North Carolina: Day One

   Arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina on the morning of Tuesday May 11.  The flight went as smooth as the cycloid scales on a kokanee salmon.  Warm and humid. You can observe it in the air, inhale it in your nostrils, and feel it on your skin. Ian met me at the airport and we drove straight to a sporting goods store to buy a saltwater fishing license. 
    Before noon we were launching a 16 foot canoe.  We were casting a Orvis Hydros 8 weight with a flashy shrimp imitation.  Pushing the canoe over shallow, flooded grasslands in search for Red Drum.
    Red Drum, or Reds, use the rising and lowering tide waters to move in to the grasslands to feed on fiddler crabs, shrimp, and small snails called periwinkles. The shallower the water the more thrilling the fishing gets.  Reds will dig their noses into the mud or down into the grass exposing their tails. So fishing for them one must hunt for "tailers" and try and catch a glimpse of the tail.  You may get lucky and bring the boat over the top of one and spot them cruising or resting. 
   Day one was unsuccessful, for reds, but we were rewarded with warm weather and awsome views of the great Atlantic coastline. We saw pelicans, osprey, red-tail hawk, great cormorant, glossy ibis, and the clapper rail. Ended the day sunburnt but jubilant.