BigBendFishing.Net

Had a chance to fish with my two sons this morning. Left the ramp at Yates Creek at 6:30 am in the little 14 foot CS Marine Jr. (CS Marine Sr. is a 18 foot center Console) We were the only boat at the ramp. Water was still stained but clearing up some from last week. Tide was almost high. Plenty of water in the creek. Wind was already picking up. Headed to our first pinfish hole. Catching bait was very hard this morning. Had to spend more time at it than we intended, but finally caught enough to start. Arrived at our first redfish hole. By this time the wind was really starting to blow. Floating grass was ridiculous. Made it very hard to fish there was so much of the mess. Only saw three boats way off in the distance. Caught the first throw back red (17 inches) after about thirty minutes. Couldn't catch bait fast enough to stay ahead of the 12 inch sharks that plagued us all morning. My oldest son finally managed a nice 24 inch red. Had one bull shark that came within 10 foot of the boat that must have measured five foot easy. Sting rays were every where. Hooked and lost at least 10 of these nasty things this morning. Managed to catch our limit of three reds and one small trout. We also caught about 15 nice size grunts for my wife. My son lost one red that would have been at least 30 inches, and the other son caught two more shorts. By the time we got our limit of reds around 11:00 am the wind was blowing so hard that we decided to leave without drifting for trout out on the flats. Had a great time with my boys. Looking forward to some fresh red fish and grits for supper tonight.

Sounds fun. I've never been to Yates Creek. Perhaps I should try it.

A successful trip with your boys....priceless. Glad you all got into them.
FF

FF, I forgot to mention, my "boys" are 34 and 31 years old, both about 6 foot tall weighing around 210 pounds, and both in law enforcement. Still though they are daddy's little boys.

Nice reds, again, Billy. You sure have those fish's number at Yates! Makes me wish I had a rig small enough to try it sometime.

CSMarine wrote:I forgot to mention, my "boys" are 34 and 31 years old, both about 6 foot tall weighing around 210 pounds, and both in law enforcement.

I wondered why you didn't post pics of the boys. Now I know.

CSMarine wrote:FF, I forgot to mention, my "boys" are 34 and 31 years old, both about 6 foot tall weighing around 210 pounds, and both in law enforcement. Still though they are daddy's little boys.

Billy, that's a lot of meat in a little boat. Probably not a lot of freeboard. And you're gonna have to catch more fish to keep those "boys" fed.

Glad y'all had a good morning.

Great report!

tin can wrote:

CSMarine wrote:FF, I forgot to mention, my "boys" are 34 and 31 years old, both about 6 foot tall weighing around 210 pounds, and both in law enforcement. Still though they are daddy's little boys.

Billy, that's a lot of meat in a little boat. Probably not a lot of freeboard. And you're gonna have to catch more fish to keep those "boys" fed.

Glad y'all had a good morning.

Yep, that was a lot of fishermen in a small boat. Great report and photo.

Sounds like a good day to me! Nice fish!

Nice report .
My buddy and I were kayaking just south of you in front of Adam's Beach. Similar results. A few reds, one trout and lots of little sharks. I'm glad no bull sharks decided to buzz me. I've been kayaking for about 5 years now and still haven't had a bull shark encounter, but I know it's coming (especially since I have a bad habit of keeping my fish on a stringer).
Yates Creek has been one of my favorite boat launches since I was about 15 years old. There aren't many places left where the fishing is so great within a few hundred yards of the ramp.

I had plenty of freeboard left. At least 2 inches. Not really. When I rebuilt the little boat I poured the hull slap full of floatation. With me and my wife and all our gear it only drafts about 3 inches. With me and my two sons, I still have plenty of freeboard left. From the factory it was rated at 4 people or 850 pounds. I doubled the floatation when I rebuilt it. I've been out in it when it was whitecapping and stayed perfectly dry.
Yates Creek is not for the faint of heart. It likes to eat lower units and props, and will leave you high and dry in a heartbeat if you don't watch it. It's only two miles down a dirt road from my house though, so I go there a lot.

Another good post, CS. Thanks for sharing. I rent the lot at the corner of Yates Creek road (when you turn left to go to the ramp). It's the camper on the right. If you see me there, pull in and I'll buy you a cold un.

You could call the 18' The Gy and the 14' The Sgt.

CSMarine wrote: Still though they are daddy's little boys.

Couldn't agree more!