On the Way to Harkers Report
Thank you for reading this On the Way to Harkers Report. Only fished one day this week. It was all blowy Monday and Tuesday. Got out Wednesday (more below). Spent much of Thursday packing. Friday sat in a moving vehicle with Walt Jennings and we are on our way to fish for the false albacore, more properly called little tunny.
The Bang-O-Craft motor is a 9 HP Mercury two-stroke with a pull start. I went looking for the keys to the Bang-O-Craft the other day (remember, we were gone for almost six weeks) and couldn’t find them. Yes, it is a pull start. The keys go to the trailer lock and the lock that keeps any nefarious types from making off with my motor.
No key, no pulling the trailer. When I get home from North Carolina, I’ll have to find the key (and I already looked in all the likely spots) or somehow cut the lock off the trailer so I can once again tow the boat. These little aggravations are part of the joys of boat ownership, and are one of the many reasons I so love fishing from the kayak.
Which, coincidentally, I used to fish in the Indian River Lagoon on Wednesday (and what a wonderful segue that was). I got the second fish I threw to, even though I missed its first strike. I tossed the fly back and it took it again, something that almost never happens around here. It thrashed around a bit and came in pretty easily, not at all redfish-like, even though it was the right shape and color.
I had pooched the first fish, who never even saw the fly in spite of a half-dozen terrible casts.
The next (and last) redfish I got took a blindly-casted fly, something that also almost never happens around here except for a few select places, which I was not at. I was surprised at the bite, but maintained enough panache to actually land the fish. The fly I used was a black slider with plastic eyes, unweighted.
I had shots at four more fish which resulted in three missed strikes (none of them came back for a second helping, absolutely not) and one I hit on the head with the fly, who was likewise miffed. The wind came up enough to make fishing difficult, and I had other things that needed doing, so I headed back to the chariot. The boat was loaded up around 130 PM.
Oh, didn’t carry a camera on this outing so the photo is from my files…
Hopefully next week I’ll have photos of breaking tunny and Walt holding a couple fatties!
That’s the On the Way to Harkers Report!
Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!
John Kumiski
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