Deering Estate Kayaks

    Being back home for winter break, Wenger invited me and Ryan as well as another friend, Zach Valdes, to come down to South Miami and take some paddleboards and kayaks out to a secluded spot he knew by Deering Estate. Most of my experience with Biscayne Bay is in the northern part of it north of Miami, where I live. However, I do enjoy being further down south where the bay, protected by Biscayne National Park, widens up and is home to many more species with more abundance. After sleeping over at his place the night before, we woke up early to head to the bait shop for some live shrimp and then went to Deering Point with two paddleboards tied to the top of the car. When we got to the kayak put out, we encountered some very strong winds and waves. We first tried loading up the paddleboards with the cooler, bait bucket, rods, and two people each, but it seemed to be too much to stay afloat, especially with the heavy current and waves. Instead, luckily there was a PADL station right at the launch point, so we rented two kayaks and loaded everything up before setting out. Once we were all on the water, we paddled north through and past some mangroves and past the big estate until Wenger pointed out a mangrove after which we were instructed to turn left. Bending around it, we could see a small passageway through the mangroves we went through until we got to a wooden bridge. Further down it had work being done on it, but until it is finished, it is simply a small isolated wooden bridge over a channel in the mangroves. We pulled our kayaks up under the bridge and walked through the roots (which wasn't particularly pleasant; mangrove roots stick up from the ground and can hurt to walk on) until we we were able to climb up with our gear onto the bridge. There we got settled and began fishing. Ryan and Wenger started fishing right away while I helped get Valdes set up with one of my rods. I put a shrimp on for him and told him how to drop the line down and where to cast it. Ryan started off catching with a small Mangrove Snapper, quickly followed by one from Wenger. Valdes, however, was having a rough time catching them. He would get some bites, but the fish wouldn't take the bait enough to get hooked, and the bait would soon drift out of the optimal spot. He would switch spots, and Wenger would go right to where Valdes struggled and immediately catch fish. After a bit, I decided to take over, casting my bait a bit further into the current to see if anything would happen. About a second after I reeled in the slack, I felt a bite and reeled in a Snapper. It was pretty funny to see how the three of us were catching while Valdes, despite his efforts, was unable to get one, but we were determined to put him on. I reaffirmed that he needed to be patient, and helped him a bit more with fishing. Sure enough, after a little while longer, Valdes started getting nibbles and hooked up on a fish. He reeled it up and was overjoyed at the sight of his first fish, a Mangrove Snapper, on the end of his line. We dehooked the fish and threw it back. In total we spent around 2 hours fishing on the bridge, hoping to catch enough to keep. While the mangroves are certainly a nursery for juvenile fish, and the majority of fish we caught were too small, about 3 of the 12 total fish we caught were keepers (over 10 inches). I caught 3 in total. Unfortunately, on our way back to the dock, Valdes and I had a kayaking incident in which my rod fell off. Here's a reminder to be very careful when kayaking with precious cargo like that! It was my first time kayaking with fishing gear, so consider it a lesson learned. All in all it was a fun, chill day heading to Wenger's hidden spot, just catching some fish with some friends.