Trout Fishing On The Bay!

Wading in the flats and fishing in St. George Sound was as soothing and relaxing an outing as I've had in years. Getting out of bed early, my brother in law and I left the rest of our vacationing family and drove the mile to St. George Island State Park, Florida. We'd scouted the area the day before and found that the boat landing area at the park wasn't deep enough to safely launch the boat. The island was still digging out of the sand due to Hurricane Dennis.

Since we couldn't put the boat in the water there, we just pulled the truck, boat and trailer into a nice shady spot close to the water and decided to wade. It was a beautiful morning for wading and we almost had the whole bay to ourselves at 8:00 in the morning. There was only one kayaker paddling around about a half mile from us.

The gentle lapping of the water around my knees, the picturesque morning sun and the mist on the water made this morning a magnificent one. We slowly eased around the oyster bars that seem to exist throughout the bay. About a half mile away I could see a boat cautiously moving through the open water of the bay, careful not to run aground because the water could change from 4 feet deep to 0 in a flash!

Before I left the shore I had stocked my fishing vest with a couple of spoons, a gold one and a silver one. That was the only tackle I had with me. When wading I carry a mesh nylon bag to carry my fish if I'm going to eat them later. I also put my Florida non-resident fishing license in a zip lock bag and stuffed it in one of the many pockets of my vest.

Tying on my gold spoon, I cast into the shore side weeds. I hadn't retrieved it more that a few feet when something grabbed it and headed for the other side of the bay. After a few wild forays up and down the channel between the two oyster beds where I was standing in waist deep water, I brought the fish up to me. It was a beautiful trout about two pounds. I continued wading and casting down the shore line and eventually worked my way further out into the bay. During this time I caught one more trout and nothing else.

Tiring of not seeing another fish, I changed to my silver lure. Within a couple of casts I had a good sized fish on the end of my fishing line. This time it felt like I had hooked a concrete block. I brought him to the top of the water. When I measured him on the inch marks I had painted on my rod, he proved to be 22 " long; well within the 18-27 inch size regulations for a Red Fish. I put him in my mesh bag that was tied to my fishing vest and let him swim around with the two trout.

My silver spoon seemed to be the bait of the day for within 10 minutes I had another fish on the line. As I brought him closer to me I saw that it was another Redfish; a little larger than the first one. Since I had already caught my limited of Reds for the day, I released the one in the bag and replaced him with the larger one I had just caught.

Every fisherman who has ever caught a good sized fish looks around to see if anyone else had witnessed his great achievement. I scanned the area around me and saw there were two other fishermen now standing on a sand bar about two hundred yards from me. There was also the kayaker I had seen earlier, closer to me now, paddling around the oyster bars enjoying the morning. My brother-in-law seemed to be didn't seem to be having much success for he merely shook his head in disgust as I held up the beauty I had just caught.

As I was about to cast again, I saw the Kayaker getting close to me. I was about to become irritated about someone invading my fishing space when the girl who was paddling the boat yelled, "Are you Bob Alexander?"

Now this was spooky! Out in the middle of Apalachicola Bay, almost 500 miles from home and someone is looking for me? She certainly didn't look like a bill collector or the IRS. For a moment I thought I must be in the middle of a Twilight Zone episode.

As the girl paddled closer, she proved to be a mermaid with a gift! As I waved my hand in acknowledgement, she held up the zip lock baggie that I used to carry and protect my fishing license. It must have fallen out of my pocket and drifted on the wind to where the lady kayaker was floating.

Not only did we have a great morning of fishing, but I had also experienced a miracle. You can't ask for much more from a sunny morning in June.