Late report October 9th Freeport

[karstopo]

Very late report from two Monday’s ago. Daughter and I hit the marsh around 9am, she in my Tarpon 140 and me in the Commander 140.

Water was high, steady, then a little creeping out, green, but not all that clear.

She struck first with a nice redfish in a small drain way back in the marsh, but unfortunately my Albright special knot was not up to the task. Some of the slick, small diameter fluorocarbons like Seaguar Gold 15# aren’t so great for joining to slick GSP braids without extra careful knot tying and maybe a dab of UV cure adhesive just to be sure.

I left the back marsh after that lost fish and went and fished some deeper shell. The water wasn’t moving much, but the wind was calm and I did see a few fish. I whiffed on a big black drum and gave up casting to that. I made a few casts to a sighted redfish over shell, but failed to get a take. That fish seemed disinterested in my tan Borski slider in spite of making a few decent attempts at getting the fish’s attention.

I staked out to see if I could at least dredge up something. The wind had started to ripple the water enough to make seeing fish more of a challenge. I stuck with the whip and slider.

Right away, I got a small black drum. First saltwater fish for me since I last fished in January or February can’t remember that long ago. Caught a small croaker, then moved over to a different reef next to deeper water and got a good eat about the time my daughter paddled over from the back marsh. The redfish battled hard and long for a 22” fish and I thoroughly enjoyed the tussle. Onto the stringer it went. Caught another drum or two and a decent croaker that I decided to keep.

We didn’t fish all that long and we were back at the launch before noon, but had a great time out and plan more such outings when our schedules allow.

Rust was in evidence. I forgot my primary box of flies so one borski slider was all I had but one was all I needed. I bought an old Japanese made greenie curado at an estate sale and put that into action and my Albright special failed on a fish. Later at home, I switched over to 20# seaguar blue and UV cured the carefully tied and trimmed knot so hopefully no more failures with these knots. My fly cast under pressure was mediocre at best, but that should improve with use.

Anyhow, super good to be out after a brutally hot summer. I am unfortunately not able to risk summer heat in the kayak anymore, last summer was tough on me and this one was 10 degrees hotter. But, the fall and winter are my favorite seasons to fish anyway so here’s to more fishing.

[Ron Mc]

the temperate weather has returned - why we live here through brutal summers - and fishing is looking up.

Thanks for the report and lunch.

[Cityfisher]

Thanks for the report.
I haven't been on the water since June 23. The planets have aligned finally and I plan on making it down there this weekend. Hopefully have something to report for a change. The heat this year was the most brutal I ever remember. In years past it never stopped me to much except for timing my trips for afternoons or mornings. This year it was downright dangerous!

[rasaid]

Thank you for a very entertaining report! Anyone persevering the flyrod and catching is a hero in my eyes. Anytime I catch a fish in the salt with a fly I am proud as it's so easy to go straight to the conventional tackle. My excuses are typically, it's too windy, the waters too deep, I'm spooking them before I'm in a position to fly cast, yada, yada...

Praise for the flycasters!

[deptrai]

Nice report.

Light winds, strong outgoing tide and tolerable temperatures this weekend. Where will I go?

[karstopo]

Went back out to the marsh today. Water way lower, outgoing from 10am until I left at 14:30.

Redfish was in a school of a dozen busting bait along a shoreline. Picked up the 20” red on a borski slider. Lost that school, but got a single 19” crawler to eat the tan slider.

Decided to flounder hunt after that. Both flounder were spotted harassing bait, lost a couple more.

Had one 14” trout.

[TexasJim]

Thanks for the reports karst! Nice flatties! I've fished all summer thru the brutal heat, mostly without results. Finally caught two slot reds a couple of weeks back, but it's really been a time to stay in out of the heat. Now that it's cooled a bit, I've been fishing, but not catching much. It'll get better. TexasJim

[karstopo]

It was surprisingly hot today. The wind died down to nothing for a while around noon and the heat built. I’m not in prime shape, I think once I hit 60 the assumptions physically I operated with as a younger guy have apparently changed. I pressed on through any age related discomfort and put out a decent amount of effort padding and casting.

Low water and falling water makes for concentrated fish, that was the idea or plan I worked with today. I didn’t see as many redfish as I thought I might have, though. Lots of little shrimp in the marsh. Of the redfish I caught and or saw, none were very big, lots of rats.

The flounder were a thrill. I sort of thought with the tides and tidelevels the flounder would be where I found them based on prior experiences and that’s a good feeling having predictions come true. Getting plus sized flounder definitely makes me smile. One was barely hooked, the hook essentially fell out in the net. The other one was a beast to get into the fish bag, a real fighter. I missed at least a couple more flounder.

Maybe I’ll get in another flounder focused trip before the November closure. Once November comes, I’ll shift more towards redfish and trout.

[Ron Mc]

Us old guys lose heat tolerance. Something keenly noted in cycling, and dangerous if overlooked.
In my Oct 4 Estes report, I considered this the last brutal-heat day of the year, little-to-no breeze, 90s and 80+% humidity, powerful sun.
I didn't mention in my report, on the 2-mi paddle back in, buddy Lou had to take a break because he nearly passed out (we go back farther as cycling buddies).
Learned from my wrestling daughter, my water bottles carry only SmartWater. The electrolytes make a noted difference keeping your synapses talking, especially near that point of blacking out. Another related symptom is ataxia, where your brain loses connection with your aorta, and pulse runs away.
Later that day, Lou went to Rockport HEB and bought his electrolyte water.

Thanks for the added report and photos - you have some good eats ahead.

[karstopo]

Summer of 2022 was probably the first summer I really noted having problems dealing with the heat out in the kayak. I have generally believed I had great heat tolerance my whole life and might have silently or even openly scoffed at men who wilted prematurely in the heat.

That summer, I was out in Drum Bay having a fun time catching one sand trout after another with a few specks in the mix and the sun was beating down the whole time. It was all fun until I decided to paddle in and found out I barely had the juice to make it back to the launch. I also didn’t have to urinate for quite some time afterwards. The experience was eye opening and has injected more caution into my trip planning. I had always felt I knew where my lines were physically and how far I could push myself, but I think age has changed the math some.

This summer was exponentially hotter than 2022 if heat stress, the heat index is the measure so I decided to take a break from kayaking at all. Kayaking is supposed to be fun, rewarding and definitely not fatal.

Thankfully our brutal heat here is finite. Fall and Winter and Spring are splendid times to be outside. My fall garden is shaping up. The desire to go look for fish out in the kayak has been resurrected. I need to be outside and physically active to feel normal. Not someone that thrives being cooped up inside four walls for long.

[Ron Mc]

Kars, I'm going to reiterate about SmartWater.
When I had a bicycle wreck, ribs, broken collar bone and minor brain trauma, I had severe dizziness during recovery to the point I couldn't drive.
When I put SmartWater in my water bottle, the dizziness went away, and I could drive.
Again, learned about this from my wrestling daughter through her extreme training.
Manning up will only go so far - being prepared is more important.

[karstopo]

Kars, I'm going to reiterate about SmartWater.
When I had a bicycle wreck, ribs, broken collar bone and minor brain trauma, I had severe dizziness during recovery to the point I couldn't drive.
When I put SmartWater in my water bottle, the dizziness went away, and I could drive.
Again, learned about this from my wrestling daughter through her extreme training.
Manning up will only go so far - being prepared is more important.

I think I’ll pick up some today on my visit to HEB. Any flavor recommendations.

[Ron Mc]

it's not flavored, just electrolytes in water

[karstopo]

it's not flavored, just electrolytes in water

I now realize that, I bought a six pack. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Ron Mc]

You're welcome - you will benefit from it - I know I do, Lou does, my daughter does.

[Kayak Kid]

Thanks for that great report, Karstopo. i don't know which made my mouth water the most, the fish on the fly rod, or the thought of broiled flounder filets, covered in crab meat.

I no longer worry about fishing in the heat. We just put in two of the new (to me) multiple stage air conditioners. The house is set to coooool comfort, and that is where I do my fishing...,vicariously through the TKF fishing reports and photos.