Widdow, Eucalyptus and Kings Islands

What an amazing day on the water! Today we explored the southwestern region of the Delta. With temps in the mid 80's and barely a breeze blowing, we launched from Lazy M Marina at 9:15 a.m., approximately an hour before low tide. We paddled with the outgoing tide from Lazy M Marina and made our way up Italian Slough to Widdows Island.

Lazy M Marina is a great place to launch. They charge $10 per vehicle to launch and have a $2.00 parking fee for those not carrying kayaks. Clean restrooms are available and a small store is also on the premises.

 I brought my spinning rod with one lure, a Lip Ripper white and yellow in color. The fish were very active today and I was fortunate to catch 9 fish, 7 smallmouth bass and 2 stripers. I didn't need to work much as all I did was toss my line in and paddle and I hooked up every 20 minutes or so. They were all shakers with the largest being between 11 and 12 inches but it was a blast. It's about a 3 mile paddle from Lazy M to Widdows Island and it took us about an hour with two stops to catch and release the fish I caught.

Once we reached Widdows Island we took our time and explored practically every nook and cranny we could find. Next to Widdows is Eucalyptus Island which was absolutely beautiful. While exploring this flooded island we spotted literally hundreds of fish. We also witnessed an Osprey circle and spiral down to the water and grab a fish with his talons to take back to a tree to eat. Next to Eucalyptus Island is Kings Island which is occupied with many small waterfront homes.

There weren't many spots suitable for landing but we did find a dock that looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time next to Kings Island that we used to stretch and have a snack. After our short break we headed north on Old River and explored the islands from a different perspective. The northern area of Widdows Island had a couple of openings that we could paddle through to reach the inner island. We spotted a couple of Greater Egrets resting in a tree and continued to watch fish jump all around us.

After exploring the area for a couple of hours we decided to head back to the launch even though we would have loved to stay longer. We made our way back to the marina with the incoming tide and practiced a self rescue on the way. I caught two more fish on the way back which brought my total catch to 9.