Fish Catching Travel
There is lots to talk about today, but lets start with a trip to POC yesterday. Chris had contacted me last week wanting to know if I would want to go to POC Tuesday, which I said sure. Then we had our big rain, and I mean on our side of town it was big. In fact according to the local totals our house was in the 5 to 10 inch range, and when it rained about as hard as I have ever seen for 2 hours I knew we got at least that. And thanks for checking Faye, nothing flooded here, but since we were almost 8 inches down it is a God send.
This was taken after it stopped. It is the first time water topped our ditch and ran in the road.
So when he said he was still wanting to go Tuesday I texted him back asking if he had seen the weather report. What he was looking at was not what I was seeing but I decided to go so we met at his place at 7 Tuesday morning.
We had to pick up his boat after major repairs in POC. It had been at the shop for 2 months so I am sure he was more than happy to have it back. So off we went with warm temps and cloudy skies. The wind was barely blowing as we passed the J Hook and headed into Fish Pond to cut through to Mule Slough. As soon as we got into the Slough the wind changed direction, got cold, and it started raining. So back to Froggie’s in the rain we go to wait it out.
After around a half hour we decided to stay a little closer as the wind had picked up and rain was still lightly falling. The Lagoon was his choice so we headed to Army Cut, followed the stakes in and did a little drifting. Shortly after I lost a real nice redfish on a paddle tail. It helps to set the hook. We moved farther in to the small islands and openings into the bay and drifted across The Lagoon.
Chris managed to land this fish stick.
The wind was really howling in the bay as we made multiple drifts. Before it was over we caught one more trout and I caught this red.
The only fish I managed to put in the boat this afternoon.
All I can say is we were lucky The Lagoon faced the way it did. The water, unlike most of the POC area, was fairly clear. Now there were not lots of fish in there, but at least we were able to fish while the wind was howling. One thing about The Lagoon, you better have a boat that runs shallow, and I mean real shallow. Even with the tide in there was barely a foot of water in most of it. While we had a few other hits, we only put 3 in the boat. Want to know how rough the bay was, take a look at this.
Nice to have the barrier island protecting the Lagoon or it would have been fishing in chocolate milk.
Around 3 we decided to make a run and check out the Mitchell’s Cut and the Big Bayou area in case there might be some clear water to fish. As we ran back down the Barge Canal I was telling Chris since it was the day after the holiday weekend obviously there would be no wardens, cops or other authorities out after they all put in a long weekend. So what a good day to break the law. Not 3o seconds later…….
Point your boat east and prepare to be boarded. Good thing we had already dropped off the illegals, drugs, and guns we were running.
The minute they saw us they turned on the lights and we were boarded. We laughed and so did the guys when I told them what I just said. You know the old saying God will get you for that? Well this is the perfect example. They did the requisite safety and equipment checks, and Chris got a compliance check ticket which he can use for a year if he gets stopped again.
Love it when you get a ticket that does not cost you anything.
The only area that we were not technically in compliance was the throwable device. The basic rule is it must be readily accessible, in other words not in a compartment. So just keep that in mind, it must be where you can throw it. And a side note, I know that if you get checked and your life jackets are covered up, hard to get to, or just not in an easily accessible place you may also get a ticket. So while Chris’s was in a compartment on top of stuff and easy to get to, technically it was not in a position to throw.
I would like to compliment the guys who checked us this time. I have been boarded in POC, Florida, and Louisiana, and the guys are usually nice guys. These guys, unlike my last boarding a few years ago at POC, were nice, professional, and the whole thing went the way you hope it would go for everyone. Last time I was boarded in POC the guy was flat out nothing but a jerk, plain and simple. And to make matters worse he flat out lied to me. I kept my mouth shut that day, but as an attorney I checked the law and this guy was nothing but a stinkin’ liar. Like yesterday when we treat “our” law enforcement with respect we have a legitimate expectation of being treated the same. These guys restored my faith in the Coast Guard after that lying jerk a few years ago. So thanks guys and keep up the good work, you are saving lives with every check.
After that we made a pass in the Big Bayou area and Barroom but it was just to windy and we did not have the heart to fish in the chocolate milk. We called it day, and though we only fished a few hours Chris was happy to have the boat back, and we did manage a couple of fish. I know I have been whining this spring, but this is exactly the way my luck has run with the weather and POC. The water temp was only in the mid 70’s, really low for this time of year. But I can promise you as soon as it settles down, and it will, the trout fishing is going to explode.
Random Thoughts
I love to hear from readers and try to get back to as many as I can. First to Ken and Cindy, how your email from a month ago ended up in my trash file I do not know. For those of you who know them they are serial beach clean up folks and the Gulf needs more folks like them. So my apologies.
Jeremy, I have not forgotten your kind offer. As soon as I post this I am going to get the fly rod out and start practicing again. I will get ahold of you sometime this month when the wind finally starts acting more normal and I get back from Canada.
I would like to thank Jeffery for his kind words after I was whining like a baby about my troubles with braid. He suggested I check out Shaw Grigsby’s video on a style of uni-knot for braid. Well I watched that, and about 4 or 5 others by Shaw on other types of knots. We all get stuck in “our” ways of doing things and it is nice when someone points us the way to something that helps. So thanks Jeff, and if you all want to watch a couple of informative videos just search Grigsby and knots, it is worth the watching.
Vivien from Houston dropped me a note telling me she reads my stuff. Thanks for your kind words, it means a lot to me to know that you folks are out there. It makes it a lot easier to sit down and write when I know you all are listening.
And last, Jeremiah, when you guys come later this summer for your kayak trip let me know. If there is someway I can maybe point the way I will be glad to help. A kayak is still on my to do list, but like lots of other cool outdoor things I need another hobby like I need a hole in the head.
Canada is looming and we are headed north in about a week. I will get in a few more days of fishing, hopefully on the Gulf, before we hit the road. Till then there is planning and packing to do. Last time we were there the wireless at the camp was down and I did not get to post from there. According to what I hear things are all good, I hope so, because I will post regularly, and that would include daily fish pictures. Since I download every time I get in I hope to let you all fish along with us.
That is it for today. Tomorrow, depending on the weather, it will back to fishing. I can not thank you enough for reading my stuff. And I love your comments and suggestions so keep them coming. And anytime any of you want to take a shot at writing something about fishing please let me know. I would love to share that with my readers, we can all learn something new.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
