4-23-2010 yates bayou

[michelle]

great report. sounds like it was worth it. great pics too.
michelle

[plugger]

I keep my cell phone in a boat bag with other stuff in the front hatch. I carry a water tight container behind me with a watch in it, but the time just slipped away...I didn't know it was THAT late.

[RonE]

Great report. Get a small watertight box to keep your cell phone in. You don't have to answer it unless your wife calls.

[Ibtsoom]

Nice report Plugger! I think I would have had to sleep in the truck after she found out I was ok! Glad she didn't lock you out!

[reeltime]

Henry once again a detailed report.......keep'um coming......the best part wuz about your wife you got a keeper there.

[BMTAngler]

Great report! You put so much detail into them, its like I was there.

[plugger]

END

I moved and anchored several times and got a hookset on that black super spook. I played out that fish carefully in the pitch black for 10 minutes not wanting to loose it. I finally netted it and to my dismay it was a slimy old gafftop, CARP. I moved towards the west shell point , pitched my big spook into the night and after landing, felt it quitely be slurped under. I worked it in and, lo, another dang gafftop. I had had enough, it was late, too late, I didn't know. I paddled back to Stingaree and as was nearing the boat ramp, Brad, the owner came running out shouting " Dr. Bowman, is that you, are you alright ? ". I said yeah,why ? He said my wife was in a panic, she hadn't heard from me and she had called the coast guard !! I asked what the time was, and he said 11 PM !! CARP !!. I asked when the coast guard was called and he said 10:30 PM. I told him to call them and shut it down...thay hadn't gotten the chopper in the air yet. I called my wife and was so pissed at me yet so happy. She had called my fishing buddies and one, Eppi, a cop who had just pulled a double shift was heading down to look for me... God bless him. Everyone was called and told I was safe...not really...my wife was going to kill me. I got home at 2:15 AM Saturday, to bed at 3 Am, up 3 hours later to be back at Stingaree Marina for Jim West's seminar at 10 AM. It was good, but with the ferry wait going back, I got home again at 6 PM Saturday to my fully awake wife who verbally beat me like a blanket. I was worn out for two days after. But, fishing was fun... a 14 " 16 " and 17 1/2 "" flounder, 22 " red, and 22 1/2 trout for a slam !! Remember to call your wife if you fish overly late .

[plugger]

Continued

I moved out into the big lake but hugging the shoreline casting to the bank and hooked up a 22 " red. I fished my way in the lake along the shore and two small islands back to the chanel with top waters and GULP shrimp. At the cut to the channel where I had entered in the morning , I fished every part of it and was rewarded finally with a 22 1/2 " trout. It was twilight by now and I fished my way down Yates Bayou to the mouth where it enters the cove. It was dark by now and I started heading out the cove casting a she dog into the dark. On one cast I got a blow up but no hook set. I worked it back to me and started reeling in fast the last few yards to cast again when I got another blow up near the boat. Hot dog I thought, big trout on top after dark. I anchored up and kept casting, finally switching to a less noisy black super spook in the subsiding wind. I got a hook up , but the fish went to the back of the boat and tangled in the anchor rope and got off, CARP.

[plugger]

Continued

The first picture is of the right side of the chanel where it shallows up and goes around the bend and into the big lake. There I started hooking up keeper flounder and too small flounder and reds. I eventually got out of the kayak to move around on the bank to cast all around the area. The kayak is parked in one photo looking back towards the bayou with it getting shallow towards the right of the photo where the bend is opening up to the big lake.

[plugger]

Caught the 5 AM ferry to Boliver and launched at Stingaree marina at 6 AM. It was still dark, I headed to the boat cut and turned left and started throwing a black super spook anchored up. There were trout busting shad on top at daylight. A boat pulled up and 3 waders got out and spread out . I saw 2 of them hook up 2 trout each about 2-3 pound range but I couldn't get a hook up no matter what I threw. They finanlly moved on when the action slowed and I stayed, but got no fish. The day was on the windy side up to 17 mph , I guess, with periods of it backing down, cloudy mostly with some partly cloudy, water fair, up to 5 " visibility, beach water 71 degrees, strong incoming tide to early afternoon, and light outgoing the rest of the day, not many boats out. I then went to Yates bayou , fishing the west point and my way to the mouth where I anchored and then up the bayou and anchored again several times making my way farther up the bayou. I fished my way to the big lake by way of the first left cut and to the major cut on the south side of the lake. I went into the bayou heading east to where the bayou divides and gets shallow as it enters the big lake. Around there I started picking up rat reds and too small flounder and lost some keeper flounder on GULP new penny shrimp.