Look out speckled perch. I said if I didn't do any good at Keaton Beach today I was going to turn to speckled perch. Well.....I'm turning.
Got to the public ramp at Keaton Beach about 9 am today....due to tides. It was foggy on the way down...but cleared up about 5 miles from the ramp. Launched the boat and started down the canal...dang fog came back...and before we got to the end of the canal you couldn't see 50 feet. We crawled onto the flats...down the stake line. It was terrible looking. Socked in completely. We decided to get in close to shore and slowly proceed northward toward Adams Beach. There were two boats...both had gps...map feature turned on. Can't get lost doing this...we thought. The lead boat got out of sight of boat #2. The gps in #2 boat failed...and the other boat was about 1 mile away before the trouble was discovered. Boat #2 decided to head right into shore under these circumstances...with just a compass to tell where east was.. He made it...and was at a Dekle Beach pier when we reconnected. Isn't vhf radio wonderful? Anyone who ever goes out onto the flats need one...and their buddy boat too. We each had one.
Went on slowly up the coast,,,keeping it in sight at all times. Got to the Adams Beach area and started fishing. Third or fourth cast with a topwater mirrolure resulted in a strike. Hooked a trout that went....14 1/2 inches. This was to be the only bite the rest of the day between 4 very experienced trout fishers.
The fog had lifted for about an hour....when all a sudden it's back....big time. We fished on for an hour or so...in the fog.. with absolutely no strikes what-so-ever.It's decision time. We're going to call it quits. But it's so foggy at 2PM you can't see over100 yds.
With one gps out of commission...and only 1 working....2 boats head back toward Keaton Beach. It's only 5 or 6 miles....in what seems like complete isolation. We finally get back to the stake line at Keaton...and guess what...the fog is lifting. By the time we got in to the canal....sun is out...it's normal everywhere. Weird. Water temp was 66 degrees..way too hot for January.
This is the last time for this. If it's foggy....I ain't going.
Cranfield.....they don't bite when it's foggy, do they.
Look out speckled perch.
Keaton Beach 1/7/05
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Fisherman989
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Keaton Beach 1/7/05
Last edited by Fisherman989 on January 9th, 2005, 2:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Foggy!!!
I tried to tell those guys to let's pack it in and call it quits when we could not find Channel Marker 3 after we left # 4. We could have been sitting on top of it and not known it. I believe I could have ran point on the front of the "Dixie Reb" with a machetti and cut our way through. I was OK until I heard Dixie Reb cuss "This GPS is not working". 
Time to buy a new one. 
We have turned around at Monticello before when fog was thick but the crazy thing was it was not at the landing. Clear as a summer day until you got to the pier. The Captain of the other boat with a 90 hp Motor decided to open it up and us, we just took our time to keep from running in somebody else's boat with them. Thank God Dixie Reb is a skilled navigator buy the only means of a compass. But as skilled as he is, I DO NOT EVER WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!!! Never been so glad to see shore line in my life.
Time to buy a new one. We have turned around at Monticello before when fog was thick but the crazy thing was it was not at the landing. Clear as a summer day until you got to the pier. The Captain of the other boat with a 90 hp Motor decided to open it up and us, we just took our time to keep from running in somebody else's boat with them. Thank God Dixie Reb is a skilled navigator buy the only means of a compass. But as skilled as he is, I DO NOT EVER WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!!! Never been so glad to see shore line in my life.I'd rather have a bad day on the water than a good day at work!!
