We kept our eyes peeled while I wielded a rod ready for the surprise fish. We idled through canals not more than 8ft wide spotting the tiny estuary redfish diving into grass for cover. The small canals would open into more large 'ponds' but no scales seemed to inhabit the more than fishy waters. We exited, then re-entered a canal another hundred yards away and found some beautiful grass, covered with sting-rays that had steady water current. Not many great fish were spotted on the scouting trip, but there definitely was some fishy waters encountered...We planned on returning the next day ready in full force with fishing gear and plastic navy ships.
7/27/07
I must say it has been a while since I have rose before the sun to fish...and today I really noticed how hard it was to wake up! With fish on my mind I came around and headed out the door, back to Bernie’s house where the kayaks awaited. Our 'all day' trip turned into a short 'ride' as BJ said he could only stay out till around noon...bummed, we tied the kayaks to the caddy and headed down the canal. Reaching the wake zone we cruised a good distance to where we scouted the previous day. We anchored up the boat in about 2 foot of water and jumped into the soaking wet kayaks to get to the fish.
Within' minutes of paddling, mullet surrounded exposed grass with small pops going off all around my top water. With a ladyfish jump, we knew fish would soon connect with our lines. While focusing on my top water my reflexes jerk my head to a drag melody coming from my friend’s direction. He was hooked up and with some headshakes making their way further from his boat, I could tell he was in need of some help, and a camera! He slowly worked a snook out from oyster cover and saw grass and right at the boat side the fish breaks his worn powerpro. I pulled up next to him for a pep talk as he reties...Meanwhile I spot commotion and soon realized a small shark was coming into our territory, so my plug flew in his direction... I kept thinking 'How cool would it be to hook up on a top water?' few seconds after that thought...boom! Quickly realized it wasn't the power of a shark, yet a middle/high slot trout that must have been tailing the shark which ate my lure! An awesome surprise for sure as the water was only a foot deep, and I was casting at shark fins...
While the light was still low, my top water stayed equipped and proved to work...as two perfect size redfish 24" +/- came to the boat for some photography. By this point, we were already psyched for finding this completely new area covered with fish, plus it’s been a while since I have done some decent catching! We weaved through more canals that snaked side to side, and on one blind cast I was taken down the current by yet another redfish, this one a little smaller, for one awesome ride. The tide ripped me into mangroves through the sharp turns of a skinny canal, and the fish didn't want to cooperate in any way. Threw the stake out pole in the water and finally got the fish to let go of my jig. Paddled through more areas and walked a few trails marked with PVC and different pipe (airboat?) but didn't find much life too far back.
We turned around and headed back to our taxi to call it a day, but one more shoreline appealed to me. I made probably 3 casts before BJ caught up with me, and on his first cast his line gets tight and he set the hook. There was some very small mangrove tree's barely sticking up out of the water which were a real hazard for him in fighting this fish in, I spotted it and with a few hard paddles in his direction I grabbed the bowline we used to tie the yaks to the boat, and pulled him away from the shoreline that the fish was pulling for. As I jumped out ready to land the fish, pop!, yet another fish was lost due to his line, or his knot connection… Talk about team work!
We ended the day on that note, and headed to the tackle shop to get him new line. Tomorrow we will be about again until about 10AM, scouting some more!
Tight lines!
