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THE BIG KAYAK TRIP

David displaying his catch of the day.

September 30, 2008

by David Abbott

Caleb and I set out at 5:30 a.m. on a kayak version of Patrick F. McManus' story, "The Big Trip." By 7:00 a.m. our bait buckets each contained a couple dozen live shrimp and we were gliding through the dark waters of the Mosquito Lagoon.

The Canaveral National Seashore, south of New Smyrna Beach, has a special parking place and launch area for kayakers six miles south of the park entrance.

There were no visual sign of fish anywhere as we paddled south, just inside the dunes that separated us from the thundering surf of the Atlantic. It would not have been an easy day for surf fishing.

As I emerged from a narrow channel between mangrove islands an hour later I spotted a "boil" of bait fish pushed into a narrow cove. It wasn't obvious what was under them, only that there were predators present. I ended up catching and releasing a couple undersized sea trout and sailor's choice, while also getting a large sheephead and a "slot" redfish.

The water remained very high all day with very little sign of feeding fish. Since there was no dry ground that could be reached without breaking through mangroves, I stood in shallow water with my stove on top of my kayak to heat two cans of clam chowder for lunch.

After netting a good supply of finger mullet for bait, we started working our way back north through a maze of islands and channels. While drifting through some open water, Caleb picked up his very first redfish.

Among other "firsts" were Caleb's use of his new kayak and the use of our new dual-drag "baitrunner" fishing reels.  We couldn't be happier with how they performed.

It was a great distraction from turning four decades old...