Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

This morning winds were calm and the tide was bottomed out, just beginning to come back in. A few fish were quietly working shorelines, so I worked in earnest to find a bunch before I had to hurry back to work for a noon meeting. My fishing spot is a 35 mile commute from the house, so I was hunting with purpose at daylight looking for customers. I found a couple of mid-slot fish early on the usual shoreline and then tried a new area. I had planned to paddle back to the isolated lake that had rewarded me on Saturday, but now the water was too low for me to float the kayak back there. So I chose a small creek farther down the shoreline that ran back into a different field. There was a gator parked at the entrance, but it was under six feet and quietly submerged as I approached. A hundred yards into the grassy surroundings the creek split and I chose the left branch since I had already checked out the other side last week with little success. The left branch rewarded me with lots of fish to choose from; there were multiple singles and groups of reds spread out along the edges. One red that ate the little Trick Shot bait was a tank - 31 inches long and THICK. She splashed enough to spook all the other fish nearby, but I continued on and found others around the next bend that were receptive. The fish began to get less common, and after I spotted and kayaked around the next alligator of the morning, I decided to back out of the creek and go back to the open shorelines that usually have fewer giant lizards.

The first mile of the usual shoreline didn't show me any hungry reds, but when I paddled across to the other side things got more interesting. Large single fish were being sneaky but were cruising the mud edges and occasionally smashing bait along the bank. After a minute I was able to get the bait in front of one - and the big fish pointed out how the new Vanford has a nice sounding drag alert, as the fish tore out through open water and allowed the reel to sing the song of it's people. It's a small reel but very capable, and it maintained smooth pressure that wore the fish down. The red finally tired and I released the 30.5" fatty, as I was already eyeing the next potential fish farther down the shore. That one turned quiet as I approached so I kept working. At one spot the shoreline cut in as a small bar ditch angled back into the pasture. It was too small to paddle into, but I pitched the bait into the reeds right at the corner and got the attention of a solid red that had been trying to go unnoticed there. I had seen the dark shape just under the surface, and a gentle lure landing meant the fish was confident about crushing the bait. After landing that one I continued on with the search and by the time I checked my watch again it was after 9:30 - time to paddle for the truck. I got back to the truck by 10:15, filleted my catch and was headed home by 10:30. By 11:10 I was at the house so I washed and unloaded the kayak, set the cooler of fillets in the garage and changed clothes. Arrived at the college and walked into the meeting with ten minutes to spare and ready to start the work portion of the day. This evening I will get the fillets in the freezer before changing again for the first of six pinning ceremonies this week... at least I got in nine miles first and caught a few nice ones in the still conditions! Now the winds are returning and it's supposed to blow for a week. That worked out pretty well.

[ziacatcher]

All those fish and 10 minutes to spare. Way to go N.

[awesum]

Nice pics Glenn.