Bump In The Night

Strange things happen when fishing. Even stranger things happen when fishing at night.

We launched our kayaks right before sunset with an incoming tide and a plan to fish the lighted docks in a different section of the area that we've been targeting as of late. These docks were in deeper water, and stuck out into the current a bit more than the other docks we'd been fishing. We hoped to find snook.

The wind was an issue right off the bat, blowing 15-20 out of the north, the water was roiled up and wavy and the water clarity was murky. Luckily, we were heading south and I was hoping that the wind would calm down by the time we made our return trip to the put in.

The first docks we wanted to hit were dark, so we paddled into one of the inlets in an attempt to get out of the wind. We found some lights and went to work. Two underwater lights and one above water. Nothing. No feeding activity, no darting bait...all quiet. We paddled to the next set of lights - three docks in a row with above water lights on....perfect.

The first dock yielded nothing and after 15 minutes working DOA Shrimp around the light and adjacent shadows. Keith had moved to the second dock while I was getting my DOA from the maze of pilings it was wrapped around. He scored a nice trout within seconds of casting to the same light we had just moved from. I leapfrogged to the third dock and hooked into another good trout. The size of the larger trout mouths are quite different from their juvenile counterparts...maw-like and can eat quite large prey items. They seem quite a bit thicker as well. Keith had to get on someones dock at least once to retrieve his lure....

We pulled a few more fish out of these three docks and paddled on to find another spot. The wind had died down a bit, so we paddled out of the inlet to a perfect dock with a sweet light right above the waters surface. This dock was sticking out into the main channel, so the current sweeping by was stronger than that which was pushing through the inlet. We could see baitfish hopping on the surface and shadows beneath.

Now for the strange part....I started pulling out fish on almost every cast....a few dinks but mostly keeper sized trout. Keith was getting nothing. We were using the same lure, DOA Shrimp Clear-Red Flake, and he was pulling water while I was pulling fish. I don't get it. I switched over to a Storm Wild Eyed Shad in gray and black. These are 4 inch jerkbaits that look a lot like a finger mullet. I had it rigged on a 2/0 offset worm hook with the hook point inside the hook flap and no weight to allow for a slow sink rate and slight darting action. This worked better than the DOA Shrimp. I could see multiple trout getting into position and chasing it as soon as it hit the water. Keith managed to pull in only one fish out of this spot....Weird.

We paddled across the channel to a dock with green underwater lights. On my first cast, I caught my best trout of the night at around 20 inches. A beautiful, solid fish.

We continued working the docks with only a few more fish. Recorded a big "0" under the lights in another inlet....Weird.

Strange days (or nights) indeed.

Open Letter To Local Residents With Docks

Dearest Residents,

This is a letter to remind you to keep your dock lights lit on the evening of Friday, September 17th, 2010 in the Inter-Coastal-Waterway areas north, south, east and west of Belleair Causeway, Sand Key, St Joseph Sound, and Dunedin.

This Notice is, in good faith meant to notify you that there will be at least two (2) kayak anglers fishing around your docks on the aforementioned date. This is no cause for alarm.

I can assure you that I (A Bad Backcast) will do everything in my power to conduct my angling operations in a quiet and professional manner and if I happen to hang one of my lures on said dock or property (boat, jet ski, yacht, sailboat, naked woman statue) I promise to make every effort to remove said object quietly and without malice from the confines of my kayak. I can't really say the same for my colleague (Old Guy Keith).

Please understand that we are over the age of 40, and our eyes don't work very well at night. Leaving your dock lights lit will certainly help in this respect. I'm sure you, the residents, can sympathise with losing your nighttime depth perception, and we appreciate any help in regard to good lighting.

Please try to ignore the noise created by Old Guy Keith. He really is a nice guy and he does mean well, I just think that sometimes, he forgets that he's literally fishing in your backyard....and, he doesn't have a Malibu Kayak and has to fish his anchor out of a crate behind his seat, which gets tangled up with a bunch of other stuff that he doesn't need.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

A Bad Backcast

Lights On, Nobody Home

In life and fishing, sometimes the things you plan might not go exactly the way you envision them, but if you improvise, adapt and overcome, you can go from scratching your head.... to watching your rod bend with a fish on the other end.

Keith and I paddled out to a string of docks that I found lighted on a scouting mission earlier in the week. The plan was to concentrate on the docks that were sticking out into the incoming tide and hopefully locate a few snook.

The problem was....someone forgot to tell the folks who live there to turn their lights on for us. It was a bit like Halloween. Several residents actually saw us out there and turned their lights off! I asked Keith to go knock on a few doors and ask them to turn their dock lights on, but he wouldn't do it. These same docks were lit earlier this week....I need to remember to bring the rolls of toilet paper and burning dog shit bags me thinks.

Now, I understand why some folks might not want folks fishing around their docks. I get it. A few errant casts clanging off their boats, fishing line draped across their boardwalks, and hooks left laying exposed to bare feet. I get it. A prudent fisherman needs only to realize a bit of respect to not do these things and to remember that you're literally in someones back yard.

Ok...back to the fishing part.

Conditions were just PERFECT. The sort of night that brings on a sense of Zen peacefulness...no wind, slick, flat calm seas, painted skies, and less humidity than you'd expect for an early September night in Florida. I could have just laid back and took a nap if there wasn't fishing to do. The water temperature is a bit cooler for sure.

So lights out on the docks we planned to hit.


We paddled into a clover leaf of docks in the inlets. It seems the lights were out more than on, but we could see feeding activity along the lights that were lit. The pattern was whomever got into position and got a cast off was almost guaranteed a hook-up.....cast....plop....thunk....tension....fish! Trout were everywhere. I started with a 9 foot leader and had to keep trimming it because it would get frayed. It's probably about a 5 foot leader now. The larger specimens really tend to put up a fight and I had a few that actually leaped free of the water. There seemed to be a lot more schoolie sized fish than the last time, but we were getting a few that were in the 18-20 inch range.


We came upon a submerged amber colored light that had quite a bit of feeding activity around it. I pulled a few decent fish out and just sat back to watch the them interact with each other. I often enjoy just observing the fish as much as catching them. What was strange was, I could see the trout, who were mixed in with a gaggle of sail cats, just lazily swimming on their side. A few of them looked like flounder and would require a bit of a double take.

The last dock that we hit had a light that was placed about 10 feet above the water. There was surface action everywhere for about a 100 foot radius around this light. You could cast in any direction and immediately have a fish on. They were feeding on finger mullet, greenbacks and shrimp....but I think you could have tossed a frying pan and it would have received a strike.

Daylight Dies

I arrived at the put in spot at 7PM. The conditions were ideal: Sun low in the sky, the tide was just starting to come in, a light breeze tickling the waters surface. The water temperature felt like bath water and was just ticking 91 degrees.

The plan was to head back to our favorite redfish spot and fish the oyster bar that backs up onto a lush grass flat. Keith was working the drop off along the channel and I was opposite him working the shoreline on the way back to the oyster bar. There was fishy action going on all around us with finger mullet scattering, fish wakes chasing, and birds wading and diving. The area was ALIVE! Perfect conditions....but...the problem was, someone forgot to tell the redfish to show up.


We worked the area and the entire water column with a myriad of flies, soft plastics, and Mirr-o-lures. Nothing. Not even a chase or a tap. When you see about 100 finger mullet scattering and spraying into the air, that usually means a bigger fish is chasing them. Casting past this spot and working the lure with the tide SHOULD trigger a hook-up, right? But once again, the fish haven't read the latest issue of Florida Sportsman.

After an hour and a half, we decided to target some docks with lights to see if we might be able to find some snook.

"Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light" (Who would've ever thought I'd resort to using an Eagles lyric?) There was an eerie green glow next to the seawall. The shade of green that you might see in a sci-fi film...around the same shade of green as my kayak. As we paddled closer, I could make out baitfish darting and large shadows chasing. It looked like some sort of sci-fi aquarium.


Bingo!

We started casting. Nothing. Changed lures. Nothing. Changed lures. Nothing. What would Captain Kirk do? "Captains log....suplemental....we've discovered an eerie.... green.... light with fish feeding around it....yet.....we can't seem to....catch any.... fish Mister!" (Wow...a Star Trek reference? Really?)

After 30 minutes of this, we decided to try another dock. This time, with a light that pointed downward. First cast, BAM! 22 inch trout! Keith got the hook-up on it's twin a few moments later. After about 4 fish each, all between 18 and 22 inches, and FAT, the action quieted. I made around 6 casts without a fish.

Time to move.



Over the next 2 hours, this cycle repeated itself over and over. Cast, catch, release. Cast, catch release. Cast, catch, release. Cast.....cast.....on to the next dock.

I think the reason that the first light didn't produce was because the light was projected upwards, giving the fish a better view of it's prey. Any other time, it's the opposite, with the light projecting down. All they can see is the profile silhouetted against the surface.

We eventually got tired and headed back in...today, my wrists are sore from horsing so many large trout out from under the docks. The bigger trout put up a harder fight for sure.....

Night Ops 2

I have the plan worked out for another night trip this week. The tide is forecast to be low at 6:00pm, sunset is at 8:15pm with high tide at midnight. The lights are rigged and ready to go.

I like fishing at night. It's easier that getting up at the crack of dawn, the boat traffic is almost nonexistent, and the fish become a bit more active since the water is a bit cooler.

The question is this: should I fish where I've recently seen the finger mullet along a ditch that cuts through a shallow sand flat and cast finger mullet flies for snook? Or should I fish the oyster bar that separates the channel from the shallow grass with crab flies for redfish?

Decisions....

Night Shift

Last night, Keith and I did a night trip. Arriving to the beach at around 7pm, we had excellent conditions. With an incoming tide, light breeze and sunset at 8:30, we hit the grass flat along the drop-off with no fish but a lot of diving bird action.

I set up a lighting rig with battery powered camping lanterns inside large, clear,water tight food storage containers fore and aft. Worked like a charm until the batteries died after 3 hours use. Keith said he could see me a long ways off.

Keith caught a small trout along the weed line, then we paddled over to the bridge. There was bait everywhere...glass minnows, needlefish, and majorra. I hooked up with a 15 inch trout on a shrimp pattern, but switched to a white baitfish pattern when I observed snook blasting bait on the surface.

I changed to a topwater, crease fly pattern which drew a few misses. I tried working it fast, slow, painstakingly SLOW to no avail.

Keith caught another trout, but we couldn't seem to entice any of the snook to take our offerings. I think they would have turned their noses up at live bait.

We worked the rock jetty, nothing....the bridge pilings...nothing....all the while watching and listening to "SLUR-POP!" happening all around us.

We headed in at about 1:00 am on a falling tide with a lot of activity still happening. Night fishing is great because the heat isn't as intense, the fish are out, and there is no boat traffic to speak of.

We'll be doing more of this night fishing to be sure!

Shot In The Dark

Friday night, I'll be heading to an undisclosed location to see what sort of fish I can find on an incoming tide after dark.

Of course, after dark means making a few special, handy-dandy modifications to allow for night time kayak fishing - not only to keep from being sunk by some idiot blazing through at top speed, but to keep from being cited for having or not having an illegal vessel.

I had a hard time finding the information needed, so I posed the question to kayak fishing guru and "Google Masta" Mark Watanabe from yakangler.com

Of course he found the information for me (let me Google that for you)and here is what he found:

"Where do Kayaks and Canoes fit into the Navigation Rules? Neither the International nor Inland Navigation Rules address "kayaks" or "canoes" per se, except in regards to "vessels under oars" in Rule 25 regarding lights. One could infer that a "vessel under oars" should be treated as a "sailing vessel" since it is permitted to display the same lights as one, but, ultimately the issue of whom "gives way" would fall to what would be "required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case"

RULE 25: SAILING VESSELS UNDERWAY AND VESSELS UNDER OARS

(a) A sailing vessel underway shall exhibit:

1. sidelights;
2. a sternlight.

(b) In a sailing vessel of less than 20 meters in length the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule may be combined in one lantern carried at or near the top of the mast where it can best be seen.

(c) A sailing vessel underway may, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule, exhibit at or near the top of the mast, where they can best be seen, two all-round lights in a vertical line, the upper being red and the lower Green, but these lights shall not be exhibited in conjunction with the combined lantern permitted by paragraph (b) of this Rule.

(d)

1. A sailing vessel of less than 7 meters in length shall, if practicable, exhibit the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Rule, but if she does not, she shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.
2. A vessel under oars may exhibit the lights prescribed in this rule for sailing vessels, but if she does not, she shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.

(e) A vessel proceeding under sail when also being propelled by machinery shall exhibit forward where it can best be seen a conical shape, apex downwards. A vessel of less than 12 meters in length is not required to exhibit this shape, but may do so. "

I've got a few battery powered camping lanterns with clear waterproof cases that will come in handy for this....

Bring On The Night

Skunktastic.

My last few fishing trips have been skunktastic.

Of all the research I do pertaining to finding good fishing spots that should hold fish and actually plying the brine and catching water or spotting dolphins leaving me scratching my head....then, it finally hit me.

Like a bolt out of the blue.

It's summer stupid! (Not officially until June 21st, but in Bad Backcastland it's after Memorial Day...wonder if your birthday falls on this day if that makes you extra hot?) Fish are pretty much inactive during the heat of the day. Things start turning on during low light. Crabs, shrimp and other prey items get active as the sun goes down....or comes up. The water temperature drops a bit. Fish notice these things and will start looking for prey.

The spots I've been hitting are too good not to hold fish....with nice grass, oyster bars, current breaks and mangroves, you'd think I'd be on them.

This week, dead low tide is around 6:30 - 7:30 pm with sunset at 8:30 pm.

This also gives me the option of fishing the docks at night for snook.

Perfect.

On the tarpon front, I'm going out Sunday morning looking for them around Clearwater Pass/Sand Key. I haven't abandoned them - I just haven't been writing about it.