With the summer rains subsiding and a clear day in the forecast, I decided it was time to drag the kayak back down to the marsh. I hadn’t been fishing down there much this summer, as the summer usually brings high and dirty water, making for less than ideal sight fishing conditions. I wasn’t expecting to do much sight fishing on this trip, but I did want to scope out a couple of roadside kayak launches that I’d had saved in my maps for a while but had never launched at. The first location gives access to alot of mangrove marshes and canals, and the other is the more tradition marsh grass bank and marsh pond habitat. I think both areas will be great for targeting redfish when fall and winter arrive.

With the water being high as expected I did alot of fishing while pedaling the Hobie. I usually just use the pedal drive to get to a location, then pull them up and stand up paddle to sight fish. That kind of fishing can get pretty tiring after a few hours, but sitting and casting was pretty relaxing by comparison. I had the most success in the second spot, there was some water moving through some passes in the marsh and the specks and catfish were in the area feeding. I used a couple different colors of Clouser Minnows casted towards the banks, or to the middle of a channel where the water was moving, and caught a few fish on each color. The highlight of the day was when, after letting the Clouser sit on the bottom while I maneuvered the kayak, I picked up the slack and felt a fish on. To my surprise a small Flounder had picked up the fly! I was able to flip it into the front of the kayak, but as soon as it hit the floor it gave a good flop while spitting the hook and was gone. So close to having a new species landed! Check out all the action in the video below.