Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

Windy days are not my favorite for paddling, but man the fishing has been great during passage of the last two cool fronts. Wednesday morning before dawn I unloaded and realized the water was at least a foot higher than normal, and it made me change plans and visit some back lakes rather than where I had intended to fish. It was a good call, and on the way I saw a pair of wading birds standing on either side of a small drain as a trickle of water was coming back into the bay. on the first cast the wind caught my lure and it landed farther from shore than intended. A trout picked it up and I released it quickly to re-cast. The second attempt landed right where I wanted it, and the water erupted in a large wake and the line went tight. The redfish was chunky and tore out into open water. After a few minutes I got the 26" fish into the bag and continued towards the lakes. Once I got there, I worked the protected shoreline all the way to the back without seeing a single fish. I was a bit disappointed, but on the way out I spotted a few gulls low over the water. Bingo. I worked upwind of the fish and could see a bunch of dark pumpkins with nearly black tails waving on the surface. I put a bait along the front row of fish and as soon as I hooked up the commotion broke the group up ...but only for a few seconds. They re-formed and kept moving as I stopped to play my fish. At 27 and change he was a good one for the fish bag, and when loaded I pushed in the direction of the birds again. This time I placed the cast to the side, where I could see one really fat pumpkin that looked like he needed a lure in his mouth. He ate the lure and away we went again, only this time the group continued to feed unbothered by my fish leaving. I tucked the bent rod under a leg and reached for another rod while the group was still close. One cast was all that was needed, and I had a second fish hooked up. This one was an oversized bull and he tore drag like it was going out of style. I worked back and forth with the two rods, finally landing the smaller 26" fish, then put all my attention on the big fish. It finally came close, and as I was working it towards the net, the hook pulled. The fish gave me side-eye as it disappeared into the water. I got a photo of the fish still in the net, stowed it in the bag and went back for more. I pulled the double hookup routine one more time, and this time both fish came to the kayak. One was 25 and change and was put back, and the second fish was 30". I revived that one and sent it back swimming as I searched for the feeding school. Evidently that last fish had broken them up for good, so I paddled back out of the lakes to try the original stretch of shoreline just in case a bunch of fish were waiting for me there.

Before leaving the lakes, I spotted a pair of white birds hopping along a shoreline behind the grass shore I was beside. I pulled the kayak into a cul-de-sac and hopped out onto the grass to search for the reds that were now hiding. Oh well, it doesn't work every time, so I went back to the boat. Before pushing off, I worked to re-rig the rod that had broken off earlier. As I was doing this, another bull red waltzed into the small cul-de-sac, so I grabbed the other rod and pitched him a bait. He missed the bait and swirled around coming towards me. Another short cast and quick retrieve brought the bait in front of him about a foot from the rod tip, right beside the kayak. He slurped it with a loud "sploosh" and tore across the little spot, almost beaching himself on the grass. He changed directions, slammed into the kayak and then the other shoreline before finally finding the little opening back to open water. I sat down in the kayak and allowed him to pull me through the entrance so we could finish this in open water without so many potential break-offs, but then he spit the hook. This was getting frustrating.

Once I got back into the main bay, I took a shortcut through a long and narrow pass that was the fastest way to get where I was going. I didn't expect to see fish there, but as I was quietly working through I saw a loud foamy explosion ahead, right against the grass. I watched carefully but didn't see a red, so I sat still. Boom! Another blowup several feet farther down gave me a target for where to cast. The lure landed and as I began to bring it back there was a soft thump but the lure was still coming my way. I set the hook to see, and sure enough, a fish was on the bait. This one was a 17" trout and went into the bag with the reds. Once I arrived at the long protected shoreline, I deployed two paddle tails behind me so I could troll while watching the shoreline grass for more reds. At one point I spotted a slick extending away from the shoreline, and it smelled almost like a trout slick. I spotted a huge chunk of dead fish floating in the grass, and just then a good sized alligator popped up beside my kayak. He was surprised to see me, and tore out of there covering me and the boat with mud and water. It was kind of cool and kind of unsettling at the same time, lol. I caught several more trout on the paddle tails, including a nice 22.25" trout that only had half a tail. He was fat and healthy, and I revived him and put him back. Two more 17-18" trout filled out my limit, and I was able to turn towards the truck with a double limit.

As soon as I had cleared the narrow pass on the way out, I spotted what for an instant made me think of redfish tails, but then of a floating log ...then I realized it was another good sized gator cruising the grass edge. I got some video of him cruising in the sunlight, with his mottled coat looking really sharp. He was about seven feet long and made for a few seconds of good video. When I got back to the truck I had paddled a little over 12 miles and I was ready to head home and get some rest. These windy days are not as easy as the calm ones!

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

a double-double Glenn?!!! you're just showing off now!

or, "just in time for the redfish rodeo!"

(I"m sure someone will have a better comment)
becky
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