish in the mix.  As soon as i got to the spot i lost my first live bait before i had a chance to blink.  The next bait yielded a nice snook - not a giant but a good fight and a great way to start the night. 

Upon arrival to the next honey hole the kayak began vibrating to the beat of the Black Drum...  for those of who who are wondering what would make a kayak vibrate...  Big black drum ( a type of fish ) continuously sound mating calls underwater that make somewhat of a repetitive thumping noise. It's hard to explain - but it's extremely exciting when you get to the spot... and you hear them drumming.. dum dum, dum dum, throw in a bait.. ZZzZZZzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
  I've caught these fish before and they range from about 8-45+ pounds in this area.  The average fish is around 15 pounds under the docks.  They eat fresh dead blue crab and shrimp. After striking out on the drum ( having the wrong bait ) - i switched to artificial lures and caught some redfish, a few more snook, and some ladyfish.  As the tide began to slow down, the air and water temperature began to drop making it a perfect time to call it a night. I got some hot chocolate and a plan for tomorrow after sunset.

Tomorrow night i'm going back and bringing blue crabs for the big black drum.  Considering there aren't as many snook as there used to be in the area, i'm going to concentrate on the black drum as they are much larger, and much more plentiful. I'll land at least one SeaMonster size fish tomorrow night.  I'll take a picture from the kayak, maybe a video if i can remember to charge the camera instead of taking cell phone snapshots all of the time.  Here's a old pic of me with one of those fish - This should help you get an idea of what i'll hook into tomorrow night.

                                                                   -Capt Jesse Nofi
 
      
                                       

Tampa Bay Fishing Report - Nov 25th

November 25th,

Today was a good day for kayak fishing but I felt like exploring instead of going to places i know i can catch fish.  We launched the boat in Safety harbor, FL and headed north. (first time in this area).  The wind was blowing really hard and based on how the water was moving i figured one spot in the distance would be good regardless of the wind. Sure enough there were lots of speckled trout on the edge of the grass flat with some nice bigger trout in potholes just up on the flat.  Me and my father blind casted and drifted for a few minutes catching some nice fish.
There were more fish to be caught in that area but i wanted to explore new areas since i had never fished on this side of the bay before. The tide was slowing down and so was the bite so i headed to the courtney campbell causeway to wait for the incoming water.  Once the water started flowing we caught some speckled trout and a couple flounder on jigs.  When the bite slowed at the bridge there were a series of oyster bars that looked promising so we slowly creeped up and sure enough they were full of fish.  The sun warmed up the water, and the incoming tide brought crystal clear waters.  Just behind the oyster bars there were tons of speckled trout and some redfish mixed in. For about a half hour we caught a mix of trout and reds mostly speckled trout.  The wind began to pickup and the bite slowed down so we ate some sandwiches and headed in.

OnShoreGuide
Capt Jesse Nofi
727.253.9913