Tampa Bay Redfish ; Lifetime Best

Last weekend my friend Andrew and I took off from the Tampa Harbor Marina in search of some big 40# black drum that I had heard were being caught around some of the local bridges here in Tampa Bay.  We took my little Action Craft 18' away from the THM around sunset, and set off in search of fish.

After catching a few hand-sized pinfish, and with a cooler already full of blue crabs, we anchored up underneath the bridge so that the current would take our bait back toward the bridge pilings.  Once we got set, we put out a chum block, put a few large blue crab on the bottom with a 2oz lead, and started fishing the pilings for smaller snapper or pompano while we waited for the big rods to go off.

About 10 minutes in I heard a few slow clicks, then the telltale *ZZZZZZZZZZZZ* that we all know and love. I picked up the rod and assumed it was one of the big black drum we had been after.  It was dark, so as the fish came to the surface I still wasn't sure what it was, but as we got it closer to the boat I realized it was one of the biggest redfish I had ever seen!

40" RedFish; Rob Buscaino
Tampa, FL

At 40" it was the biggest red I had ever caught, and definitely a "bucket list" fish for me.  We put another blue crab down and shortly after, Andrew hooked up and landed a 40" of his own!

40" RedFish; Andrew Watson
Tampa, FL

We fished for about 5 hours, hooked 8 more monster reds, and landed 5 total.  Fish measured from 33" to 40", with two 40" being caught back-to-back.  Definitely one of the best nights fishing I've had in Tampa Bay, and the biggest redfish I had caught anywhere! Here are two of the others at 33" and 37" respectively:

RedFish; Andrew Watson
Tampa, FL

RedFish; Rob Buscaino
Tampa, FL

If you're looking to chase some inshore monsters of your own, check out a few of my inshore or near-shore fishing boat listings: 

2007 Cobia 211 Bay; Tampa,FL
Click Here for Listing!

2004 Action Craft 1802; Tampa, FL
Click Here for Listing!

Exuma Boats - Photo Blog

Yesterday I was running around St. Pete photographing a few new listings that I'm representing, and I ran into Dave Travis of Exuma Boats at his headquarters at Bay Pines Marina.  I've been admiring one of their boats that's stored at our office at the Tampa Harbor Marina, so it was great to meet the builder and see one of his latest creations.

Exuma builds one model, a versatile inshore / near-shore bay boat that's perfect for our Florida coasts.  The boat is 22'2" overall, with an 8'2" beam, and weighs approximately 1800lbs.  Custom rigging and options are available, just talk to Dave and his team and they can put together the perfect package!

I've heard a lot of people interested in seeing some detailed photos of the Exuma, so here are the photos I took yesterday of the green-hulled 22' powered by twin 70HP Yamahas.

Click the photos to enlarge or view in a gallery layout.

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Port Profile

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Port Profile

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Stern View

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Twin Yamaha 70s

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Deck Layout Detail

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
The sprayed nonskid pattern adds a really nice look to the decks.

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Console & Nonskid

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Bow Lockers

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Controls & Helm Features

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Switch Panel & Battery Switches

Exuma 22, Bay Pines Marina
Bow Detail

Line-X Protective Coating; Marine Application - 36 Yellowfin

As a broker, selling a boat often involves helping a new owner manage repairs, upgrades, or customizations to the boat after the purchase is made.  As a result, I try to keep in touch with a multitude of contractors and service companies so that I'm up to date on what the options are for tweaking a boat to suit a particular owner's needs.  I recently had the opportunity to get an up-close look at a really unique process for enhancing the look and durability of a boat:  using Line-X protective coating.

Line-X is widely known for their pickup truck bed and commercial applications, but our local Line-X dealer has been developing new processes and techniques specifically for marine use.  Some of the most common uses are coating decks, gunwales, fishboxes, and bilges, but they've even started doing more unique projects like motor cowlings, trolling motors, leaning posts and t-tops, and fuel tanks.  The guys from Line-X recently did a 36 Yellowfin for us, and I wanted to show off their results:

First we hauled the boat at the yard next to our office in Tampa and the guys got ready to go!

36 YELLOWFIN HAULED - TAMPA, FL

The process starts with masking off the entire boat, and removing all hardware from the areas where the coating is going to be applied.  Proper preparation of the decks before hand is very important for getting proper adhesion when the coating is sprayed later.

PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN

PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN

PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN 

After the prep work was done, they did the inside of the forward fish-boxes first:

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; FORWARD FISH BOXES - 36 YELLOWFIN 

Then special attention is taken to make sure hatches are properly coated, and that they still have the proper clearance to open and close after the coating is applied:

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; COCKPIT - 36 YELLOWFIN

Here are a few photos of the guys in action:

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN

The finished product really looks nice, the cockpit sole and interior bulkheads were done, along with the inside of the forward fishboxes and helm footrest:

FORWARD COCKPIT; 36 YELLOWFIN

DECKS AND HELM FOOTREST; 36 YELLOWFIN

COCKPIT SOLE; 36 YELLOWFIN

Using Line-X to protect the boat has enormous benefits to typical gelcoat nonskid.  First, it's much easier to keep clean, with most dirt and debris (including fish blood) coming right off with a water hose.  It's also incredibly durable, with dings and stress cracks becoming virtually nonexistent.  If it's applied to a deck that has stress cracking already, they won't show up again through the Line-X once it's applied.  While being a firm coating, Line-X is also flexible enough to keep from cracking under the stresses of this type of application.

They have also started coating pipe-work like t-tops and towers, bow rails, grab rails, and leaning posts.  The Line-X is just as durable in this application, and in many ways better than the powder coat that's being used by a lot of dealers and manufacturers.  It's tougher in most cases and can be repaired if it does happen to chip or ding over time.

You have your choice of almost any color from Line-X, and they can even computer-match existing colors from other parts of the boat (like hull or canvas colors).  The aggressiveness of the nonskid can be varied depending on your application, in our case we used a medium roughness for the decks:

LINE-X DECK TEXTURE DETAIL; 36 YELLOWFIN

They spray two coats of whatever color you choose, along with a top clear coat.  Thickness is between 1/16" and 1/8" which is slightly thinner than the typical truck-bed application, which they do in order to reduce the weight a little while still maintaining a very durable protective coating.

LINE-X DECK THICKNESS DETAIL; 36 YELLOWFIN

The project was finished last week, and the boat is now back in the water and ready to go fishing!  For more information about the project, or how to get in touch with the guys at Line-X, give us a call - 727-422-3914