technique that both a kayak and
canoe allow for is a slow floating
approach which Kelly’s been successful with since his early days as
a river guide.
As we slipped into the first
pond off the Marsh and Bayou,
Kelly stood and intently scanned
the pond. I, on the other hand, immediately started blind casting to
every inch of marsh edge because
it all looked good to me! But Kelly
just barely moved the canoe along,
allowing us to float across the shal-
tight, “Super fine guide work!”
With barely any commotion made
while putting the first fish in the
boat, Kelly pushed us toward the
opposite bank where multiple redfish wakes were still obvious. As
we bounced through the broken
pond edge, we squeezed into a
long, skinny bayou about five to six
feet wide. “The trick here is to ruin
one side; the side you float, and
then fish the other. If you try to
work both banks, you end up
messing up the whole thing,” Kelly
“The trick here is to ruin one side; the
side you float, and then fish the other.
If you try to work both banks, you end
up messing up the whole thing,”
low flat of the pond. Then Kelly
spotted the unmistakable push
from a red. “Right there,” he whispered and pointed with a just a
head nod a few feet from the boat.
While I tried to reel in as quickly as
I could, Kelly tossed the good
spoon just in front of the V-lined
wake. A deep swirl appeared
where the spoon hit the water, instantly followed by the highpitched skid of the drag coming
50
July 2016 www.marshandbayou.com
instructed.
Slow, patient, and quiet was
the plan for the day. Kelly barely
paddled his canoe; instead he
used his double-sided kayak paddle almost as a push pole. He allowed the canoe to drift across
shallow flats of the pond without
making any noise, “It keeps me
from spooking the fish,” he said
matter-of-factly. And he’s right,
many times we drifted almost on