On the Beach #27

[Riley Smith]

The weather has been that wonderful mix of Mississippi that says, it will be humid, hot, rainy, sunny, breathtaking, still and windy, all in one day. The days are close to being such cookie cutter type affairs, only the timing changes.  Yesterday, during an expedition in the {bigger} kayak to retrieve the lure again, I caught a nice speckled trout and watched as a shower sailed west close to the barrier islands. You know, west, as opposed to what it normally is. The shower was a bit of popcorn in the atmosphere. And watching it, I saw the big one strike outside the old pier, close to the bar in a giant whirl.

The water has changed color some from the ugly brown I hate to fish. It's greener, and less murky, although I may have caught a bubble of some of the green. At any rate it was fun to take a few strokes with the paddle and then go away from shore and fish the bar on the other "side". (At that spot, the other "side" begins in the middle of things).

The larger yak is a Pelican, and much better for fishing except for foot pedals that needed a major adjustment. It's even got a rod holder and a socket too. I launched through the marsh grass, using it as a mat, and into the water with the boat.  Being careful of rays, alligators, and snakes. The water is nice and was calm at that point. The tide was falling gently and I sailed the lure I'd retrieved toward the far edge of the bar. About the third or fourth cast I got the strike. That maybe took the personal best distance prize and I was surprised when I realized I DID have a fight on the end of the line. It was a very nice speck that went back to grow some more.

I finished up touching up the mowing after catching the fish, and a small shower developed east of me. After loading up and locking up, the first peal of thunder to the east informed me the storm was now official and was imminent. And by the time I actually left, the perfect still condition to fish the top-water lure had given way to a 20 kt. wind and a whiteout deluge.

This morning my circadian rhythm had me up at 3am. I decided to go see what was under the pier lights. The  pier lights are a window into that murky world and no telling what you might see. The water is definitely greener and more clear. What I saw, when I arrived being careful not to make undue noise, was a large alligator gar milling about. Maybe 6 ft. And then a HUGE black drum joined the scene. That thing was well over 100 lbs and maybe 5 ft itself. The MONSTERS were moving!

Being wary not to drop the shrimp lure right in front of one of the monsters, I started to fish. Presently a nice speckled trout nailed the plastic with a viscous strike. After several smaller ones, the bite tapered off as sunrise came. I climbed the bluff and watched the dawn come on the world from the porch with coffee. Menhaden were beginning to drift down the river ahead of the soon to be ebbing tide. The water was like glass and full of fish harassing the schools of menhaden. And then the royal terns joined in from the sky and the little bay was alive with movement and life and death. It was absolutely awesome and I rocked for a while on the porch, looking across the water.

The previous days afternoon storm had left several broken limbs and twigs about and I gathered them for the burn pile. It must have gotten pretty serious from the looks of the wind blown debris. As the heat started to rise, I headed home with filets and a few photos.

The little bay was alive with small schools of menhaden getting hammered from above and below. The royal terns were gathered in force picking up scraps from whatever was eating the fish. I'm thinking of a repeat tomorrow using the yak. I can be home before the hot arrives and sailing without wind is just floating!

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[Doug SC]

As always, your writing brings me along with you. I hope to be standing in a cold mountain river tomorrow casting a fly line. The weather will be warmer than is good for the fishing, but the cloudy skies and chance of rain may help. Oh, and when the summer's fickle lake winds die during our Flying Scot races, we don't call it floating we call it "bobbing and baking".

[Riley Smith]

Rarely on these summer days do you get optimum. Sometimes, if the afternoon showers don't linger, with their lightning and rain, and move away, a good breeze will spring up as the storms suck in air and as it gets closer to sundown. It's awesome then, and usually with the storms you get a good sunset too. Most other times it is either dead still or blowing 20-50 kts.

I canned the yak expedition as other things intruded. Here's to something on the flyrod! I had forgotten that today was babysitting day and that throws a kink in EVERYTHING. I'm almost to the point of not knowing what day it is...or caring! That woman is the center of the universe and with her being gone I have to step up and ...feed the chickens for one thing. There are a thousand others too...so the yak will still be there when I make it.

[Riley Smith]

And haven't made it with the yak since!! The full moon tides are going into neap tides and that means all sorts of things along the waterfront; mainly that the fish aren't likely to bite. There still may be an excursion at night  and a sampling of the pier lights about, and I know where a bottle of home-made strawberry wine is for the after-excursion relaxation. So things have shifted nocturnal and we're spending more time up at night because it is so hot in the middle of the day. And to add, there is a "thing" moving offshore and it is so humid you think there isn't enough oxygen in the air. Plans to spent Sonya's birthday on the beach are in progress, with a close eye on the "thing" moving slowly west toward LA and TX.

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Here's the bar in the winter but it never shows during the summer. Inside that is the channel that runs along the shore and outside that is the river channel. Outside that grass is the Mississippi Sound. I can bait the crab traps and we'll have some crabs too! If that "thing" doesn't rain on the party

[Riley Smith]

That "thing" finally moved out Saturday and with it a hot and humid wind on the beachfront. It felt like a blast furnace on the front porch and the modus operandi was to keep the door to the porch CLOSED as much as possible. That hot and muggy SW wind finally abated and we could see the insufferable mass of humidity retreat across the Gulf. Clear skies and less humid air moved in, thank God.

But no rain means HOT and it panned out to be a scorcher, although somehow much more bearable than the day before. We had a good time celebrating a birthday and hanging with friends. Unplugged and alive. Good pics. Good beer! Minimum outdoor activity. Besides, my bud Eddie isn't doing so well. We were content to eat well and shoot the wildlife. Yes, it is smoldering hot. Yes there are bugs and sunburn. And not a cool breeze to be had. But somehow it's wonderful just the same.

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