Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

I was busy last weekend and will be out of town this coming weekend, so I had been watching the weather and looking for a chance to chase some fish. This morning offered the best shot, but thunderstorms would be popping up, so I would have to watch carefully. I launched and made my way across the open bay, and arrived at the starting area right as it got daylight. I moved slowly in the light breeze, looking for fish on the shallow sandbar that opened up to the shoreline I would be working. I spooked a couple of fish that were just laying there, including a big drum that was around 30" long. I wasn't upset, since I won't keep one that big, but I kept watching for anyone that was hunting for breakfast. A couple of hundred yards up the shore I found a small group of reds working the edge of a grassy spot. A soft cast just ahead of them landed in the grass, but I was able to gently hop it free and into the water where one of the reds smashed it. He was below the slot size, but that little fish got me going so he was released as I began searching for the next fish. The breeze picked up out of the north, and my shoreline offered protection and easy viewing of any fish disturbances, and I spotted a pair of reds working in my direction. I just stopped and put a foot out to hold still, and when they got 15 feet away I laid the bait out in front of the larger tail out of the pair. This fish was hungry, and didn't hesitate. He lurched forward with a foamy splash and tore out into the deeper water. This fish was around 26" (I forgot my measuring board this morning so I needed to keep only the clearly legal fish), so this one went into the bag. A few hundred yards farther I realized the wind was now blowing right down the shoreline, so I deployed a pair of rods with paddle tails to troll back around for another pass at the protected shore. Nothing hit the trolled baits, but as I swung around to take a second pass of the shoreline I spotted one more red working the edge of an oyster bed. The bait landed within a foot of the fish's head, and he crushed it. This one was a solid fish too, so my second red went into the bag. As the wind began to shift more in line with the forecast, I pushed down the shoreline as it became calmer and more protected. Every hundred yards or so there was a red quietly working the edge, and most of them were hungry and responded well to the lure. One group of 5-6 fish was tailing around some oysters, and although my cast went exactly where I wanted it, as soon as the lure crawled into the group they scattered in all directions. I guess these weren't as hungry as I thought. As I worked along the shoreline it was protected enough that I trolled two paddle tail baits as I watched ahead for redfish. Every few minutes a rod would go off, and I collected two more undersized reds, three keeper trout and a nice black drum on the trolled baits. I continued down the shore and found a few more reds, and then I crossed over to the opposite shoreline to try pulling baits across a sand bar that I could see on my phone's map. The bar was 18-24" deep close to the shore, and I was almost halfway across the sandbar when one of the rids began to cry out as line peeled off the spool. At first I thought I had snagged something, but then I felt a head shake. I hoped maybe it was a big flounder, but then it got closer to the kayak and I could see the oversized redfish at the end of the line. He made several good runs, ripping drag and making the little 1000 Vanford sing. Not many songs are sweeter than a little reel crying about losing line to a big fish. I got the red to the net and got a photo before releasing it along the edge of the sand bar. I checked a new creek that I had never noticed before, and although it had a few reds, they were small and I backed out. I will return another time and maybe larger fish will be there. As I returned to the bay, I saw a group of gulls diving out in the open water. I paddled over to them, dragging my two paddle tail baits, and as I passed the birds both rods went off. Two small trout (maybe legal but maybe not) were released, and after casting both baits back out I turned around to head back towards the gulls. For the next half hour I worked around the birds and landed a dozen trout and a solid gafftop. He got a pass because I didn't really want to slime up the fish bag. After playing with the trout, I went back to the same shoreline that had brought me to this point, heading back toward the truck this time. Four more reds were pulled from the grass edges along the way, making for a pretty fantastic morning. As I rounded the corner towards the larger open bay, the winds were picking up and thunder was rumbling constantly in the distance. It was getting closer, so I paddled hard toward the truck. Over the next 15 minutes the winds rose to 25mph and whitecaps were breaking over the sides of the kayak. I just kept my head down and tilted my head toward the wind so my hat wouldn't blow off. I got back to the truck just as the sky turned loose and it rained hard while I filleted fish and put the kayak into the truck. Oh well, I had caught 17 trout, 13 reds, a drum and a gafftop and now it was time to clean up and head to the office for the second half of the work day. I'll take that!

[ziacatcher]

Great job is always Glen. Good thing you didn't get washed away.

[awesum]

That last speck didn't have many spots.

Great trip!

[Prof. Salt]

[Roger Wilco]

Fishing vicariously, tks.

[awesum]