Corpusfishing.com

[ShawnQ]

http://lonestarsharkers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2487&p=6525#p6525

Once again, Puretexn gave the invite and my Wife and I loaded up to head down to his house. We didn't arrive until around 3pm on Saturday. Due to a minor work injury, my Wife opted to stay at Puretexn's house and tan on the back deck while Bruce and I headed for the bays in the plastic navy.

Bruce's first cast with his norton sand eel (NSE) resulted in a 17-18" redfish. Things were looking good! The wind was moderate out of the S/SE, but very manageable due to the nearby shoreline protecting us. We worked the initial area quite thoroughly and didn't produce much else after that first-cast redfish. I did lose what I believe was a rat red on a gold spoon, but nothing else.

We gradually worked our way over to a known channel drop off and Bruce again caught a dink. After thoroughly working this area, we moved to another known spot that produced a keeper trout for Bruce, about 17", and several dinks for both of us.

Bruce paddled on to fish a hole in front of a pier. As I was following him down the shoreline, I just had to go and investigate the shallow grassline to see if I could sight-cast a few shallow water reds. The wind had the water a bit off colored, and a little choppy, so it was tough to make out any colors or shapes. I knew the fish were around, but I was worried I wouldn't see them. To help myself, I stood up on the yak. This gave me a disadvantage as I now produced a shadow and I was easier for the fish to see, but I could still see fairly decent into the water. Just before the grass turned to a sea-wall, I spotted the infamous spot-tailed target! I happened to have the camera around my neck just for this occasion, and was able to get one decent pic showing the tail. The wind was shaking me while I stood on the yak, so the clarity isn't perfect...but it is a good 25' camera shot. The fish never actually 'tailed', but it was definitely rooting around looking for some crustaceans. The bright blue tail was easy to distinguish in person.



Luckily the fish was facing away from me which allowed me to cast without spooking him. I made a perfect pitch with my NSE, and brought it right in front of his face. The fish turned on and nailed the bait but missed the hookup and bolted off into deeper water. Bummer! So, I'm still looking for my first sight casted kayak redfish (except for fishing lights at night..).

As I was sitting back down in the yak planning to go fish near Bruce, I noticed he was hooked up on what looked to be a decent fish.



He landed and released it by the time I got back over there, and said it was a red that was 'borderline'. He then proceeded to catch two more reds in his next four casts, all 'borderline'. Then he had to switch to a backup reel due to a failed levelwind on his trusty Curado. Finally, I hooked up on one, again just short....but still fun. We stuck around this area working it thoroughly with our NSE. I eventually hooked up again, and quickly heard Bruce yell 'Double'! My fish was fighting different and I had a sneaky suspicion that it was a flatfish. Sure enough, 15.5" Flounder on the stringer!



Meanwhile, Bruce was still fighting his fish. The mono on his backup reel is not as tough as his typical power pro, so he had to baby it a bit. After several good runs, he boats a stubborn 24" Red and adds it to the stringer next to his 17" trout. We continue fan casting the same area, and I again hookup. This fish is definitely a redfish, and after another stubborn battle on 10# line, I boat a 20.5" redfish to accompany my Flounder on the stringer. I realized I only took a cell phone pic to send to a few people, and forgot an actual camera pic when I first caught it.



Shortly after, Bruce was again hooked up and I quickly heard him say "Flatfish". He added a 15.25" flounder to his stringer and completed his 'Slam'. A few more casts, and I was hooked up on a solid head-shaking fish that I assume was either a trout or a flounder. Unfortunately, it spit the hook. If it was a trout or flounder, it was a nice one...or just an odd mannered redfish.

The bite slowed in this area so we moved to one last flat and fan casted it with just a few dinks to show for it. As Tiffany texted me that the spurs had won in Double OT, we began to make our return paddle and asked Tiffany to meet us halfway there at a boat ramp. This would reduce the distance we had to paddle into the increasing winds. On the way back, I pulled up on an area that looked fishy. One cast, one handle crank, and one bite later...I had a feisty 16" trout hooked up and landed. So, now both myself AND Puretexn had completed a Slam.



We met up with Tiffany at the boat ramp and got a few more pics of the fish, then headed back to PT's house.





While grilling some fine fresh redfish and saltwater quail, Justletmein, his wife, and kids arrived. They had been at the beach during the day and said the weed was a bit irritating and not much happened. We ate, BS'ed, and played the Wii for a while. Around 11pm I got a call from Smitty saying he was headed down. So, PT and I decided to stay awake and wait for him so we could hit the bay and canals at night, hoping to take advantage of the full moon.

Justletmein and family left some time around midnight. Tiffany opted to stay at the house while PT and I once again ventured out in the yaks. With lights glowing, we meandered our way out of the canals. On the way, we managed a few dink trout, and PT broke off on what he felt was a decent fish. Once out of the canals, the dink slaughter continued. We must have caught 30 redfish between the two of us, all ranging from 15-19". At one point, we were fishing the same area and I hook up. At the same time, I hear Bruce yell 'Hooked up'. Shortly after, Bruce says "I think you've got my line....".
I reply, "No, I've got a fish...but it may be tangled in your line."
I was fishing 6# line and a tiny rapala minnow lure on an ultralight outfit to try and stay stealthy in the lights. It was working well, but made for longer than usual battles. Once I landed the fish, I saw PT's line tangled. I then realized what happened:



Hungry and aggressive little fella! He decided he wanted a fire-tiger rapala minnow AND a NSE. After a quick pic I tossed him back. Shortly after that, almost 2am now, I see Smitty drive by and tell Bruce we should hang around this area and wait for him. Bruce agrees, and gets away from the lights and opts to work topwater on the adjacent grass flats. While he paddles away, I hook up on a better fish. On 6# line, it was quite a war but I finally slid it into the net and landed a 20.5" redfish. I quickly noticed it had a similar double-spot pattern as Bruce's 24" redfish from earlier in the day.


Smitty arrive shortly after, and said he managed several dinks on the way out in the lights. Bruce returns from the dark and says 'Nada'. We decided to cross the bay and hit another hole on the opposite side about half a mile away. Upon arrival, Smitty and PT both hook up and string a keeper trout each. The action stays constant for a while, and PT hooks up to a freight train that takes drag for 5-7 seconds solid. I hear him say, "If this is a trout, I'm going to shi...Dang it! Spit the hook!". Bummer.
A few dinks later, and after 4am, we opt to head back. We hit several of the canal lights on the way in. Smitty lost a decent speck, but otherwise only dinks. By 5:30am, Smitty and I crashed out while PT stayed out on the Canal talking with his nephew Flounder who lives across the way.

9:00 a.m. came awfully early...and the wind was quite brisk. After a quick snack, Smitty and I loaded up and launched the girls in their kayaks. They opted to head to a nearby spoil island and do some beach activities with my niece Kylie. She landed a few trophies, but no luck on the rod and reel:





Smitty and I worked the adjacent areas for a bit with only a few dinks, and then headed to the hole where Bruce had got his trout the day before.
On the way over, the wind was practically pushing us as fast as we could paddle. I took advantage of the free drift, tossed out the wind sock, and started fan casting the NSE. I was quickly hooked up and released a borderline spec. On the next cast, I hooked up on a better fish, and got it to the boat green which was quite interesting. It ended up being a nice 21.5" spec, my first one over 20" from a yak. I decided to continue working this open water and on my next cast I hooked a dang pelican. After finally getting it off and re-tieing, I had drifted across this open water. My anchor wouldn't hold me in the deeper water with the wind blowing like it was. I paddled back to try and drift the area again, but by this time a pleasure boat was doing figure 8's with a tuber. I decided to leave the area and meet up with Smitty who was anchored up.

Upon arrival, he was landing a spec. We continued to land dink after dink, probably 10-12 between the two of us. I finally got one right at 16" and added it to the stringer with the other big girl. We fished the area out, and moved on to the redfish hole from the previous day. By now there was a good 1-2' chop on the bay and the wind was blowing a steady 20 with 30mph gusts. We fished the area hard and were only awarded with a few skipjack. The reds had left. Smitty continued even further as I opted to stay close and even moved back to the previous trout hole. I continued to catch dinks, but didn't add anything to the stringer. Finally, about an hour later, I see Smitty battling the wind on his way back. I phoned Tiffany and asked her to meet us at the ramp.



It was a tough day battling the wind, but I managed a few fish for the fryer. (The red was from the night before, just threw it in to get a group shot). Smitty had plenty of action, but nothing on the stringer. I think we were both content to catch anything in the wind the way it was. It was brutal paddling back against it...but I'm confident now that I can still yak-fish the bays in 20mph winds, which is good to know when your fishing days are limited to weekends.

Thanks to PT for the hospitality and the good foods.

Till next time,
SQ

[bullshark]

Great report and pics. Sounds like a blast.
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Thanks
Bruce Simons

[robul]

great report and congrats on the double slam..

[Drake]

nice report..... even better narative (is that how you spell it?)

[MJW]

Now that was a great report. Sounded like a awesome time
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