The temperature was in the high 30s, the wind was calm and the sun was making itself known for all to admire.
With the waters still in the 47 degree range I chose to hit the deep holes early in hopes to come across a trout large enough to take the lead in the Massey's Outfitters CPR Tournament.
After landing almost a dozen trout, that fought like a bag of concrete due to the waters being so cold, I only had a couple that were large enough for the grill, according to the LDWF.
Being the trout weren't acting as predicted, I decided to make the move to where I have been hammering the redfish following the recent arctic cold fronts that pass through South Louisiana. As I loaded the yak, moved a couple miles, unloaded the yak, put on my waterproof Kokatat pants(thanks AFWC), and started moving down the canal, I noticed two things, first, the water was LOW, LOW, LOW, and second it was CLEARER than I have ever seen, you would have thought you were in South Florida fishing Bone fish on the flats.
The water was so low that I had to push pole my Hobie in spots where I would have normally been peddling.
I worked my way through the maze of marsh grass and roso cane pushing redfish out of the way until I finally came to the deep point where I knew my school of redfish would be waiting for me, "my point".
During the journey to "my point", I saw fish tails everywhere, it was as if I was passing Big Daddy's on Bourbon Street, every direction I looked there was another tail. BUT, I never stopped once, I kept on pushing through, I knew what I was seeing was no way comparable to what I was going to find at "my point".
Finally, I can see it, the Gold Club of the marsh, its "my point", the point that made this mile long, push poling, standing in a Hobie Outback nonstop all worth it. First cast...nothing....second cast nothing.....and yep, this continued on and on and on. I was devastated, how could a hole that produced hundreds of redfish just two weeks prior not have anything in it. The conditions were similar, I threw all my fish back last time, it was impossible for a boat to get back there, where did my fish go? Did the school of reds stay home and take a snow day today? I just couldn't understand.Then it hit me, I passed 15-30 reds on the way in, I will just turn around and ease my way back out and grab a limit for the bag and a couple limits to release, call it a day, and go home happy.
Well as I made the first bend, not a tail in site, second bend no tails to be seen. Is it possible that Big Daddy's really does shut down at some point? You've got to be kidding me, 30 minutes ago I was covered up in fish that I didn't even want to throw at and now I can't even scare up a mullet. I fought the marsh standing and poling for another hour, before it was time to head back to the truck. As I exited the marsh into a crystal clear bay, I saw a swirl of great proportions, kind of like a whirlpool you see in the Mississippi River, except there wasn't any mud, this fish wasn't spooked, he was feeding. I eased up and there they were, two beautiful, bright blue tailed redfish just sitting there in slow motion. I put the push pole down and grabbed the fly rod, I laid the fly right in front of the biggest red, I watched him approach it, and then inhale it. I set the hook, but nothing. Wow, really, did that just happen, I whipped the fly past him this time and began stripping it in slowly and as it approached he opened his mouth and bam, he inhaled it like my dog does when she steals a chicken off the counter.
Again, I set the hook and nothing, you gotta be kidding me, what is wrong with this day, do I even have a hook on my fly, did I tie this lure and forget to put a hook on it? Of course not, I don't even know how to tie a fly, I can barely tie my shoes sometimes, that's why I am always wearing Crocks in 20 degree weather. As all this is running through my mind, I look up and there is another fluorescent blue tail swimming across my bow. I wait until the red makes it a safe distance from me so I can move without alarming it, and then I load up, I whip the line front then back and then I lay it down, as peaceful as a feather falling to earth, about 2 feet in front of the beast. He eases up to the bug eyed, brown and beige haired fly that is slowly descending to eye level of the elusive thick scaled red monster, and again he inhales it, I wait until he turns slowly away and as the line began to move I set the hook. FINALLY, a solid hook set, and he is a runner, I turned him several times and got him to the yak several times, but as the net would gravitate toward him, he would make another run for freedom. After a fun fought battle of tug o war, I was awarded with a beautiful 29.25" golden bodied, fluorescent blue tail, redfish.
This was an exciting, yet frustrating adventure for me, a lot like a late night tour down Bourbon Street, except this one had a happy ending and I was able to release what I had just caught.
The way back to the truck yielded several more reds that were as finicky as the first two I stole my fly from earlier in the day. I could spot the blazing blue tails 3 feet below the surface and far enough in front of me I could barely reach them with the fly rod. It was a phenomenal trip. Any trip that ends with fish in the boat and the larger ones landed on a fly, makes for a great day, better stories, and bigger lies.
Todays weather was partly cloudy, temps started at 38 and rose to 58, water temps started at 47 and rose to 55 in the shallows, the water was crystal clear, and tide was incoming, but I think it was a wind tide, winds shifted from NW to SW early morning and the water levels moved between 2-4 inches once the winds changed, the barometer was rising from 29.83 to 30.00, I was accompanied on this trip with a close friend T.J., of whom I won't officially name until I see the finalized video footage.
Hope you enjoyed the read, there was a short comical video made that I will be adding to the report later this week. Also keep an eye out for a product review on an amazing Gore Tex Jacket that I have fallen in love with. VIDEO ==== http://t.co/wuN3sQCAxJ
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