Executive Summary
Bunch of reds, bunch of snook (one big gal), bunch of trout and one big ol' Jack
Details
The forecast looked a bit dicey for a paddle day, but I had committed to the idea of at least trying. Pushing off it didn't look that bad, and with a 3-4 mph breeze things looked doable.
I quickly picked off a small snook with a white paddle tail, but I was confident that bigger fish lurked these waters. I fished hard the same creek that I had been snapped off by bigger snook, but this morning it was a small snook and be grateful for that.
Switching to a gold Aquadream I pushed towards more open water and felt a subtle thump. I figured I was on a trout; couple heads shakes later and a good jump I landed a low to mid 20's snook. Holding the fish underwater I tried a couple underwater shots but the best I could muster was the classic hold; eventually I let go and the fish just sat there and stared at me like - "Ok - what now."
Pushing towards a smaller mangrove island the clouds were building, but with a good sunrise it made for a good picture. It had that ominous look of things could get ugly quick, but it was relatively quiet. Bracketing on the camera makes for a slightly underexposed shot which added to a flair of contrast.
I found a school mullet and figured I would go back to the paddle tail. I must have put it in the right place because as soon as it hit the water it drag started peeling. I let the fish pull towards open water and eventually it tired. I manged an action shot and let him go in quick order. I kept fishing the area with the paddle tail but surprisingly there were no more takers. I swapped back to the Aquadream and landed his cousin - go figure. There were a couple more "lookers" but no takers; I pushed farther out.
Now hearing some thunder over the horizon I looked up and was rewarded with a rainbow that lasted for 20 minutes or so. You could see a REALLY big storm now, but with the winds pushing North/NorthWest as long as the winds didn't shift I figured I was OK. I looked behind the island, but alas the proverbial pot of gold was not there. However, several trout and more thunder claps were.
With a quick shift of the winds to blowing Easterly I decided it was high time to get off the water. I had a good 20 minute paddle into the now mounting head/cross wind. The storm closed on me quickly, but I managed to stay just ahead of it. For the first time I was pelted with some reasonably heavy rain. It was one of those odd Florida rains where the sun is out, but it comes down pretty hard. Behind me there was a beast of a storm, but ahead of me were clear skies. Islands were quickly swallowed up by the rain, but eventually getting the kayak on the roof top I felt pretty safe. Exposing for a morning sunshot I had some good contrast, but there just enough detail to make out the rain.
All things considered it wasn't a bad morning's worth of fishing - in about 1.5-2 hours I was on a mess of fish. However, I felt that I had been cheated out of my extra 3 hours of therapy. Like I tell my wife - "It's either this or $125/hr for a shrink to tell me about all my [made up] childhood issues I had. Your choice." Fishing is cheaper.
Back home at 9:15am and after making a 5 egg omelet for the family (for the record - bacon, cheese, and some philly cheese), I managed to sweet talk the wife into an afternoon trip. With four to five hours of more rain coming down I wasn't optomistic, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
So around 4pm, I went back to the same island where I had caught the reds. This time throwing the Aquadream I managed to get on something pretty big. Being pulled towards open water I was fine, but as soon at the fish pulled back towards the mangroves I dropped anchor. Feeling the extra heat now, the snook came up and gave me a good glipse of what was on the other end of the line. Several good runs and good jumps into it, the fish made a last ditch effort to get into the groves again. I pretty much grabbed the spool and watched the bow swing around. I was pretty confident that the 20# leader was frayed, but it was do or die. Giving some leeway with the rod, but holding steady pressure on the spool I managed to turn her head back towards open water. One more solid jump out of water and I finally managed to land the gal . I took a quick shot for good measure (no pun intended) and spent a good bit of time reviving her. I was pleased to see her swim off in good shape.
Thirty minutes into the second trip and I was pretty pleased with the results, but figured I might as well fish the out the day. I found a ton of mullet but there weren't any red takers in the lot. Pushing towards more open water I felt a thump, thump, thump, and eventaully hooked into what I thought was another big snook. I've had reds miss the spoon before, but not snook. Up for part two of the rodeo I was pulled around. This fish wasn't coming up at all and I successfully managed to lose the fish. Nice - so much for 100" of snook in a day. (That would have been cool.) Couple casts later I was hooked into another big fish. The scenario played itself out once more. Several strong runs later I was able to see what was on the line. It was the biggest Jack I had hooked into and landed. The brute put up a better fight than the snook, but it was open water all the way so there wasn't as much "drama". I had probably hooked his brother earlier.
I kept fishing but with the sun going down I figured I would get a good sunset shots and call it a day. All in all a solid day of fishing and therapy. Home again and with a couple Yeunglings, I polished off some 4 day old cold meatloaf. "Well played wife - well played."
