Cedar Key Fishing Trip
Inshore fishing has been on the list of things to try my hand at going back several years now. Freshwater fishing has been my most persistent hobby for the past 10 years, but each time we visit the beach for family vacation, the urge to broaden my fishing out into saltwater has become a little bit stronger. But it's kind of an exclusive expertise. As I'd sit watching fisherman at the piers and in the surf, it wasn't lost on me that the fish they were pulling in weren't just unfamiliar, they were fish I'd literally never seen before in my life.
So a couple years ago after a visit to the gulf coast, I decided to set in motion the plans for a saltwater fishing exploration trip, on a small scale and with people I wasn't worried about making a total fool of myself in front of. Move ahead to 2019, and we'd picked a place (Cedar Key, FL) and a time (first week of October) and a group (my dad and I).
I can't recall how Cedar Key became the place. I think I ran across it while scouring the gulf coast of Florida via Google satellite maps. And it's a pretty unique place. Its part of a collection of islands, about halfway up the west coast of Florida, most of which are uninhabited and exist as part of a nature preserve. The lack of development has maintained a lot of natural and rugged beauty, and there is plenty of "old fishing village" feel to it. As you drive into the small town of Cedar Key, it's by way of only one bridge and the water to the left and right are dotted with small islands at high tide or grassy outcroppings and oyster bars/mud flats and low tide.
Situated north of Cedar Key is the site of an indigenous shell mound, and nearby is the place we chose to camp. The Shell Mound campground is fairly convenient to Cedar Key, and offers a quiet place to stay with basic conveniences: bathrooms, water and power hookups, and a boat ramp. The camping portion of our stay was marred a tad by plentiful noseeums and some noisy bikers in the neighboring site for one night.
Consulting surrounding fisherman, we heard three different fishing methods promoted. Cut mullet, small crabs, artificial... And over the course of two days fishing, we saw results from all of them. My dad caught fish pretty consistently the whole time using cut mullet, including redfish, speckled trout, and gafftopsail catfish. For me, the action was a lively half hour of redfish and sea trout in a particular spot using Zman Trout Tricks, and then little else for the rest of the trip. I was probably too stubborn, sticking with one type of lure and two colors for the entire time, but it was gut decision, if not the wrong one.
One civilization shot, from the patio of a restaurant in Cedar Key.
I mentioned earlier the mud and clam beds, but it deserves another mention. The black mud is like quicksand. Stepping out of the kayak onto the muddy edge of an island, I sank 10 inches and had to retrieve my disappeared flip flops by hand. And the oyster beds are only a little better. They are sharp as hell and even ignoring my poor choice of footwear, are touch to stand on and fish from. Some good rubber boots would probably stand up to their abuse much better.
One of the locals was telling us that come winter, there is virtually no water in the area we paddled and then went on to tell us that he has before drug his boat across the hardened mud to get from water back to ramp. An exhausting proposition.
Like a true ocean amateur, my first reaction to spotting this fin was "Shark!" A couple seconds later, it surfaced again to blow air, followed by a bunch of other dolphins that stuck nearby for the rest of the evening.
It was a tremendous trip, and we left Cedar Key with good memories, quite a few bug bites, and the intent to further develop our inshore fishing skills!
So a couple years ago after a visit to the gulf coast, I decided to set in motion the plans for a saltwater fishing exploration trip, on a small scale and with people I wasn't worried about making a total fool of myself in front of. Move ahead to 2019, and we'd picked a place (Cedar Key, FL) and a time (first week of October) and a group (my dad and I).
I can't recall how Cedar Key became the place. I think I ran across it while scouring the gulf coast of Florida via Google satellite maps. And it's a pretty unique place. Its part of a collection of islands, about halfway up the west coast of Florida, most of which are uninhabited and exist as part of a nature preserve. The lack of development has maintained a lot of natural and rugged beauty, and there is plenty of "old fishing village" feel to it. As you drive into the small town of Cedar Key, it's by way of only one bridge and the water to the left and right are dotted with small islands at high tide or grassy outcroppings and oyster bars/mud flats and low tide.
Situated north of Cedar Key is the site of an indigenous shell mound, and nearby is the place we chose to camp. The Shell Mound campground is fairly convenient to Cedar Key, and offers a quiet place to stay with basic conveniences: bathrooms, water and power hookups, and a boat ramp. The camping portion of our stay was marred a tad by plentiful noseeums and some noisy bikers in the neighboring site for one night.
Consulting surrounding fisherman, we heard three different fishing methods promoted. Cut mullet, small crabs, artificial... And over the course of two days fishing, we saw results from all of them. My dad caught fish pretty consistently the whole time using cut mullet, including redfish, speckled trout, and gafftopsail catfish. For me, the action was a lively half hour of redfish and sea trout in a particular spot using Zman Trout Tricks, and then little else for the rest of the trip. I was probably too stubborn, sticking with one type of lure and two colors for the entire time, but it was gut decision, if not the wrong one.
One civilization shot, from the patio of a restaurant in Cedar Key.
I mentioned earlier the mud and clam beds, but it deserves another mention. The black mud is like quicksand. Stepping out of the kayak onto the muddy edge of an island, I sank 10 inches and had to retrieve my disappeared flip flops by hand. And the oyster beds are only a little better. They are sharp as hell and even ignoring my poor choice of footwear, are touch to stand on and fish from. Some good rubber boots would probably stand up to their abuse much better.
One of the locals was telling us that come winter, there is virtually no water in the area we paddled and then went on to tell us that he has before drug his boat across the hardened mud to get from water back to ramp. An exhausting proposition.
Like a true ocean amateur, my first reaction to spotting this fin was "Shark!" A couple seconds later, it surfaced again to blow air, followed by a bunch of other dolphins that stuck nearby for the rest of the evening.
It was a tremendous trip, and we left Cedar Key with good memories, quite a few bug bites, and the intent to further develop our inshore fishing skills!
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