I rarely take lunch breaks anymore, just get too busy. When I do, I like to get out and walk, stretch my legs and back, and get some fresh air.
Today I needed to get out and a couple of other factors worked together that allowed me fish a spot I've had my eye on for awhile: high tide, and a tenkara rod.
Near where I work there is a protected wetlands area that has trails through it. It's a beautiful area and when I go walking I like to explore there. One of the times through there I was on a bridge over an estuary and I could see a lot of sea life moving in and out of the canal. Mostly mullet, but also rays and leopard sharks and some other small fish. At low tide there's not much water, but at high tide it fills up pretty good upstream a ways. Fishing is prohibited in the wetlands area and I had no desire to get ticketed. However, I did notice that upstream the estuary comes under some railroad tracks which are the boundary for protected area. On the other side of the tracks is an elementary school and a retirement community. I found that if I walk down the tracks from my work I could access a small area on the edge of the stream (which is a concrete canal at this point) that didn't seem to be on anyone's property. I've walked down there a couple of times with no gear, just to look around.
Last week I received a small Tenkara rod from amazon that I'd ordered since it was so cheap($8.92) and I thought this would be a fun place to try it out. It's small and simple, perfect for keeping in my backpack. I grabbed a soda and some frozen shrimp from the liquor store and walked down to the spot. I rigged up the pole with the tenkara line and a short 6 lb. fluoro leader with a #6 hook. Pinned on a small piece of shrimp and tossed it out.
Then I cracked open my soda and sat down to relax. As I'm sitting there I can see and hear the mullet jumping all up and down the canal. Some of them are probably around 2' long! After letting it sit for 10 minutes I see the line start to move! I picked up the rod, let it run a little more and set the hook! Fish on! This thing was pulling pretty good on the little tenkara rod, but after a few seconds the hook popped out and I never saw it.
Excited that I had some action I checked my watch, still a few more minutes to try for another before heading back to work. I sent out another piece of shrimp and waited...
Just as I'm thinking I need to pack it up I see the rod tip twitch. Then the line starts moving. I picked up the rod and waited for it to go tight then set the hook, fish on!
This one was pulling pretty good too
Lots of fun on this light rod!
I got it close and saw it was a small ray. After a few runs I get it to the edge and lifted it out. My first Round Ray! (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Not sure how big these get, this one had about a 14"-16" wingspan.
Thankfully Joe had just warned me about these and not getting them confused with thornbacks. I carefully unhooked it and sent him back into the murky water.
A great quick fix to get me through the day! Thanks for reading, I'm sorry it was such a long post just to show a small ray LOL!
But now I'm up to -1! I'll be back in the + in no time!
