A Morning at SLP -
Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 2:56 pm
We launched when the sky was getting light and so we were on the water for the colorful sunrise.
We fished in marsh areas, shallows, bayous and deeps, finding mainly trout and flounder. Neither of us caught any reds through the whole day. I ended taking home 2 trout and a flounder, all in the 17-18” range. I did have a couple of catches that made me think that I had a nice fish on – the first, a decent sized hardhead that made me think that I had a nice trout, or maybe a red – but no, I could put my net back down, just a slimer.
The second was a sting ray – thought that I had a flounder for a time until I finally got it off bottom and could see the uniform coloring and distinctive shape. Luckily, it was foul hooked in the front and so not hard to remove the hook. I also had a close encounter with a Loon! Now we hear them or see them often and take their presence as a good sign – since if they are there, then there must be food. Food for them may mean fish for us! Well, I was snuggled up against a grassy bank in order to hold position while I was casting into a deeper zone, when one of the pair of loons that we had previously seen got closer to me as it worked its way down the bank, either searching on the surface or chasing its prey under water. During one of these under water excursions it came right by me! My being there did not seem to bother it at all – Well, the skies to the north were growing darker with rising cloud formations. The radar indicated that they were not headed our way, so no rush, but it was time to go anyway. We ended up going through some of those storms on the road home, and so got the kayaks washed along the way!
There was a south wind and a strong incoming tide, so heading north was a speedy trip. I believe that Mike had a PB PA14 speed record close to 6mph – course that is both current and wind assisted (with an umbrella to enhance the wind aspect!)We fished in marsh areas, shallows, bayous and deeps, finding mainly trout and flounder. Neither of us caught any reds through the whole day. I ended taking home 2 trout and a flounder, all in the 17-18” range. I did have a couple of catches that made me think that I had a nice fish on – the first, a decent sized hardhead that made me think that I had a nice trout, or maybe a red – but no, I could put my net back down, just a slimer.
The second was a sting ray – thought that I had a flounder for a time until I finally got it off bottom and could see the uniform coloring and distinctive shape. Luckily, it was foul hooked in the front and so not hard to remove the hook. I also had a close encounter with a Loon! Now we hear them or see them often and take their presence as a good sign – since if they are there, then there must be food. Food for them may mean fish for us! Well, I was snuggled up against a grassy bank in order to hold position while I was casting into a deeper zone, when one of the pair of loons that we had previously seen got closer to me as it worked its way down the bank, either searching on the surface or chasing its prey under water. During one of these under water excursions it came right by me! My being there did not seem to bother it at all – Well, the skies to the north were growing darker with rising cloud formations. The radar indicated that they were not headed our way, so no rush, but it was time to go anyway. We ended up going through some of those storms on the road home, and so got the kayaks washed along the way!