Had also been talking for two weeks with Blake - YaketyYak - he wanted to scout Estes for a PACK trip, and told him for sure Sunday would be the better day.
NWS kept making Saturday look better, with the two fronts hitting early, and both the rain chance subsiding and the wind easing back to the east by 10 am - it didn't happen. Though it was balmy and 70 when Lou and I arrived at Rahi Motel Friday evening, Saturday was a cold blow. We held out to launch until 8:30a, again, believing NWS that coming home was going to be better on the light East wind - we launched at 16 kt NNE with that promise.
I included this photo, walking our boats to the Little Cut shoal, because it was the only good photo I took of Steve.
Little Cut was dead in spite of the rising tide and beating wind current ripping through the cut - I've never not caught tourist trout there. So we headed upwind to drift back down Trout Bayou.
Instead of getting better, the wind picked up and continued from the NNE - gusts were definitely over 20 kts and the rain picked up. We regrouped at Sandy Point, sourhtern tip of Talley Island, grabbing a few calories before before making the hard WNW reach back to Palm Harbor. Steve noted that glass minnows were washing onto his deck through his Hobie drive port.
Lou showed up with a nice slot red, caught on a maroon+yellow-tail cocahoe. It was only 11am, but we were ready for warm and dry.
Note the waves beating down Trout Bayou on Lou's hull. Because of the reaching wind and waves, the only way to make it back home was to tack upwind above Palm Harbor, and jibe for the last run across the ICW to the Palm Harbor bulkhead. Steve's Revo 16 capsized in 3 wind gusts crossing Estes Cove.
We made good the rest of the day, running into Roy's Bait & Tackle so Lou could buy a new Werner paddle on sale, and picked up a few more glass minnow lures. Also killer burgers at Steer Burger in Estes.
Sunday morning it was dead calm, but pea-soup fog. Ken - Yakrunabout - joined us along with Blake.
It was great fishing with these guys, and I hope they enjoyed Estes as much as we did.
Even though we couldn't see Talley Is., made the call to paddle out into the fog - Sandy Point should be ESE, right?
I managed to get us kinda lost, or at least on a long semi-circle tour. I kept paddling to what looked through the distance like the island, but my compass didn't make sense. I finally figured out instead of Talley Is., I was looking at the dense fog on the horizon.
So Blake rescued us with his GPS, we rounded Talley, and went right to fishing as we worked our way East toward Little Cut.
Lou and Steve both kept fishing up Trout Bayou, remembering Lou's red from yesterday.
Blake, Ken and I took advantage of the tourist trout smorgasbord at Little Cut - no wind current, but a pretty good rising tide current. Trout were slashing glass minnows on the skinny shoal and along every bank in the cut. Lou also mentioned that he, Blake, and Ken paddled up on the west end of the Little Cut shoal and saw reds grazing on glass minnows, but none of them could turn a strike.
Blake heading into Little Cut.
I knew about Sunday's calm, and brought my 8' UL, knowing it would let me cast a small, sinking Yo-Zuri PINS minnow from the center shoal to either bank in Little Cut. It was a blast, even with tourist trout.
better photo, and I caught two that were 15 inches - would have kept them if I knew Lou was showing up with a stringer.
Lou paddling in from the fog to join us.
Ken fishing the grassy shore on the deep side of the cut - you get the sense of the light remaining fog in this photo.
About 9am, the sun was slowly drying the fog and driving up a light NE breeze for us. So we paddled up Trout Bayou to drift back down. I missed so many good fish - had a really solid fish hooked - or so I thought. I was also getting many little trout strikes on grasswalker.
On this drift, Lou got the trip fish, a 25" hen trout on TSL Chicken-on-a-Chain.
Our breeze finally gave up, so we paddled back to Little Cut for beer-thirty break and few more tourist trout.
With the promise of returning prevailing SE wind in the afternoon, we began working our way south to Big Cut.
The drift that followed was a blast, and promised to get better for the remaining afternoon. I know Blake and Ken were both catching trout and reds on topwaters.
I noticed they were striking better on a fast retrieve, so I tied on a cocahoe and lived with the grass balls.
Caught this rat red with the most beautiful tail coloration I've ever seen.
Lou told me he badly gulleted his sow trout, so better to eat her than let her die.
Looks like Susie will let Lou play again, as long as he keeps bringing home trout fillets.
How's this for a stingy fillet?
We had an adventure - weather adventure, paddling adventure, fishing adventure. It was a great outing with good friends, and I hope to fish with both Blake and Ken again.
Food and the current weirdness - Steer Burger in Estes is top notch, Texas Monthly Top 50, and they've always been set up for excellent grab-it and go meals.
Also the Groove in Rockport - great menu, and they can turn out a fantastic wood-fired pizza in 10 minutes.
I have the regular fins but need the rods to fit in the fins. I will get them soon.
