Here we are again-this time on the ocean or I should say the bay. We went to Cape San Blas in the Florida panhandle-it was the best and worst time on the kayak. The first time was amazing-from the moment we left the shore, it was beautiful crystal clear water where you could see stingrays, bait fish, and needle fish swimming in and out of the sand and fauna of the bottom. The sky was a bit intimidating but we still paddled cautiously. We found the sand bottom surrounded by the grass beds with bait fish disrupting the surface and running just beneath the surface.
Immediately the water came alive with trout breaking the surface and we were on to fish. I enjoyed the peace of being out on the water, the sun shined through the surface and the coloration of the water was like Champlain, I was so in my element, several fish were on and it seemed we could just fish along the weed beds and find fish breaking-it was an absolutely wonderful day that seemed to end a bit too abruptly as we had to go back for lunch.
After that perfect few hours of fishing, the weather finally made good on its threats. The next day we got out early and the thunder and lightning hung on our shoulders the whole time. We decided to fish from shore. We were lucky enough to see a saw fish running through the bait fish and my son caught a flounder on a spoon. I got to enjoy walking in the surf until slipping on a rock made me more like a shark attractor and decided it was time to fish from shore. A bit of stress and aggravation but still wonderful. Just seeing the saw fish was worth an early morning of fishing.
The final day and opportunity to fish was where the wonder and beauty became exhausting and overwhelmingly aggravating. We spent hours in the rain, the cold drenching rain and a wind that made us completely forget the humidity that we complained about earlier that week. Finally after hours of walking in the flats and casting to what seemed like empty waves we finally got our kayaks down and were ready to give it another try.
From the moment we left the shore, the wind would move you quite a distance so I should have known at that point it would be a bumpy ride. I had lost count on how many times I was pushed one hundred yards or so out to sea and had to paddle back to everyone else. I felt that it would be appropriate for the one out there braving the waves would catch all the fish but I was skunked just like the others in my party who decided to fish from shore. I just got an amazing workout and casted again and again to bait fish that seemed to have nothing beneath them but weed grass.
We had all returned to shore and were about to give up on the day when we saw fish breaking close to shore, we decided to give it one more shot. My son ended up with a four pound trout and immediately following a missed hit I started my journey much like atlas moving his rock up the mountain only to watch it roll back down and start the process all over again. I would throw my lure out to the school and after realizing my lure was tangled, I would attempt to untangle it and by the time I was untangled I had drifted back out a hundred yards or so, paddle in and start the whole process again. My son had “borrowed” my pliers and I was left with line that I couldn’t cut and a set of treble hooks stuck in my life vest, the more tired I would get, the more stupid mistakes I would make. I continued the process, sharing colorful language with all of the bait fish that seemed to just be teasing me at this point. I am very surprised that all of the rods came back in one piece and not sunk to the bottom of the bay. I did stop my tantrum short of throwing myself over the edge of the kayak.
Two very exciting things that my son and I got to witness during the whole process was an extremely large ray jumping out of the water and a life conch the size of a small dog on the bottom feeding along the sea grass. All in all-an amazing trip and my sons wonderful trout that I was able to capture on my phone camera. All I will remember was the amazing water, the incredible scenes and watching my son bring in the trout all the frustration will have evaporated much like the storm clouds that eventually dispersed. After leaving the water I looked back and the calm bay seemed like it was mocking me but it was an amazing trip none of us will soon forget.
