Three Days of Fishing with Dave, Rich, and Roy

The day Pam and Roy arrived, I had the chance to go fishing with Dave and Rich. Dave took the three of us went to a place that had been full of feeding black drum, (there are a lot of black drum this year). The first two hours were slow, but things picked up briefly and we managed to catch five black drum. I caught my largest of the winter, a twenty-six inch fish.

Two days later the wind calmed a bit, and Roy and I went kayak fishing in St Charles bay. After paddling a long way, we finally reached a back bay full of mullet, (bait fish). The presence of bait is usually a good sign but not today. The fish didn’t cooperate, and I missed the one bite I had. After a few hours of exploring we headed back and leap frogged along the shore looking for active fish,

I caught an undersized red, and Roy caught a keeper, twenty-one inch fish! A few more leaps and it was nothing but undersize reds, but still it was fun. Reaching a point, I cast out and caught a keeper black drum. A bite developed and both Roy and I caught more blacks. Many had been undersize but the largest was nineteen inches and they would all make nice fillets.

The wind had picked up and w it was a struggle to return to the truck. Waves occasionally splashed over the side and both of us were tired from the long three-mile paddle. It was a struggle for two seniors to climb out of the yaks but neither one of us slipped and fell in the mud, while getting out, (I fell last year at the same spot, providing those along the shore with some entertainment).

The next day was too windy for kayaks, but it calmed down in the evening and we loaded the kayaks and returned to the same spot. Nothing bit at first, but a slow bite eventually developed, and I caught four under size reds, rat reds, before catching my first slot sized red of the year!

Again, we leap-frogged along the shore looking for more fish but we never had another bite. Still it is always fun, and we had been rewarded in the morning, with the sight of three whooping cranes, feeding in a field alongside the road. It was another day to remember. Clear skies

Ps Everyone should be using circle hooks! They make a safe release of the smaller fish as they are usually hooked in the edge of their mouth. The key is to put your rod in the holder and do not set the hook as the fish will set it for you.