This story is for the reading pleasure of my mom!
The Texas summer heat has been in triple digits as usual this year, but the drought was especially brutal for me and my property. I often reminisce of the pleasant days during my spring 2023 Florida coastline fishing trip; of course, selectively forgetting about freezing at night during the unexpected cold front that brought freeze warnings to Pensacola upon my arrival. It was time to start planning a fall fishing trip back to Okeechobee to visit family and get a break from the Texas heat. Early October sounded good to me, should be cooling off by then but not too cold yet.
The plan was coming together, although a little more condensed than last time due to scheduling conflicts with dental work. I would start in Pensacola with the hopes of meeting up with Andy, a Salt Strong member who I met last time, and fish at night along the lit docks from our kayaks. This would be the first time I'd fish at night in a kayak if all goes as planned. Then I'd venture to St. Petersburg for a couple of nights before making my way to Okeechobee. On the way back I hoped to meet up with CharlieRay and Al, others from the club I met last time, and fish the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area near Steinhatchee Florida. From there I would need to stop in the Pensacola area again for a night to break up the long drive home.
Well, the time came to implement the plan and as history has shown, it usually doesn't go exactly as you envision! I came rolling into Pensacola right on schedule, but so did that cooler weather I was initially looking forward to; the problem was, much cooler than I was looking forward to and it brought heavy north winds with it. The night I arrived temps dropped into the high 40's and the winds were gusting over 30 mph. Fortunately, my campsite at Fort Pickens was well protected by trees from the wind. That first morning however, I woke up with frozen feet and the winds were still howling. Fishing out in the bay or the sound was out of the question with the high winds and waves, yes there were white caps in the bay. On the bright side, these powerful north winds make for very calm surf on the south side of the barrier island and the beach was a very cool walk to take with the ominous clouds looming. Literally! The winds were projected to die down that evening so Andy and I decided to chance a night fishing attempt in the Bayou Texar, which he lives on at the very northern part of and it would have some wind protection with the projected wind direction. We knew the fishing would be tough due to the cold front, but Andy also knew I traveled a long way for my first night kayak fishing trip. The fishing ended up turning out better than expected, a lot better! Although there were no fish to brag to mom about, they were solid fish and they were biting all night long. Well, till about 1:30 in the morning when we started getting cold as the wind shifted, so we headed in. Success, my very first ever night kayak fishing venture! The following day the winds picked back up as the cold front finished blowing through so I spent the day recouping from the long night. The following day would be my last fishing opportunity before moving on the morning after that. I started the day at dawn and pulled up to Oriole Beach boat ramp right at sunrise. Oh what a beautiful sunrise it was as I launched my kayak on the first calm morning of the trip. The water's surface was like a mirror reflecting the sun's orange silhouette through the rows of docks that lined the shoreline. It was a slow peaceful morning enjoying the leisurely pedal along a calm shoreline with the bonus of catching a nice trout here and there. After a couple hours I headed back to the boat ramp, loaded up the kayak and headed over to Andy's house for an outing on his boat for a little offshore fishing. We didn't venture far, maybe a mile offshore to hit the wreck of the USS Massachusetts and some artificial reefs. It was a nice outing with a friend and I had another first. I caught my very first ever Red Snapper on an artificial lure just before a nice sunset at sea. Then we headed back into the bay for a nice moon rise over the bay and more comradery as we mostly just wet our baits on the last evening in Pensacola.
On to the next stop. I had an uneventful pack-up of camp and drove to St. Petersburg, a little shorter drive then getting to Pensacola. I got the perfect campsite in Fort Desoto where the back of the site opens up to the water where I could both launch my kayak from and watch the sunset. This stop was a short stay with only one fishing day, but that's ok, because I was ready to go visit mom! The weather was awesome here and I had another first! I caught my very first ever Gag Grouper on artificial lures, that's right plural, I caught eight of these beautiful fish along with numerous trout.The next morning it was on to Okeechobee.
Okeechobee was the best part of the trip because I had time with family, was fed well and even got a little fishing in! Mom is doing well and keeps us laughing. I had a great time visiting with all my sisters, brother and their spouses. However, the fishing guide service here left a little bit to be desired this time, but it did provide me another first. For the very first ever I went fishing and got SKUNKED! Ok not really, we really got skunked, but it wasn't really my first time. While I was in OkeechobeeI I made some modifications to the rest of my trip plans; hence, it usually doesn't go exactly as you envision. Instead of meeting up with CharlieRay and Al on the way back and a one nighter in Pensacola, I made a one night visit to meet up with CharlieRay and Al while in Okeechobee and stopped in Pensacolafor 3 nights on the way back.So one afternoon after mom and I had a nice lunch and she went down for a nap, I went on a 4 1/2 hour drive to Dallus Creek Landing just north of Steinhatchee Fl. where I would meet up with CharlieRay and Al in the morning. I got there just in time for another awesome sunset overlooking Dallus creek. I had set up my SUV for an in-car sleepover before departing Okeechobee so it didn't take long to get settled in for the evening in the back of the car, fortunately the outside temps were dropping into the 60s so it cooled off quickly. Looking out my window the sunset was now a beautiful array of oranges, purples and blues reflecting over the creek through the dark silhouette of the cabbage palms and pine trees nestled alongside my car. I woke up at dawn to step out into the crisp brisk fresh air with a light scent of pine to look up into the galaxies and see countless stars gazing back at me. What a glorious start to the day and another first ever fish story.
CharlieRay warned me about a low tide situation heading out and an outgoing tide we'd have to fight coming in. Fortunately, Al was ready to go first and led me out though a maze of hidden sandbars about a mile to the mouth; a gorgeous jaunt to start the journey. It started great and on my first cast I landed an 18" trout. It would only get better. Al started out with a flounder which started him on his way to a grand slam! Now a grand slam in this fishing club is when you catch all four species we pursue, which is the speckled trout, redfish, snook and flounder. It wasn't too long before I heard the radio chatter start and redfish were being found. I seemed to only be able to find the trout, but they were plentiful and of nice quality. I started getting jealous hearing about one school of redfish after another and I always showed up too late. After a while, Jim, who was probably feeling bad for me, sent me to an area he abandoned after getting bored of catching reds. Well after about ten casts I landed another nice trout and a flounder; still no redfish, but now a slam (3 of the 4 fish) was in sight. I worked the area a little longer before moving on. CharlieRay at one point offered up a Z-man bait and told me "this should do the trick" and not 5 minutes later I had a nice red on, but didn't land it. Eventually I moved back towards the mouth of Dallus Creek. It was now just over 3 hours from the time I caught the flounder to help secure a slam. Then, Pa Pow a 23" redfish! This was my very first ever slam! CharlieRay's trolling battery died and he was ready to call it a day. Since he warned me about the tide and had offered to pull me if needed, I figured it was a good time to call it myself, now that I had my Slam. I wasn't really concerned about the current with my Old Town Bigwater PDL, but I'm from South Texas, so what do we know about tides. OMG, was I clueless! While I was following CharlieRay up creek with his little gas motor, he kept looking back, keeping an eye on me. After about 3/4 the way up the creek, I realized just what creek I was heading up and it's name started with a capital S. I started questioning to myself if I was going to make it when we hit a narrow area and all forward motion seemed to stop even though I was pedaling my fat ass off. Well, I did make it and apparently the reason CharlieRay kept looking back was just waiting to see if I was crying uncle. Well with the slam secured, my kayak secured and my legs exhausted, it was time for a 4 1/2 hour drive back to Okeechobee.
I made it back to Okeechobee after dark and I was tired, I crashed hard! But when morning came, I was ready for the weekend with more quality time with mom, Pam, Denise and Billy and some more good food. I won't mention the fishing, because this was the skunk weekend. I really enjoy the time spent with family and telling them my fish stories and non fish stories :) I'm going to miss dancing with my mom, which we did each time I'd help her in or out of bed and I'll miss tossing into the middle of the bed; of course, she may miss it more. I'm already planning my next visit.
Back to Pensacola and guess what arrived the same time I did? Well if you guessed cold front, you are correcto mundo! Although the cold front created the same challenges as the first pass though, Andy and I braved the elements and attempted another night fishing expedition. This time the fish were bigger and the weather was colder! Fortunately, there is a Walmart in town and I was also a little smarter this time and acquired the appropriate attire for the cold. It was an awesome experience, landing numerous trout and redfish. Included in the collection was a 23", 26" and an over slot 28" with a good tail pinch. This was my very first ever over slot Florida redfish! We hit Bayou Texar around 8pm as the tide was slowly making its way up the bayou due to heavy north winds in the bay. I was starting to second-guess our choice to go out due to projected mild winds and dropping temps before departure; however, by the time we hit the water it was calm and on the first dock I caught one nice trout and two redfish including the 23" fat boy. Definite confidence booster! By the end of the night my feet were numb but no regrets. A great end to another great Florida adventure.
I Love You Mom
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