Quick Kayak Fishing Report

For the first time in too long I was able to take out my kayak for a fishing trip. I chose a stretch of coastline to launch on with about 15 docks spread over about a half mile. I like this area because it isn't uncommon to catch an inshore slam off of one dock. Unfortunately however, that wasn't the case today. 

I got an early start, launching the kayak when only the mosquitoes were awake. I had about an hour of night left to work with so I headed on over to some docklights. As luck would have it, only one of the usual 6 lights was on, and it was the farthest of the bunch to paddle to. I made it to the dock with about 45 minutes left before sunrise, and was excited to see some silhouettes roaming in the illuminated water. I tossed a freshly tied crystal schminnow into the mix and had three consecutive casts where snook and trout were literally fighting each other for the chance to get a taste of estaz. My fourth cast yielded a solid slot size trout, but unfortunately the battle spooked all of the remaining snook out of the light to their daytime haunts. 

I moved along as the sun came up to some docks that tend to be productive after sunrise. I hooked up with a small snook on a DOA shrimp along with a few small trout. While that was fun, my desire to expand my "species caught on fly" list came into play and I fished almost exclusively with my BVK the rest of the day. 

I switched to a fly that fishes a bit deeper and began blind casting around a dock that has held redfish for me in the past. It was also the dock that I caught my first ever saltwater fish on the fly a couple of months prior. Almost on queue, my second cast yielded a bent rod. The fish headed straight down and fought hard. I reeled in my slack and by the time I got the fish to the reel it was headed for open water. I was ok with that so I pulled my anchor (a sight to see, bent rod in one hand trying to keep tension on the line with a hand behind me pulling the anchor) and set off. I fought this fish very delicately, I wanted to at least get it close enough to see it. I was almost positive it was a redfish until I saw it. It is an odd feeling when the adrenaline rush of your potential first redfish on the fly is flushed away at the sight of a catfish. I wasn't sure if I should be upset that I was fooled by what some may call a junk fish, or if I could still appreciate the fish for the sport of the fight as much as I had before I saw it, back when I thought it was a redfish. 

Any way you look at it, I did have an exciting fight and added a new species, while not necessarily a sought after one, to my list. A few more trout came to the kayak, but nothing worth noting. Until next time...