The view was breathtaking from the 5th floor balcony. The sun was setting and rays of light were fading as a rainbow of red, purple, and orange beams bouncing off the Gulf emerald-green waters. Below, the boats waved gently back and forth in the cool breeze. The Village Marina at Little Harbor was filling up with boats. The well protected harbor across the bay from St. Petersburg serves as a docking marina year round, renting slips for transit boaters or guests of the Resort at Little Harbor who brings their boat down during their stay; it’s open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. These slips have all the amenities any boater would need including power, water, high speed internet, phone service, and cable TV. With over 90 fixed Brazilian Ipe wooden docks that can fit up to 60-foot boats.
Finding the Village Marina at The Resort and Club at Little Harbor is easy since its right next to the resorts bayside condominiumand located off I-75 at the Ruskin exit.
Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. We could see the feeding frenzy and terns diving into the white foam from way off in the distance caused by the thrusting schooling fish. Quickly our fishing guide drove us within casting distance. A quick cast into the chaos hooked a respectable sized Spanish mackerel that I reeled in. The next cast, my wife, hooked a powerful, compact tuna. After what seemed like eternity, our guide reached down and landed the tuna.
While we were battling our fish, we had cheered each other on; excitement and the thrill of catching schooling fish had left wide smiles on both of our faces. I yelled, “Holy mackerel and little tuna…can we do that again?” Our fishing guide Doug Stewart from Boca Grande needed little convincing and started up the big engine and drove us within casting distance again.
You could say they were being hard headed… and I do not mean the trout! Some day’s fish play hard to get, like today on Lake Taneycomo. After arriving at the Shepherd of the Hills public ramp and launching the boat, Dr. Mark Powell and I headed up stream to the catch and release area in search of football sized trout, maybe even a brown if we were lucky. Earlier, Dr. Powell had called and found out that they only had two generators running. “Perfect, two generators is just right for catching trout on Taneycomo,” he continued, “with this cloud cover, we should really catch them.”
You could say that we heard opportunity knocking, or maybe, I should say schooling. The first cast into the group of schooling bass resulted in a keeper spotted bass. The next 100 plus casts resulted in white bass. An entire cove was alive with white bass, smashing shad everywhere.
Listen carefully and you can almost hear the pounding of Native American Indian drums over the roar of the rapids. You might catch a glance of one out of the corner of your eye downstream. Had you been floating down War Eagle Creek years ago that could have been a possibility, as a number of woodland tribes used War Eagle Creek for traveling and surrounding areas for hunting grounds twice a year.
“Look, do you see them?” “They’re right there; three of them circling your bait,” Snooky Bear growled in anticipation of the strike, “just hold your rod steady and when they start swimming off with it, give it a soft hook set and start reeling.” That should be easy I thought, anticipation was at its peak, Captain Art Paiva, aka Snooky Bear, of Ruskin, Florida, had already put my fishing buddy, Ed Chapko, on the first shark he caught. Circling in tight, the shark kept making smaller and smaller circles till WHAM! The shark picked up the bait and started swimming off with it; carefully following directions I reeled in fast tightening the line and set the hook. BAM! Within seconds, and I do mean seconds, 40 yards of my fishing line had burned off my reel and through my rod guides. Wow! It was an unbelievable surge of power and shear strength.
I had my first shark ever on, then the line went limp; crap, I figured I had lost it, my line had broke, or the shark had sliced right through the leader. So, I slowly began reeling in the slack line. “Reel, reel, that shark is still on,” Captain Paiva shouted, “look at your line, its way over there.” Sure enough, my line had gone 180 degrees and was now on the other side of the boat. I started reeling in as fast as I could, but the shark was swimming faster past me. Finally, I caught up with it, only to have this powerful Bonnethead shark make four more powerful surges before surrendering. After taking a couple photos, the Bonnethead shark was released back into the shallow water where it was caught.
To the locals, it s referred to as “The Rock”. Probably because 99.9% of the lake’s bottom is rock of some type, along with miles of bluff banked shoreline and chunk rock banks. The Rock is truly one of the Midwest premier fisheries. Numerous major bass tournaments are held every year on the lake. At conservation pool or power pool, the lake has 43,000 acres while at flood control pool it increases to 52,000 acres. The deepest depth is around 220 feet and the average depth is 73 feet. The shoreline spans over 745 miles and four main tributaries that feed into Table Rock are Longs Creek, James River Arm, Kings River Arm, and the White River.
There was a dense fog surrounding the ramp area and river in both directions. It looked like a scene out of a movie. Tension was thick and the foggy conditions only made it spookier, yet exciting as we launched the boat. The pre-trip conversation of large trout only fueled my anticipation. After arriving, my fishing partner for the day, Dr. Mark Powell did a quick check on the number of generators that were releasing water for safe boating and fishing conditions. As I was soon to find out, generation plays a key part in trout fishing below a dam.
“Hey, your phone’s ringing,” my guide says to me. I quickly grab it; my buddy who is fishing in another boat has text me. “Did u catch 1 yet?” I text back, “No, u?” He texts back, “Got one 10 pder, she 8 a red lip- ckbait! I text him back, “u dog, I gotta catch me 1of those big pigs!”
Every year spring cabin fever strikes anglers; however, this year it seems overwhelming due to winter’s continuous cold fronts. No doubt, anglers will be quick to head outdoors once the temperatures increase.
While many anglers prefer to fish only their home lake, others enjoy fishing new and different lakes each year. One fishing destination anglers should consider is Lake Norfork near Mountain Home, in north-central Arkansas.
“Look, do you see them?” “They’re right there; three of them circling your bait,” Snooky Bear growled in anticipation of the strike, “just hold your rod steady and when they start swimming off with it, give it a soft hook set and start reeling.” That should be easy I thought, anticipation was at its peak, Captain Art Paiva, aka Snooky Bear, of Ruskin, Florida, had already put my fishing buddy, Ed Chapko, on the first shark he caught. Circling in tight, the shark kept making smaller and smaller circles till WHAM! The shark picked up the bait and started swimming off with it; carefully following directions I reeled in fast tightening the line and set the hook. BAM! Within seconds, and I do mean seconds, 40 yards of my fishing line had burned off my reel and through my rod guides. Wow! It was an unbelievable surge of power and shear strength. 
To the locals, it s referred to as “The Rock”. Probably because 99.9% of the lake’s bottom is rock of some type, along with miles of bluff banked shoreline and chunk rock banks. The Rock is truly one of the Midwest premier fisheries. Numerous major bass tournaments are held every year on the lake. At conservation pool or power pool, the lake has 43,000 acres while at flood control pool it increases to 52,000 acres. The deepest depth is around 220 feet and the average depth is 73 feet. The shoreline spans over 745 miles and four main tributaries that feed into Table Rock are Longs Creek, James River Arm, Kings River Arm, and the White River.
“Hey, your phone’s ringing,” my guide says to me. I quickly grab it; my buddy who is fishing in another boat has text me. “Did u catch 1 yet?” I text back, “No, u?” He texts back, “Got one 10 pder, she 8 a red lip- ckbait! I text him back, “u dog, I gotta catch me 1of those big pigs!”
Every year spring cabin fever strikes anglers; however, this year it seems overwhelming due to winter’s continuous cold fronts. No doubt, anglers will be quick to head outdoors once the temperatures increase.