With work the past several weeks I have not had the opportunity to hit the coast, making it even longer of a wait was the fact I had yet to post any reports on here! Finally finding an open window from work, Saturday looked like it would be great weather wise. I loaded up the kayak and gear in my new truck (finally no more cars) and left San Antonio at 2:30am to beat the crowd. As I pulled into Port A I noticed the wind wasn't the 0-5 as was predicted. Stepping out of the car and unloading at Tarpon Shores Marina this was even more evident, the winds were at least 15-20. Having only brought my fly rod I sucked it up and paddled away into the darkness at 5:30. I started the morning tying on a gold spoon and wading the drain just across from the marina. The bait was thick, but it was quiet. Waiting for first sun I blind casted into the drain to no avail. As first light appeared I began paddling along the outside of Lighthouse Lakes. It wasn't too long before I came across a pod of backs in a small cove of mangroves. Having spotted them at a distance, I paddled to within 100ft of them, staked the kayak and waded the grassy bottom to within 30ft. Cast after cast the gold spoon landed delicately in front of them but they were uninterested. I spent the next 20 minutes casting to these fish, trying different flies and growing more aggravated with each cast. They weren't interested in my offerings,
Realizing that these fish just werent going to work with me I moved on. I made my way along the outside of LHL and then through it. Paddling along I was looking for wakes, nervous bait or sounds of crashing bait. With the high water all morning it was difficult to find any fish with the only clues being a crash here and there way up in the grass- out of reach of both my fly and sight. The only thing I could do was toss to wakes which were few and far between. There really weren't any other fish spotted after the pod near the mangroves at the beginning of the morning. With my tail between my legs I made my way to the shrimp channel blind casting a white weighted clouser, hoping to redeem myself with a trout. Notta. At the very least, on days like these, I see them as a learning experience. Even though I didn't land any fish at least I was on the water and practicing my cast. I'm bound and determined to catch my first Red on the fly before school starts up at the end of this month. Weather permitting I'll be back this week...Oh I'll be back...
On a side note I have the new Diablo Amigo pre-ordered from ACK- supposedly the first shop to get them, due in sometime this month. Will have a review of this up here as soon as I get my hands on it.
On a side note I have the new Diablo Amigo pre-ordered from ACK- supposedly the first shop to get them, due in sometime this month. Will have a review of this up here as soon as I get my hands on it.