Taking my wife kayak fishing

Tomorrow will be her first kayak fishing trip with me. She has kayaked the creek a lot but kayak fishing the skinny water of the salt marshes is a whole new thing. There is nowhere to get out of your boat without stepping on a stingray and sinking 3 feet in the mud.

I already solved the potty thing with that device I showed on the "Dirty bathroom" thread. but, three days ago I went out in my kayak and paddled around the bend. I always wanted to see what was around that bend and you know what is there? Another bend, it goes on forever. I kept hoping for a small ditch flowing out into the bayou but there was none.

Soon, I was about two miles up the salt bayou and set my anchor to fish. The wind was trying to blow me back from whence I came but the anchor held. I saw something pop up out of the water and it was big . I realized "Good God, thats an alligator and a damn big one!"

Yes it was an alligator and it was huge, at least a foot and a half from the nostrils to the eyeballs, that makes it at least an eight foot gator. I quickly pulled in my anchor and let the wind blow me away. My cell phone rang and it was my wife. She just seems to have this connection with me and I told her...

"Hold on, let me call you back, I'm running from an alligator and I'm getting a bite."

She is used to my shennanigans and my lifestyle. I used to call her when there was a fire at the refinery just to tell her that I loved her until she told me that she would not rather know just to save her the worry. If we don't come across any big gators, she should have fun. I just hope that she catches a big red fish.

I love the smileys, seems you have one for every occasion.

bullfrog wrote:I love the smileys, seems you have one for every occasion.

You ain't seen nuthin yet! Between we'll have an entire smiley language!

Now that sounds like fun! Try it and let's see if we can tell what you're saying!

Well it's going to be a beautiful, sunny day and the reds should be in the marsh. I'm going to stick close to her and show her how to push her pool cue down into the mud when we see the reds chasing bait and make sure she gets a good cast to them. You would not believe how strong they are and how hard they pull. Once you set the hook you pull your cue stick out of the mud and they pull you around. She will, no doubt scream for me to take the pole but I think she can do it.

She hasn't been doing well and is down to 108 pounds but this paddling is the exercise that she needs. If she snags a big one I'll paddle close, net it and remove the hook for her and then string it. I'll then try to put her on the fish again. If she does well, she will again say "See? I always out fish you." but it will be worth it.

Her tackle box has "Mrs Bitch, professional salt/freshwater fisher woman." written on it. She is so modest.

Bullfrog, be sure to take a camera! We wanna see those big fish! :[IMG]/camera7.

I'll sure enough bring the camera, just hope that she snags one on her first trip. It can be grueling sitting for hours. There is one place that you can get out but you have to be careful or you will fall in the water/mud.

I intended to purchase a sit on top kayak when I retired and thus far I still haven't gotten around to it.... I would use mine for ocean fishing in or near the surf zone. Lots of fun things to catch there...

You guys have fun. I'm envious....

I always wanted to see what was around that bend and you know what is there? Another bend, it goes on forever.

A few years ago we did a cross-country train trip. While in Chicago visiting with relatives we decided to visit the Chicago Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. We took the local commuter train to what appeared to be the closest stop to the gardens. When we got off the train we started walking....and walking. I could see a bend in the road and thought the entrance must be just around that bend....

...and walking....and walking... We saw several bends in the road that day... It turned out to be about a 4 mile walk to the gardens.....and of course another 4 miles back to the train station.... We subsequently found out there actually was a closer stop to the gardens involving perhaps just a half mile walk but that stop was not listed on the brochure for their gardens....

bullfrog wrote:I'll sure enough bring the camera, just hope that she snags one on her first trip. It can be grueling sitting for hours. There is one place that you can get out but you have to be careful or you will fall in the water/mud.

And if she falls in, are you gonna take a picture of that? I DARE you to!

Well we had a great time. We loaded the kayaks at the launch and I saw movement in the water. I got her over by the reeds and she stuck her pool cue down into the mud to hold her kayak against the tide. She cast and on her first cast caught a redfish! These things fight like brutes, they call them "Bull Reds" for a reason. She was screaming and got it in and I netted it.

Reds have to be between 20 and 28 inches long to keep and then you can only keep three. This one was about 14 inches long so she swung him into the boat to get the hook out. She kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I told her to quit apologizing to the fish. She turned it loose and we fished a little while longer close to the truck. She got another hit but it got off and I caught three small reds and suggested that we move forward.

She had one eye on the marsh and kept pointing out alligator wallows where they enter the marsh but we saw no gators. She had a huge Rambo style hunting knife with her that I gave her last Christmas and was prepared to fight to the death. The truth is that gators will not attack you except in the spring when they have babies and you can hear their high pitched barks so you just steer clear.

We staked out again and she had another fish on, it fought good but it was a Hardhead, a saltwater catfish that will stick you with it's fins. "Don't you horn me, you bastard." She said. I paddled over and got it off for her. Then I snagged one that was right at 20 inches, barely legal and put it on the stringer. We moved into Mud Lake and she went off to my right. I didn't like her being that far away and suggested that we work the shoreline but she has her own mind and soon disappeared around the shore.

I pulled up and paddled over there. "Get out of my fishing hole, that ain't right!" she said. There was a lot of movement in the water so I paddled on past her slightly around the bend and caught two more dinks. Then I caught another right at 20 inches and put him on the stringer. I could hear her chatting on the cell phone and soon the mosquitos came out in droves. She had enough so we paddled back to the car. The mosquitos were so bad I didn't take any pictures of the fish and only one of her in her kayak but the camera is still in my truck, I'll post it tomorrow. We did have a good time though.

There are these small brown ducks that hide just inside of the marsh grass and the sound they make is just like laughter. "Haa ehh ehh ehh ehh ehh ehh!" I've always gotten a kick out of them because they seem to do this right after you failed to set the hook right and lost a fish, it really sounds like they are laughing at you. Vicki really got a kick out of them and would shout "Oh shut up!"

Well I have showered all of the dead mosquitos off of my legs and I'm going to sit in the screened in deck, light the fireplace and have a few Rum and 7's and watch mayhem on the military channel. Check with you later.

She is so funny "Don't you horn me you bastard!" I have two thermacell mosquito repellants and brought them but left them in the truck. You would know the bloodthirsty little bastards didn't start biting until much later and then there were hundreds. She still had a good time and wants to go back again.

The fish are on ice and the kayaks need to go to the carwash to get the mud off of them so I'll go do my daddy duty and check in later. We won all you can eat catfish for us and three other married couples tonight at 6:00P.M. so we will freeze the reds till Saturday.

Where's the photos of dead fish????

Nothing to brag about this time Mike, the two were only 20 inches long. I just cleaned them.