Executive Summary
1 angler, 3 snook 14-24"; winds 16-26, 55 degrees; water temp low to mid 60's
Details
I could feel the walls closing in on me on Tues, and by Weds I was pretty much sure that come hell or high water I was getting out of the house on Saturday.
With winds predicted to be about 20, I was debating a river trip but decided that at Cockroach Bay I could find somewhere out of the winds, and frankly the forecast of partly cloudy to mostly sunny seemed OK. Granted the front would probably snuff out catching fish, but I figured at some point they would have to eat.
The day started out nice enough - breezy (10-12 knots as expected) and around 55 degrees. Not having a partner wasn't anything unusual, but I made sure that my PFD was secured. Realistically the 25 yard run across the channel was the only real hazard I would face for the day. In the event of a flipping (highly unlikely) everywhere else I should be able to just stand up. To add a bit of luck to the trip a large dolphin came up for air about 10-15ft away from me. With no one else at the ramp I somewhat hastily crossed the channel. Not that I thought he would tip me over, but I really didn't want to be the first known kayaker flipped by a dolphin.
I worked my way West/Southwest with a steady 10-12 knot crosswind and hung a left at the first/second set of islands. I went about fishing the usual haunts and had a good goose egg going. Knowing it was going to be another eco-tour day, I just kept heading West/SouthWest until I ran out of water and then swung South. I didn't recall seeing the Canoe Trail sign before but I figured what the heck, I'll give it a whirl. I found myself in a mangrove tunnel and figured I would take a couple shots - course setting up the shot I managed to spook a couple reds.
Soon enough I found myself lost in the maze of creeks and trees, but I knew how to find the way out. Due North was the howling wind and I knew that somewhere along the line there was a break in the trees. Push come to shove I could wander out into the bay and get a good workout paddling/walking into the headwind.
Fortunately things opened up and surprisingly I somehow found myself in a quiet area with 1-2 tailing reds. I placed (not dropped) anchor and fan cast just about every lure I could think of - plastics, spoons, topwater... Regardless, these reds weren't eating what I had to offer.
I kept paddling West and the water opened up and I found myself in roost (if that's what you call them) of Ibis. Seeing the Pelicans eating I was somewhat optimistic about fishing again. Figuring the fish were where the bait was I head towards them, but not before getting a couple shots. Seems the birds had figured out that the flying in windy conditions wasn't a good idea. By now you could hear the winds starting to pick up, but buffeted by the mangroves I was somewhat sheltered.
Getting to close to the birds I probably spooked everything out when the birds flew off, so I managed to keep my goose egg going.
After not having much success at the cut, I pushed through and standing up I saw a beast of a red in a about 10-12" of water . I managed to get off two solid presentations about 5 feet away from him but he ignored both.
I kept the eco-tour going and eventually I popped up to a spot that opened up to the bay. You could clearly see whitecaps over the horizon, and where the cut opened up the water was moving. I paddled across the deeper water and saw a huge tail - perhaps it was a small shark, or a huge snook. Whatever it was had a black back. Casting into the deeper water and fishing a paddle tail slowly off the bottom, I quickly hooked up to what I thought was a flounder. It ended up being a small snook - about 12-14". He posed for the obligatory profile shot and was released.
I started to make my way back the way I came but decided that if I could see another marker close the short cut was to head out into the bay - after about 100-150 yards of a good workout and heading into the 20 mph winds I managed to get back inside the mangroves. I fished a variety of areas, but the cloud cover came back and the winds picked up more. Once again I found myslf heading into the winds, but this time the water got a bit more turbulent, the sun disappeared, and things looked somewhat nasty. The only other boat I saw over the horizon was a cargo ship. A touch of contrast adds to the "drama" of the photo. Where I was it was blowing hard, but it was shallow.
I knew that rain was not in the forecast, but with the weather turning towards squall like conditions I headed back towards the ramp. It reminded me of the Jan 2011 PFTS. Going down the channel would have been a dicey situation so rather than go straight in, I let the wind push me Westward again. About 1/2 mile down was an opening I could hit. I zigzagged to out croppings and hit a couple "deeper" holes.
Seeing a bunch of finger mullet I switched out to a silver and black plastic 5" topped with a red jig head (I'll call the pattern the "Siver Britches" - go Dawgs). Seems that would be the ticket - I managed to get 2 more snook - one at 18" the other at 24".
After those fish I pretty much called it a day an paddled into the winds one more time. A good day exploring and fishing. I did manage to pick up a renegade milk crate that I found in the groves and brought it home. Perhaps Wonderboy can use it on our other kayak, if not someone on the forum probably can.
Funny how the fronts just buzzed through - sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy...
I closed out the day having a couple Sierra Nevadas with some relatives recounting the day - not a bad way to spend Sat.
It's a push button of course.