The Red Tide Lingers: Down here we just had 10 days of below normal temperatures coupled with serious high winds. Several mornings were in the 30’s and one dipped to freezing. Now that may not sound like much to you folks in the rest of the country, but believe that’s cold for the subtropics. And yes, there was the red tide deal too.
Well, thankfully air and water temperatures have returned to normal. The wind has abated and good morning tides have arrived. So I figured “tailing” reds might be out there waiting for me. That got me on the water in the dark this morning, paddling out into a thick fog.
Water and wind levels were excellent for “tailers”, and the presence of fog assured a high dawn, allowing reds more time to safely work the shallows. I was psyched. Yet as soon as I poled the flat, I knew there was trouble. I didn’t see or spook a single fish of any kind. Not one! And there were no wading birds working the water either. The place was dead, real dead.
Within twenty minutes I felt a scratchy sensation in my throat. The message came through loud and clear. The damn red tide lingers!
Experienced red tide last January at Anna Maria Island. Not fun. Coughed and sneezed constantly.
The red tide here is fairly mild, but it has pushed the fish away into other ares of the Harbor, and out of kayak range. Our weather is no bargain either. Thirty three degrees this morning and windy. Ouch!