Location: Fort Desoto, Mullet Key
Tide: Incoming
Overall, a decent day on the water.
My friend Brad was in town with his family and was able to join me on today’s outing. Brad met up with me over at my house at 6:00am sharp, and we drove out to Ft. Desoto. Passed the Bunche's Pass launch and it was vacant. Drove all the way out to Mullet Key and parked on the beach side to launch. We were on the water by 6:30am for the last hour of a low tide before a good incoming tide that would raise the water from 1.1 to 2.3 feet. The wind was between 5-10 mph the whole time, blowing east to west, which of course is not optimal. We had to deal with choppy water the entire time.
Started out by going around the point of the key and straight out to the north in search of deeper water. The water was less than a foot. We paddled all the way past the end of the spoil island and the water just wasn't getting any deeper. This was confusing to me because I remembered the water there having a gradual slope. Eventually we got to the end of the grass where there is a rapid drop off to a sandy bottom in 4-5 feet of water. I saw some commotion on the surface and threw my pearl colored Spook, Jr. and an under-slot trout nailed it. Brad and I looked at each other like it was going to be on, but that fish would turn out to be a red herring (pun intended).
We threw everything in our arsenal at that spot and the surrounding area for a good thirty minutes but couldn't get anything to the boat. The weeds were thick there and everywhere we fished today, a good 9 on a scale of 1-10. I can't say that I brought even one cast back to the yak without some weeds on the hook. I have been meaning to try a single J-hook or circle hook on my topwater to see if it makes a difference.
Next up we paddled over to the spoil island and threw some gulps and topwater over there. I knew there were a few deep spots around the mangroves, that spot gets a lot of pressure. No bites.
I was sort of getting desperate for some good deep water over grass, so I suggested we paddle out to the marker to the east over by Egmont Channel. As we paddled out, the wind freshened and the chop turned to waves and we couldn't reach the marker. We paddled back toward shore a bit and anchored up in some rough chop and despite the conditions, saw a lot of action. Spooked some big reds, lots of rays and bait popping. I was facing the wrong way to where I wanted to cast, so I unclipped my anchor and switched it to the other side and started to cast. Next thing I knew, I was twenty yards away from Brad and I realized I was drifting. I looked down and NO ANCHOR. The carabiner that I use to connect my anchor rope to my yak had popped open and my anchor was lost. Major FAIL. As you know, not having an anchor is a major pain in the ass, especially on a windy day in strong current. I set up a couple of drifts to try to make up for it but nothing to show for it but pinfish.
Brad didn't have any luck either, so I signaled for him to pull anchor, and right at that moment, there is this loud crash and like 100 baitfish go fleeing and flying out of the water right next to his yak. I don't know what was chasing them, a tarpon or shark maybe, but it was pretty awesome.
By then, the tide had come back up and we paddled back to the bay side of the key, about 50 yards out. The bite started heating up and I picked up another under-slot trout on a 4” new penny Gulp on a 1/8oz red jig head. Brad soon caught his first and only fish of the day--a catfish. Bunk.
We got frustrated and just decided to drift all the way back to the mangroves over by the park access road. On that drift I picked up another under-slot trout on topwater, and then a short time later, a big bronze backed trout on topwater. Great fight, I thought it was a red all the way up until it got to the yak.
We fished the back mangroves after the drift, but it was dirty water and an 11 out of 10 for weeds. Paddled back up and fished the previous spot once more. I caught another big ass trout on topwater, again with the bronze back. I was drifting with my legs in the water, and as the trout approached it thrashed and stuck one of the trebles in my leg. It was in past the barb, but not too far, so I just yanked it back out. TROUT 1, BRIAN 0.
We paddled out after that, and of course the wind died right as we pulled to the launch. I hate summer fishing.
It wasn't too busy out there all day, though there were two guys wading who didn't stop talking the whole time they were out there. There was some excitement at one point when one of the two hooked into what he thought was a giant redfish. It ended up being a three-foot bonnethead shark.
On the drive out, I passed by the Bunche's Pass access spot and there were at least 30 cars parked there, bumper to bumper.
Not much else to report. It was great to get out there and I did okay with five trout, considering. Oh, I forgot to say that at some point I caught a ladyfish on a DOA paddle tail that didn't fight at all. No jumps, no thrashing, no pooping. Strange.
