2015-March 10th Group Kayak Fishing - Fish Creek

Our first official Group Kayak Fishing excursion got off to a great start with 14 ladies tagging in to say they planned on meeting up assuming that the weather would be cooperating.  Delores went by Moore Bait & Tackle and picked up about 100 shrimp to distribute among all that requested. This would only allow for about 10-12 shrimp per person but that should be enough to catch a few fish, maybe even a few bait fish to hold in reserve after the shrimp were gone.  Not all of these women use live bait though.  Some of them prefer to use artificial lures instead because of the cost savings and the increase challenge of hooking a fish.  Artificial lures are easier on the wallet because they last considerably longer than live bait and some know that catching fish isn't always a challenge when using live bait but "tricking" a fish into striking something that isn't real is quite rewarding.  However, on this particular outing, we had quite a few new women to the kayak fishing arena and having them use  live bait would increase their odds of catching fish.  It's important to experience that thrill pretty early on in the process of learning this sport.  It's the excitement of catching the first fish that inspires them to continue on  Increasing their knowledge and skill as the months go on, eventually increases their catch ratio and that's what this club is all about.

Since this was the first kayak fishing trip for some of these gals, they weren't all familiar with how to find this particular launch site we were meeting at (John's Fish Creek Camp) so we designated a landmark to meet up at 8:00 a.m. and then we'd convoy to the launch site so that they would know next time how to get there.

From left to right:
Anne, Patsy, Delores, Marie, Theresa, Sue, and Martha Ann

Some of the members who had fished this area several times before were very familiar with the route and were there when the convoy drove in at 8:30 a.m.  Since there were so many new faces and kayaks, the next 1/2 hour was spent socializing, taking a look at one another's set-up and paying attention to how each person's gear was organized.

This ramp was like any other ramp, used by kayakers and boaters equally.  Boats, of course, require a bit more room to launch and we had to be aware of the fact that we may not be the only ones needing to use the ramp that morning.  We hoped that picking a week day for this trip would be to our benefit - expecting less boat traffic during a work week as opposed to a busier weekend day, so we kept our fingers crossed that we could get all 14 kayaks in the water and on the way before we blocked a boater from doing the same.  There is nothing worse than inconsiderate people at a boat launch area!  We didn't want to be labeled "those people".  We were glad that getting all the kayaks water bound was an easy and rush-free process.

By 9:00 a.m. everyone had their kayaks geared up, vehicles parked and locked, and kayaks in the water.  It was now just a matter of navigating the short distance through the canal (and in the fog) to the first channel marker that would be our starting point.  So far we were right on track with time and everything seemed to be going like clockwork.

This would be Patsy's (below) maiden voyage in her fishing kayak.

Liz (below) wasn't in any hurry, just enjoying her time on the water and relaxing.

Patsy again (below) getting ready to hook a shrimp for her first cast.  Everyone seemed to be settling into a comfortable "spot" to call their own for a short time.  It was still a bit foggy but was looking like it would turn out to be a nice day.

While most of the ladies stayed in the open water, in sight of one another, Patsy and Suzanne were a bit more adventurous and paddled a little farther than the others and found a nice quiet spot to tuck themselves into.  That decision paid off for Suzanne around 10:00 when she caught her very first fish from her kayak.  That's very exciting!  This little red measured in at about 12 inches but it was the first of several Suzanne would end up catching that day.

Less than 15 minutes later, she hooked into an 18 inch keeper that was spinning her kayak around in circles getting itself tangled in her anchor rope.  She's lucky this guy didn't throw the hook in all of that mess.  It was just working out to be Suzanne's lucky day.  She was now on an adrenaline high!

By 11:00 a.m., it was 73 degrees, a bit breezy and sunny.  Everyone had spread out.  Some had anchored down while others were on the move every 15-20 minutes or so.  Delores was neither anchored nor exploring, just drifting with the breeze and blind casting, when she felt her line go tight.  Assuming it was a small redfish she had hooked into, she was pleasantly surprised to have caught a sheepshead. 

Just barely in the slot size, but without an ice chest to store it in, there was no sense in keeping it.  So it was released to grow a bit bigger.

If you're not used to spending any length of time in a kayak, like Patsy and Suzanne, your focus shifts after a couple of hours.  It's no longer on catching fish but on searching out a reasonable place to get out of the yak and stand up.  There aren't many places that you can do that in Fish Creek but these two seemed to have found one of the few spots around with some solid oyster rock to stretch the old legs on.

What an absolutely beautiful day!

Suzanne wasn't the only one catching fish.  Alice had brought several nice sized trout to her yak and Jeanne had a few tricks up her sleeve, too, and hooked into this nice 20 inch red caught on a gold spoon. 

As is our usual plan, we met back up together as a group around noon time to talk about our morning success, or lack thereof, and have a bite to eat.  Half of our crew had already decided early on that they'd be heading back to the ramp after lunch, the other half were fully prepared to stay out and fish for several more hours.  Either way, we were still going to enjoy lunch with the entire group.

As some of the ladies were slowly paddling their way back to the ramp, a few cast a line or two along the way and, as luck would have it, Suzanne once again hooked a beautiful keeper trout to top off her day.  We were all really happy that she had such a great day on her first outing in her fishing kayak with just the girls.  Way to go, Suzanne.  Congratulations on the beginning of your 2015 kayak fishing experience!

Now it's time to get ready for our Cooked Shore Lunch Charter with Capt. Toney and Capt. Zorn