Early spring is a great time for a fishing trip. The warmer overnight temperatures allow the water to hold some of the heat that the previous day’s sun has left behind. 
Fish notice the slightly warmer water temperatures and begin to move into the shallow areas searching for their next meal. The largest obstacle this time of year is weather. Rain showers caused us to cancel our February trip, and winds higher than forecast made this trip a bit rough.
We arrived at Joe’s Cove around7am with a stiff warning about the presence of mosquitoes. We notice their presence, but the 10mph South-East wind kept them at bay. Danny, Rick, and Ben were launched and waiting at the end of the canal for Morris and I to set Jeff up and push him off. Shortly thereafter Jeff, Morris, and I met with the rest of the guys and we were off to fish a huge reef and work some marshy shoreline.
Morris, the other trip leader, took Jeff and Ben out to a well-known reef area. Danny, Rick, and I stopped at another reef and tried to work up some speckled trout, but the heavily stained water and chop must have kept them in deeper water. After a short time we moved on to fish the shoreline and to make our way around into a marsh area. Ben paddled over and began working the entrance of the marsh area and picked up a nice flounder. He reported having a few light bites from fish that he couldn’t set the hook on. 
I followed Danny and Rick back into the marsh where there were mullet and other baitfish present, but no reds, trout, or flounder. After a while we moved back out of the marsh and to another reef where we started catching small redfish, and flounder. Rick tried fishing with some shrimp that he brought and picked up a couple croakers, a few gafftop catfish, and a flounder or two. By this time the wind was blowing 15 – 20mph and whitecaps began to show. Morris and I moved the two groups to a protected area that only had a light chop.
Ben found that reeling as fast as he could triggered a reaction strike from the fish. He later told us that he caught quite a few fish from retrieving this way. Jeff who was fishing near Morris caught a Sheepshead, and Morris caught four trout with the largest being 19”. I ended the day with two small redfish and two flounder.
The guys remained high in sprit, and proved to be real troopers!!
To view the rest of the photos from the trip, follow this link: https://packpaddle.com/events-and-trips/recent-trips-photos/?album=JoeSCoveKayakFishingTripMarch2012
-Tray Collins, Trip Leader