Over the weekend I took a kayaking course from Economy Tackle. It was worth the $35.00, and covered about all you need to know to fishing from a sit-on-top kayak. I also picked up the second addition to the kayak fleet, another Aquaterra Prism. I was real anxious to get out and fish from it.

Couldn't fish Monday because I had to have a crown prep done on a shattered molar. Tuesday would be the day. I called and asked Capt. Tommy Stevens if he would join me, and he agreed. He's got a couple of kayaks of his own, and is an experienced paddler. We met at around 9:15 AM and drove out Longboat Key to a small public park next to the Poseidon Restaurant, which happens to sit just south of the area of Buttonwood we wanted to fish.

The wind was already blowing out of the south pretty good, signaling the approach of tropical storm Mitch. It didn't take long to paddle our way to the mangrove keys we would fish. I struck paydirt first with a nice redfish. That was my first fish from kayak! What a trip. Tommy scooted off a ways and got out and flyfished a shoreline. I continued to work the mangroves from my kayak. We fished for about three hours, during which I caught 4 redfish, two nice snook, and a jack crevalle. I think Tommy did about as well, and got one snook on fly. The highlight for me was a snook that hit as I drifted on wind and rudder along a mangrove shoreline. She crashed my spoon, and with the strong wind at my back, a non-functional anchor, and a strong snook at my front, I was soon face first into the mangroves. I was in a hell of a mess, and all I could think of was "rod in the water, rod in the water". I just kept the rod tip where I could feel the mud bottom, and kept waiting for the snook to find something to cut me off on. We were at an impasse. She wasn't making any headway at getting loose, and I couldn't figure out what to do next. I couldn't paddle with a rod in my hand. I just patiently pumped and reeled upside down, and finally, I could tell the fish was pretty close to the end of my rod. I decided to go for broke. I swung the rod hard through the water around the stern of the kayak and out to the starboard side. Damned if the fish didn't come. I guess she had worn herself out struggling to get to the mangrove roots. I actually landed that snook, a 27 incher. I think if she'd been any bigger, she would have won that battle. I couldn't wait to get back around on the lee side and show Tommy my trophy.

The only thing that spoiled the outing for me was that I was sitting in a cockpit full of water all morning. I had stopped and picked up some scupper plugs, but they would not stay in place, no matter how hard I pushed and pounded on them. So, I sat in water. Thank God it wasn't cold. Other than that, it was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to get out and do it again. I can see why kayak fishing is becoming so popular.

Well, I guess I don't have to tell most of you that Mitch came in Wednesday and it rained all day and all night. There were no trips run Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday was to be with my October Angler Of The Month, Lew Joseph and a couple of his buddies, but it was still too nasty. I knew there wouldn't be any fishing for several days, anyway.

That prophecy became a truth for Mark Fink and his friends Paul and Brent, from Indianapolis, Indiana, who had a full day scheduled with me. I warned them that the fishing would definitely SUCK, but they wanted to go regardless, and I'm glad we did. We had a ball all day long. Mark and Paul were the fishermen of the bunch, and then there was Brent. He claimed to have never fished before.

The tide was already lower at dawn than it was forecasted to be at ten o'clock. The wind was blowing at about 20 right out of the north, and that's what it does. I will blow all the water out of the bays and make it look like someone pulled a giant drain plug somewhere.

I figured bait would be tough, and it was. It had disappeared off the flats on the back side of the causeway. I had checked my records for the last several years the night before, and found that we had been catching bait in front of St. James Creek, in front of the York Island Cut, and on the north side of Chino Island, at this time in years past. We were off to St. James. Obviously, a couple of others had checked their records, as they were there chumming, too. Shiners of any size were all but impossible. We got maybe a few dozen. There were tons of small pinfish, the size that make good bait at 2 to 3 inches long. So, we gathered a mixed bag of shiners and pins to go with the several dozen shrimp I had bought on the way to the ramp.

I headed up the river to a spot where lots of big snook hang out, that is positioned perfectly for north wind days. This would be the test of my new Digger Anchor I had just received from Cabella's. My friend and customer Lew Joseph had turned me on to it, and said it worked great. I was about to find out. I put the boat into position over a hard sand and shell bottom which is always hard to anchor in on windy days. The Digger dug right in. Amazing! We managed 3 or 4 small snook there. We tried a few other spots then headed up the Sound for lunch at The Waterfront Restaurant while the tide was making its change to incoming.

We had a great lunch there, and were soon joined by most of the other guides who were working Friday. Turned out our waitress, Beth Sweet, is a new kayaker, and is looking for fishing accessories for her kayak. I steered her to CKF. After lunch, we headed on up the Sound in hopes of finding some redfish as the tide moved in.

Well, the tide never moved up on the flats like it should have because of the wind holding it back. I guess that held the reds back, because not only did we not have a hit anywhere we went, but I didn't see the first redfish. The water was dirty, but you'd think I would have gotten eyeball to eyeball with at least one. So, after a long, gallant effort, I suggested we head back and stop at a place I call my 19th Hole.

We weren't there long before Paul had a nice snook on. After some extreme coaching to get the snook out of the mangroves, Paul brought the fish alongside the boat. On such a tough day, everyone was overjoyed to see a keeping size snook in the boat. A couple of minutes later, Brent and Paul were both hooked up. Brent had a small redfish, and Paul had a beautiful 27 inch snook. She also went into the forward aquarium. That turned out to be it for the day. Poor ole Mark had not caught a fish. Paul on the other hand had caught all 6 snook, and Brent had caught the red. Brent, who was supposed to be the neophyte, casted like he'd been doing it for years, and with a little coaching, was making beautiful casts. I met a guy like that in a pool hall once. Said he'd never played.....

Anyway, we had a great day of fishing and fun, it was just the catching that was tough. Everyone was glad they had decided to go, as was I. They understood that the day after the passing of a tropical storm coupled with a cold front was not the day to be out fishing, but we'd made the best of it. They vowed to be back.

Saturday, I marched my rear down to Economy Tackle to pick up my new Aquaterra Swing. Tommy had been fishing from a Swing on our Tuesday trip. It is built for larger people, with a wider beam, and more freeboard. I had tried it, and it was fine. I didn't get wet. The boys at Economy were nice enough to rig a Swing for fishing, and allowed me to exchange the Prism so I'd have something I could stay dry in. Turned out that Al didn't realize that I weigh 240 pounds because I hide it so well. The Prism isn't suitable for bodies that heavy. So, I guess that as I build my guide fleet of fishing kayaks, I'll probably split things between Prisms and Swings, or something equivalent, seeing as how there are lots of big boys like me out there.

That was how the week went. Next Tuesday, Capt. Mark Bess, my customer Tom Davanaugh, and I are going to take a kayak fishing trip in the Sound. It will be Mark's first time in a kayak, and I'm willing to bet he'll love it. Stay tuned.