Canoeing the Sail Boat Channel

We pushed off of the bank and it only took a few strokes to cross the Sailboat Channel. A dolphin surfaced in front of us and the day was already worth the launch as Renita scrambled for the camera. From there we paddled up the old oil field ditch, intending to do some birding and fishing at several places Lannie had showed me last year.
Passing another kayaker who was fishing a small pass we reached a fork where we turned west and headed for an oil platfrom. It was low tide and mullet were quite simply everywhere. As we neared the platform we saw a third kayak fishing the south side of the hole and so we rowed to the north edge and fished the same place Lannie had showed me.
Piggy perch after piggy perch bit as fast as we threw in and Renita stopped fishing as there were rosette spoonbills all around us. The birds were taking advantage of the really low tide and were feeding as greedily as the perch.
They seemed unconcerned as we watched them swish their bills back and forth looking for crustaceons in the tide pools. A blue crab walked up to our canoe and I could have reached over and grabbed it but I knew better from the crabbing class I took on Grand Isle. There I had tried to grab a large blue crab and my sister Connie had simply yelled no!

The other yaker left and we paddled over to his spot but the fish weren't any bigger, although Renita did catch a few hard head catfish. Heading back up the cut we were able to turn south towards Brown Flats. Stopping just short of the shallow flats we tossed out our poles and again caught perch after perch.
The first yaker we had passed paddled up and told us we were at  hot spot and that he had watched another couple catch their limit of red fish the day before, hmm we should have been there yesterday. Several powerboats came, fished, and then left including a guide boat and I thought about how upset I would be if I paid for a guide and he took me fishing in such a heavily fished spot. Of course being an old guide I knew that a guide is often someone with a boat and without a job so the quality varies a lot!

We never caught any keeper fish, although I did actually catch a red fish. There were really alot of blue crabs everywhere we went and so we both talked about the possibility of a good year for the whoopers,(they need six to ten crabs a day to store up enough fat for the breeding season).
The wind came up as we paddled back to the truck but it was a cross wind and didn't cause us any difficulty.It had turned out to be an easy day and the most rosette spoonbills we have seen on a paddling adventure. The area is worth another paddling day when the winds allow. Clear skies.