Launched around 9:30 at the Lighthouse under threatening skies. Not too bad so we went on out and just stayed close to the landing. Went over near the stakes on the west flats. Noticed a little rainstorm had developed to the south of the Lighthouse but nothing major. Was much more concerned with a storm that was developing to the west of us and had sprinkled on us a little bit. Moved back toward the river channel to get out of the rain.
Started back fishing and hooked up with a 4 foot shark in short order. Got him to the boat and let him loose. Straightened my hook in the process. As I was re-rigging, I looked to the south. That storm had moved closer and spawned a waterspout on its leading edge that was easily within a mile of us moving slowly up the channel
. It was an awesome sight, a first for me. I was tempted to just sit there and gawk, but I high-tailed it back to the landing like most of the others. It didn't look all that menacing, but you could tell by the way it was blowing up water that there was some serious energy in it. It broke up as we were making our way past the jetty, but a deluge of rain caught us in the canal. We waited it out in the truck and got back after them when it let up.
Sad to say that the fishing wasn't the same after the storm blew over. The shark wound up being the highlight of the day. I went everywhere I could think of to the east and west on the flats (Dad's not really into creek fishing or working shorelines). Fished all kinds of artificials and live pinfish and finger mullet. We caught a couple more very small sharks, catfish, ladyfish and an undersized trout. About as slow a day as I have ever had on the flats during June
. On the bright side, I got to spend a day on the water with my Dad who used to take me fishing all the time...as far back as I can remember
. Guess he's to blame for my current obsession. I might try it again tomorrow. Weather looks to be a little better and the fish I didn't catch yesterday are still out there.
