I took the kayak and drove down to Cockroach today even though the the forecast was calling for a high surf advisory until 7am. Well, I figured even if it was rough, there should be plenty of places to hide from the wind. I didn't expect much as far as the fish bite was concerned because of the cooler temps and that front that blew through yesterday but I hadn't been to CB in a while and I missed the quiet and beauty you can get there. Especially during the week when it isn't crowded.
I got there around 7am with a dozen shrimp in my little homemade bait well. I paddled straight out of the launch along the right side of the channel and looking down, I saw schools of Sheepshead. The water was crystal clear and the tide was dropping pretty fast. Dang ole wintertime low tide was turning all the low lying areas into beaches so I had to follow the channels for a while. After riding the wake of two boats, I turned left into the first big cut. I knew there was a small channel there somewhere and had to walk a bit to find it. But once I did, I was free of the boat traffic.
Back inside the mangroves, the water was still because the 39 degree wind was blocked by the trees and my fingers started not to ache as bad. The sun was just over the treeline and it's warmth was welcome. I threw the spook jr. while I drifted along but had no luck. I've not had any luck with that lure in a long time actually.
I turned right towards the bay. That first opening south of the main channel. I had that place in mind since the night before, when I was on Google Earth looking for where I should spend the day fishing. There is a large sandy hole that looks like a boot on the satalite image. I planned on staying there till the tide came back in. It was a good choice.
I anchored up with the wind to my back and threw a shrimp under a popping cork. Maybe a minute later the cork disappeared and I pulled in an 18 and 1/2 inch red. Only one spot on him. Pretty neat.
Before I put another shrimp on, I figured I'd try an artificial. Waving off the topwater out of frustration and knowing the water was probably too deep for it anyway, I grabbed what is becoming my new favorite lure. It's a suspended bait. Rapala, I think. It's white on the bottom, chartruse on top, with big, red bulging eyes. I like to work it with long, fast twitches and pauses. I twitch it so hard, it would pop out of the water and fly if I didn't pay attention when it gets next to the yak.
Well, right or wrong, that retrieve has been working in other spots like a charm. Better by far than live shrimp! And it didn't disappoint today. First cast! Boom! Fish on. This time, a 16 inch red.
I stayed in that same spot for about two hours. I didn't have to bother with the shrimp for over an hour because the suspended bait was more fun. I landed 6 or 7 reds and a trout before I threw another shrimp out. It got me one more red, and a 10 inch flounder. And some pufferfish.
The tide finally started to noticeably come back in and despite the decent action (granted, it had started to drop off a bit) I wanted to check out one more spot. All that time, the boot shaped sandy hole had been surrounded by ankle deep water. It was really neat.
Well, I paddled out into the bay against the rising breeze to a sandbar. It was still too shallow for any boat and too shallow for my suspended bait. So, I tied the spook jr back on and let myself drift back towards the trees. I trailed a shrimp behind me as I worked the topwater over the potholes. Nothin.
I paddled back out and did it again. Going slightly south the whole time. Nothin.
After two long drifts, I came to the spot I wanted to see, so I didn't paddle back out. I crept along, peering into the third opening in the trees south of the main channel. It was empty. So I paddled in.
The cut is deep and narrow. And along the right side is a beach. When I first started fishing not so very long ago, I'd go there and catch sheepies with shrimp. I knew nothing of artificials so it was my only game.
The water was so clear! And since I added pontoons to my tiny yak, I was able to stand this time. It was like paddling over an aquarium! Mullet. Redfish! Sheepshead were there, too. I took a deep breath and probably gave an audible, 'Wow'
I drew my yak up onto the beach and stood along the edge and fed the rest of my shrimp to the convicts. Nothing changed there. I tried my arties and there was no luck there either. Then I vaguely remembered seeing somebody on a fishing show reach down and pick up a clump of oysters and show that crabs like to hang out on them.
I gave it a shot seeing some nearby. I picked up a softball-sized oyster clump lying in the sand and whaddaya know? A little crab!
I downed a grapefruit drink, checked more oyster clumps and put a bunch of crabs into the empty container. I paddled over to the spot where I saw the sheepshead and dropped anchor. I stood up and was able to look 10 feet down to a school of sheepshead. They weren't spooked. Hm.
I slid a 2ot hook through a crab's leg socket and with the help of an egg sinker it dropped right down into the middle of the school. Right away, they were on it! And I lost every crab to those sons a...
I went back, got more crabs and paddled back. This time I saw a biggun take the crab and start swimming off with it. It did a snook-like head shake and I realized it had bit down on the hook. I lifted the rod and zz zzz zzz. With the drag set light, I worked him up gently and netted him!
Those friggen fish make me feel like I really accomplished something when I land them!
Well, having caught reds, a trout, a sheepshead and a little flounder, I paddled off again. I had fleeting thoughts of hunting a snook, but I quickly decided I didn't want to spoil a good day by putting my tackle into the trees time and again. (I gotta practice my casting)
I hit the sandy hole again on the way back in, but it was no longer surrounded by grass, mud and ankle deep water. It had flooded pretty good and was empty of fish. The rising tide seemed to shut things down there and out on the flats and back in the channel. So I called it a day.
With the sun falling towards the west, I drove the long road back to US41, then home, all the time feeling great, having come back to Cockroach Bay again after many months away. It was every bit as awesome as I remember.
