Friday in the mangroves, 04/10/09

Friday I really wanted to take the four ladyfish I had caught the previous day back to the Caloosahatchee River to use as cut bait for tarpon. But the darned wind had picked back up and was blowing 20 to 30 from the south. No way I was gonna paddle into that wind or deal with the heavy whitecapped chop it was creating on the river! But I had the day off and I really wanted to go fishing. After giving it some thought, I decided to test out a secret launch site I had been told about in Cape Coral and go exploring the mangrove jungles West of the Cape.

I got to the launch site mid-day and pulled the kayakmobile right up next to the cut in the mangroves where the launch site is.



I paddled across the canal and into a narrow cut in the mangroves almost straight across. The wind crossing the canal was BRUTAL! I had to crab the kayak 45 degrees into the wind just to go straight across! But once inside the mangroves, there was no wind. The water was crystal clear and shallow so these pictures make it look muddy. Actually you are just seeing the bottom through the water...



The creek narrowed considerably...



and in spots I had to bend backwards to coast through the tunnel of mangroves. I had to take my rods out of the holders and lay them facing the bow of the kayak to get through the narrow spots. There was quite a bit of tide running and though shallow, it was work getting through the current.

The narrow creek I was in emptied into a broader creek about 1/4 mile after entering it. I staked out on a sandbar at the confluence and cast my little Yo-Zuri's cross-current and downstream on the larger creek. I saw schools of crevalle jacks and juvenile snook but could not draw a strike from them. Big schools of mullet working their way upstream towards Matlacha Pass were also evident. After a time casting with no success, I opted to explore some more. I had been shown a local captain's secret snook hole on Google Earth and had noted it's coordinates into my little handheld GPS. It was about a one mile paddle from where I was so I decided to go exploring. The water in the larger creek was fairly deep and there were some spots where I was paddling into the wind and against the tide at the same time. I didn't make rapid progress, but I made steady progress and enjoyed the peacefulness and solitude of being all alone in the mangroves! Eventually I got to the confluence of yet another salt creek that was quite deep and narrow and had a heavy tidal flow surging out of it.



A broad sandbar gave me a perfect spot to stake out the kayak and get out and wade fish.





I gave it a fair shot, but the fish were either not there or totally lockjawed! Perhaps the tidal current was moving too fast? As you can see here, even in mere inches of water it was really ripping along!



This is a picture looking back the way I'd come.



I decided to paddle and explore further upstream in the main creek.



I probably went another mile or so before deciding to call it a day. It was an easy trip back with tidal current flowing with me and the wind assisting when I'd hit a north/south stretch of the creek.

I found my little cut through the mangroves again...



and before long was back at the secret launch spot.



Though steep, some thoughtful person or persons have laid carpeting on the bank so it's fairly easy to drag the kayak out.

Soon I had the kayak laying next to the kayakmobile.



Packing up was easy and I was on my way home before long. I had worked up a powerful thirst though, so I stopped off in Matlacha and had a cold snack at Bert's Bar before heading on home.

I was fishless, but happy. It had been a fun day exploring!

Life is good! :)