Sunday on the Bay: Kayaking the Critical

The Critical, circa 1950; the girl on the left is Bonne Sutton

TAMPA BAY -- For most of my life, I've heard stories from my Mom and Grandma about their favorite place to go camping on Rattle Snake Key. My grandma would describe a white sandy beach and waterway called the 'Critical,' that ran all the way through the island. Lately, I have felt a need to find it. Several unsuccessful attempts with a fishing boat proved pointless when I couldn't get close enough to the shoreline to locate it.

I found Critical Bayou on a chart, but I couldn't find the exact location of the historical waterway. Finally, a visit from my uncle pointed me in the right direction. It is almost dead in the center of the north side of Rattlesnake Key, toward the Skyway. Then, my Mother found a chart detailed enough to show the small canal, and my two friends and I set out to conquer the elusive spot.

The Critical was created as a resolution to a large mosquito problem the area had in the past. Drainage canals were dredged in order to allow water to run through wetlands instead of standing stagnant. The idea was that it would create a less appealing habitat for larvae.

Today we know that dredging these canals didn’t really do much to stop the production of one of Manatee County’s biggest pests, however, the canals now serve as resourceful kayak trails in parks and they contribute to water filtration by meandering through mangrove roots, providing habitat for a large number of fish.

Chart of Rattlesnake Key shows the Critical

For my mom and her family, the saltwater stream served as a perfect place to camp and fish. The children would swim in the water while my grandfather netted mullet. The swift current shaped superior sibling swimmers, and their surroundings served as sustenance for their family. At the end of the day, they would barbeque the mullet that Grandpa had caught on a screen over the fire.

”We didn't have bug spray, so at dusk, when the bites got too bad, we would submerge ourselves in the water with only our mouths exposed,“ my mom said.

The Critical was where my mother learned to swim. It was where my grandmother and grandfather would take the kids to get away for the weekend, it was where my two uncles once nurtured an injured dolphin they had found while wading.

I was more than excited to see this place that had contributed to so many family memories. My friends, Randall Bibler, Dani Biddulph and me set out to find it.

We launched our kayaks at the southern off-ramp on the Skyway. There is plenty of parking there and it's an easy paddle over to Skeet’s Key and Rattlesnake. We paddled along the coast, for about an hour until we finally saw the inlet.

The beach to the right of the mouth is not as big, or as filled with white sand as the place my Mom and Grandma described, but there was still a small shore.

To the right of the entrance, there is a landing that still serves as a place to camp. It looked a little overgrown, but when my Mom and Uncle were there a few weeks earlier, they had seen a fresh camp fire. Aside from this wetland hammock, there is no more solid ground, just slough.

The mangrove tunnels at the beginning of the "Critical"

The Critical itself is not as wide, deep, or as swift as pictures I’ve seen of it in the 1950’s. The water is close to stagnant and the waterway is narrow and shallow. It would be a great place to camp with a jungle hammock because the branches of the mangroves create a tunnel that starts in the beginning of the passage, and ends about a third of the way through.

Someone has been maintaining the mangrove tunnel because several limbs that would have prevented passage were sawed off.

Past the tunnel, the stream opens up into a wider waterway. We tried to fish. The bait shop was out of live shrimp, so all we had were some frozen ones, and we didn’t even get a bite. It was an outgoing tide, so the fish should have been biting.

We saw plenty of mullet, but the water is murky and shallow, 2 to 3 feet deep throughout the entire excursion.

We carried on for the final leg. The Critical becomes narrow again and meanders through mangroves for a little longer, finally opening into Critical Bayou. From there, it is an easy paddle back inside Skeet and Paradise Key.

Randall fishing and Dani sunning

We fished the flats a little while longer, making our way back to the Skyway. We were hoping to hook a trout or red fish, but had no such luck.

Finally, we got back to our launch site and called it a day. The whole trip had been about four hours. I was satisfied that I finally got to explore the place I had heard so much about, but next time I’m camping with a jungle hammock and a ton of bug spray.