Until recently Cliff was a charter captain up there. I hadn't seen Cliff in a couple of years, and was looking forward to getting out with him in the kayaks. But, we were fishing behind that first big cold front of the season, and on a falling tide, and I figured it would be tough.
We met at 6:30, and by 7:00 we were ready to launch. As we paddled to the area we would fish I observed that there was little fish activity on the surface. Before the front there had been tons of trout, ladyfish, mackerel, and others in the deeper water, and redfish and snook in the shallows. About half way across I realized I'd forgotten the load the stake-out poles on the boats. I'd left them laying on the trailer where I'd left them to do something else. I took off on the trolling motor, got the poles, and got back to Cliff just as he was reaching the mangroves.
Cliff had asked me about all the fish that were swirling and jumping in about two feet of water as he had made his way in. I told him they were mullet, and that I wanted to go back and fish them to see if there were any reds mixed in, as there so often are. I told Cliff that he should run into redfish, trout, and maybe a snook working the mangrove edges and the slough just off them. I headed back out.
I anchored and fished and anchored and fished, but never got a redfish out of those millions of mullet. They were thick enough to walk on. I worked my way down to a bar and parked and got out. I walked all around the bar fishing it. No reds. No nuttin! I moved on down and went deeper to see if I could find some trout action. I did, but it was slow.
Although we weren't in shouting distance, I could see Cliff, and see that he hadn't moved in some time. I figured that meant that he was either on fish, or having some kind of difficulty. So, I headed back toward him. As I got to within talking range Cliff told me he was on a big school of redfish, and that he'd had numerous follows, right to the end of his rod, and had done a Palm Beach release on a beautiful big red at boatside.
I went upwind of where he was and began fishing, hoping to con one of those reds into biting. But, it was not to be. We worked it hard but never got another redfish to eat. Finally, we decided to move off and see if we could find some trout.
Funny! Although I detest trolling from a powerboat, I've become a big fan of trolling along in a kayak. Paddling renders all the right moved to a jig or other lure on a rod placed into a rod holder. The kayak tends to walk slightly back and forth, and to surge slightly with each stroke of the paddle, giving a bait an ideal action. If I'm on the trolling motor I hold the rod in my right hand and jig it as I move along. Either way is effective.
We found some trout action in about 4 to 5 feet, and caught a few, and by then it was about time to head in. We tagged a few more fish as we trolled back to our launch.
It had been a breezy day under a dome of big high pressure and blue skies. A classic recipe for a slow bite. But, it had been fun. I think Cliff had really enjoyed getting eyeball to eyeball with those reds in shallow water. And, every fish caught from a kayak is fun, as they somehow seem to pull harder.
Cliff also had a couple of suggestions for making the kayak trips better. The main one, one I have also considered to do when I can afford it, is to add Walkie-Talkie radios to each boat for communications. That's a great idea, and better than whistle signals.
It was also the maiden voyage of the 14.5 Ultimate, which will forever be my mother ship. The Ultimate 12 is awesome, but the 14.5 is awesomer, er ha, more awesome. It has tons of room, and I can carry literally anything I can think of to bring along like extra tackle boxes, a large cooler, and so on. I'm waiting on trolling motor and battery for the 14.5 Manta Ray, which is also a beautiful boat with a large payload.
Be sure to read next week's report, as it's a good one.