Corpusfishing.com

[Neumie]

I should have posted this earlier, but I got a bit lazy; sorry Tyler.

Kicking off the 11th annual Rockport Redfish Roundup, actually started the night before with my sister and I driving down to the cabin. We had bounced some ideas on where to fish post front and settled on running north to the protected waters around Indianola.

We rolled out of the cabin with the truck pointed north and got to the launch site a little after 7am. Rigging up the rods and reels took a little longer this morning, as it always does on the first day so we did not get on the water until 8.



We mainly paddled the deep channels which more or less followed the road. At a pinch point near the LaSalle Monument we caught a couple of trout which would have been keepers any other year, but this year fell just short of the 17-23 in slot. We turned into the marsh and slowly started to work our way back when a red came crashing bait around a corner. I literally did not even have to make a cast and just placed my lure in front of it. Sightcasting for reds was on the schedule.





We spent the morning there looking for reds. There were not a lot of them, but the quality was good, and they were crushing 4 in finger mullet and small shrimp. I had got my limit fairly quickly after entering the back lakes, but my sister still had not caught a red. As we pushed deeper into the back lakes the reds and bait seemed to disappear, so we moved back towards the entrance where bait was plentiful. I pulled up into a cove and spotted a red with its back out of the water. I motioned for my sister to come over and make a cast at it. It took her a couple tries, but she finally connected on her third cast; her first sightcasted red from a kayak.





We pulled out of the back lakes and decided to start paddling back to the launch. We made a quick stop at the spot where we had hooked the trout and my sister was able to string up a flounder. We got off the water around 1:30 and I weighed my largest redfish; 26.5 in and just over 8lbs on the Bogs.





In fact, we were both curious what was in the stomachs of the reds we caught because all four had distended bellies. We knew finger mullet and shrimp were a given, but two reds each had something unusual in their stomachs.

One had a rat.



And another had two juvenile Tarpons.



The stomachs of the reds were so full I could not believe any of them even chased after our fishing lures.

That evening Whit, William, and Andy made it down from DFW. So, speaking of full bellies, we started the annual trip off with a great meal; Flat Iron Steaks, Crab & Toasted Pecan Risotto, Grilled Shrimp, and Grilled Romaine with Parmesan.



That evening ended with a fire by the bluff, cigars, and adult beverages.


Meteorological Observations
Time: 8:00 am - 1:30 pm
Air Temp: 53F - 63F
Wind: 8-14 kn NNE (gusting to 18 kn)
Barometric Pressure: 1026 mb (rising)
Sky: Sunny
Water Clarity: 0-18 In
Water Temp: 63F
Structure: Mud, Oysters

Solunar
Sunrise/set: 7:29 am/6:52 pm
Moonrise/set: 1:54 am/3:55 pm
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent (36.2%)

Predicted Tides @ Port Lavaca (MLLW)
High @ 7:34 am (0.89 ft)
Low @ 10:34 pm (0.09 ft)

Lures
Strawberry/White Norton Bull Minnow
Strawberry/White Chickenboy Pyscho Chicken
1/4oz weedless Gold Spoon

Fish
Reds: 4 Keepers
Trout: 2 Undersized
Flounder: 1 Keeper