I know I have to learn the bait as well as the fish down here. We had a busy day planned house-wise but I just had to go out on a scout especially with the full flood tide moon today. High highs and low lows. What I'm learning is during the hot months it's all about the flood tide and during the cooler months the ebb. So I went and hit some spots.
Hey, I know there's gators down here. Just about everywhere you go there's a sign to remind people of that. My guard is especially up when I walk Luke just before bed and before first light. I carry a mini-mag light to illuminate our walk, not that the flashlight would help if we were ambushed or anything. I cut my teeth fly fishing for striped bass pulling overnights in Asbury Park back in the day and then Trenton so scary people don't phase me, but alligators do.
I drove around before settling in at a place that looked promising away from the bayou-alligator populated swamp. It was the top of the flood tide and it looked fishy, although I was limited to where I could go due to the many deep channels that cut the landscape off of the main river.
As you know I'm all about walking and wading, well to fish some spots I'll have to include swimming to get from point A to point B. You can tell from the above picture by the drop off it's not knee-deep water there. So I put this spot in for my plan for today.
My flats shoes could be anywhere and after searching through the garage and The Guide House I realized they must be in my wader bag back in Cape May. I did a quick search on Amazon and found a suitable temporary replacement. For $50 they'll do just fine.
They arrived while we were out at the tile place looking for backsplash tile in the kitchen. The countertop folks broke the existing tiles during their install so we arrived to find that part of the home improvement project up in the air. Then we had to run home for the appliance delivery guys who were dropping off a new washer and dryer for Theresa. The house came with a set but they weren't up to T's liking so, "Happy wife, happy life".
Of course they came sealed in a box and we were told to inspect them before they carried them into the house. During inspection we found a dent in each one and quickly got Home Depot on the phone. I felt bad for the delivery guys who stood there dripping in the 95 degree heat waiting for us to make the call. In the end they offered to take off 25% so shortly after that call they were inside.
I got back to the morning spot a few hours into the incoming. I was easily able to walk across those finger channels where the water had covered it on the earlier high tide. When you're learning a new spot it's exciting and starting from square one hits all of the senses.
The above flat is where I want to fish today. During my couple hour trek through the landscape yesterday I noticed a few things. There tall and short spartina grass. There's hard and soft, or muddy bottoms, and there's mud, and then leg swallowing pluff mud. Hermit crabs are everywhere and I would love to have seen Bob walking and watching the bait. Those crabs love the muddy bottoms, and can't be found around the taller, and sharper, oyster bed mounds.
My $50 flats boots served the purpose, although they were a tad loose. I purchased an 11, and if I were in a store I most likely would have went 10.5, but I put a pair of socks on to lessen the space between rubber and skin.
I'm sure I will beat the piss out of these in short order so my expectations are high. I didn't want to drop big cash on a "real" pair and didn't want to miss this weeks moon tides. They worked out great as I was able to walk the various bottoms of where the water will be when I return this morning. Even though deep, the bottom was firm, a combination of hard packed sand and oyster shells. So I did some pre-planning and some work.
I found a spot that had a gentle slope on both my entry and exit point. It would bother were I'll be swimming across to get to hopefully a place where at least one redfish is up hunting for fiddler crabs.
I marked the spot with a piece of wood that I considered using for the first The Guide House sign but it was just a piece of pressure treated lumber. So I planted it in the ground and surrounded it by oyster shells which will hopefully keep it upright through the last two tide cycles.
I marked my entry point with a line in the sand and a few chunks of oyster bed. As I sit here at 5am writing this it seems like a good plan. I'll be changing into my bathing suit and brining a towel and change of clothes. Hopefully the gators weren't watching me prepare last evening.
On my out I bounced along the bumpy dirt road which brought back memories of getting into Lake Tashmoo back in June. That trip seems like an eternity ago and I can't wait to go back next year. By then, hopefully, I would have learned a ton down here and maybe even caught a fish or two. There's tarpon around and the bull reds are just arriving, not some bad targets to have, if only I can find out where they are. I'm not asking anybody for intel, even if it takes me longer to get dialed in.
When I got home the storm clouds were building over the bubble. Theresa and I took a shot and ran over to the pool for a quick swim. While in the water we both shook our heads while saying how thankful and blessed we are. We were the only people there.
After our quick dip we saw that the pool side bar was still open, and there was still time to put it a food order. I'm sure this place gets busy at times but where can you take an after work dip and belly up to the bar in a complex of 10,000 people and only have a few others around? So far, well it's been only four days, we like everything, except those dam alligators. I just want to be that guy.