Kayak fishing, 1/19/2009
I launched from an old abandoned dock, just off Bill’s Hill Road in Oakhill. It’s such an ideal place to launch from—easy paddle through the Clinkers, the Wall and George’s Bar. It’s directly across Mosquito Lagoon from the dirt launch west of the last parking lot in Canavarel National Seashore. The entire trip sketched up there is about two and a half miles, which is maybe an hour of paddling. The only drawback—about a quarter mile of soft marsh to trudge through. Not a big deal, but not for the lazy or faint of heart.
I was suffering from some cabin fever over the long MLK weekend, so I fished a cold and pretty windy day. The water was chilly—I doubt it was even sixty degrees, which is why I fished the the deep water of Tiger Basin. Around 10:30am I started free-lining shrimp for about half an hour—zippo. I let the wind push me up over the wall and along the George’s Bar, where the water’s deep. Still nothing, but this time because there were dozens of dolphins churning up the water all around me. It looked like a blender was runnning out there. The dolphins are fearless/curious, and I ended up shouting something along the lines that I AM THE APEX PREDATOR! but they couldn’t hear me and went along their merry, fishing-gnoshing way. I pushed off and let the wind and current push me into the Clinkers where I fished the channels between islands. Pinfish were the only takers. About this time, I realized I was feverish (it was cold, but not cold enough to make me shake uncontrollably), so I headed back; the long walk through the marsh notably more difficult after an afternoon of paddling and a high fever. I made it home to a hot shower and the rest of the day huddled under a blanket on the couch, wishing I had cable television.
