Knowing better than to cut church to go fishing, I had Rick meet me at my house after the early service. We loaded up the kayaks and headed South noticing along the way that the closer we got to the coastline, the thicker the fog became. Undaunted, we pressed on to JR’s where we stopped to get gas, snacks and cigars. JR asked us to report back to him on the fishing, since he was getting a lot of inquiries on the phone, but no reports from returning anglers.
As the fog thickened, we launched at a creek where I hadn’t fished since last year. I suggested to Rick that we stay within sight of each other, and we checked the batteries in the GPS to be sure we had plenty of run-time left. The tide was really high, and as we headed down the creek and we noticed wakes from moving fish out in front of our kayaks. Not being sure if they were reds or mullet, we began to make a few casts and I picked up a small red.
We made a couple of more stops along the way toward the creek mouth, but didn’t pick up any decent fish. Once we got to the mouth of the creek however, our luck quickly changed. I picked up a trout and a red, then Rick got several of each as he drifted out of the creek mouth. We drifted the creek mouth several times picking up fish for a good while before the action died.
By that time, the wind had picked up out of the Southeast, but the fog had not lifted a bit. We drifted to the West, letting the wind push us as we fished. Before too long, we came upon a second creek and headed in to give it a try. I paddled up the creek along the East bank without much luck. Rick fished a point on the Western side and picked up a really nice red, which towed him out of the creek a little. As he moved back toward the creek, he hit a spot where the trout were thick. Both of us caught enough trout there to finish our limits.
With darkness approaching, the wind blowing and the fog as thick as ever, we decided to head back toward the hill, choosing to back track and paddle out of the creek we were in, then back up our original creek. Even though this was a longer route, it allowed us to follow the trail on the GPS instead of taking a chance getting lost in the dark and the fog.
Once we were out of the Gulf, and back in our original creek, the wind was not so bad and we began to make a few casts working our way back. I finally picked up a good sized red, so now each of us had our limits filled. I have to admit, I found some comfort as I rounded the last bend in the creek and saw my Jeep perched there on the hill waiting patiently were we had left it. The fog was so thick now that we could see less than 100 feet.
We stopped back by JR’s to give him an up to date fishing report – the final tally for the day 12 trout and 16 reds.
Rick – I enjoyed it and hope to do it again soon!
Good Fishin’ – Steve Stinson
