Left mullock creek around 9:30 a.m. with the beginning of a outgoing tide. I worked the deeper areas near the mangroves at the mouth of the creek which, always seems to greet me with success. I caught one nice redfish within slot and managed to jump a 10-15 pound tarpon which ate a D.O.A. Paddletail. It was around 10:30 a.m. now so i decided to paddle towards rocky bay. I paddled a long distance and was on the edge of mound key and started to work the mangrove islands with the outgoing tide. I managed to catch a handful of juvenile snook and had some fun with the ladyfish feeding on the glass minnows which are everywhere in the bay. Around 2:30 p.m. I made the paddle back to the ramp. With the tide still outgoing it was a paddle up river. And i was back by 4:00 p.m. It was a hot day but that is why you bring cold fruit and drinks. All in all it was a good day.

I departed Mullock Creek at the beginning of the outgoing tide to make my paddle out easier. On the way out all kinds of shore birds were in the trees making the paddle more interesting. White Ibis, Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Roseate Spoonbills and Ospreys were still waking up in the trees. At the mouth of the creek I worked some of the oyster islands and got 3 nice strikes from snook on topwater. First fish in the boat was a snook. After that i started to work my way into the bay. Something wilvee caught my eye, it was a group of jevenile tarpon. I worked them with different artificials but couldnt get a bite. Tarpon can be very finicky eaters so i didnt sweat it, but boy were they nice to look at. I continued exploring with the outgoing tide and wind to my back. Hurricane Ian still showed remnants with big snags and logs spread out in the shallows. I was in a area that only kayaks or super skinny skiffs could get in. Once i hit some saltier water i found some mangrove islands and positioned my self accordingly. I began working and it paid off my first red of the day was 19 inches. The next red was bigger and put up a bigger fight it came in around 23 inches. Excited i kept working the spot and lost a few good fish but couldnt land anything else. As i was leaving 2 nice sized blacktip sharks started to work the same island looking for a meal. I struck out on the next mangrove island but i didnt fish it long because i needed to head back in. On my way back in I witnessed a group of dolphins heading into the shallows to go hunt. I made a few more cast in spots that looked fishy and landed two more small snook and one nice lady fish. It was pretty good day just using artificials . Thanks for reading. Tight Lines.