Quicksand Fans

Hello fellow sinkers. I hope you are having a great season.
It seems like I am able to find 2 or 3 decent sinking locations each season.
The great thing about this location is that the privacy factor is very high so I can go there in the daytime. I have not touched bottom in neck deep mud(slightly off vertical). I access it with my kayak. There is a relatively clean stream nearby for cleanup.

Right now, I would say that this is overall my favorite location.

While I was chest deep in the mud, I looked over into the tall grass and saw that a beaver was on its hind legs watching me. It then dropped down and kept an eye on me for a few minutes before eventually leaving the area. A little freaky but I would have sprayed it with the Steam Machine if it had advanced. I saw no clear signs of it using this area so I highly doubt that it was considering me a hostile intruder.

From wikipedia:
Beavers have been known to be extremely aggressive in defending their territory against perceived encroachment. They may attack humans when infected by rabies, and "can also become disoriented during the daytime and attack out of fear".

While trout fishing I have had beavers sneak up pretty close to me and slap the water with their tails. Its like a bomb went off! Hard to fault a beaver who is just trying to survive in the wild while the human is out there enjoying a silly fetish.

Lokale looks good but why do you need a kayak when there is a bridge right next to it? Also privacy?

bogbud wrote:Lokale looks good but why do you need a kayak when there is a bridge right next to it? Also privacy?

Good observation bogbud. The roadway above is a major highway. Cars and trucks doing 70 plus.

The kayak launch point is about 1/4 mile downstream at another much smaller bridge.

I have had very good luck finding thick grey silty mud under some of our local bridges. The way they design many bridges around here is to make them extra wide to allow for floodwater to pass easily. So those wide areas below bridges are great for collecting and holding mud. Additionally, the bridge blocks the sunlight so that plant growth is inhibited.

mud_dreamer

mud_dreamer wrote:Good observation bogbud. The roadway above is a major highway. Cars and trucks doing 70 plus.

The kayak launch point is about 1/4 mile downstream at another much smaller bridge.

I have had very good luck finding thick grey silty mud under some of our local bridges. The way they design many bridges around here is to make them extra wide to allow for floodwater to pass easily. So those wide areas below bridges are great for collecting and holding mud. Additionally, the bridge blocks the sunlight so that plant growth is inhibited.

mud_dreamer

Sharp eyes i have!

A tidal mudflat i sometimes visit is also near a quite similar bridge, but it is also equipped with a separate way for bikers and walkers, that was the reason for asking. Still the drivers could see you by chance.

bogbud wrote:
Still the drivers could see you by chance.

Correct again bogbud. The bridge has a high solid guardrail but every now and then a very tall truck passes and I see him in his cab way up there. I doubt that his brain would have time to process what just flew by. Also, he would most likely be looking straight ahead while crossing the bridge in the passing lane. The pass takes a fraction of a second.

Nevertheless ... "I do have a plan ". I will cut several live branches and prop them in the mud to better screen me from view.

Thanks for sanity checking. Imagine my horror if the state police, the fire department, and a news crew came raining down on me.

mud_dreamer