Redfish Rumble Pre-fishing

 This past weekend I was able to escape to start preparations for our upcoming Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club's annual Redfish Rumble, this year being held in Delacroix, La.
I was joined on this trip by Putt Putt, and Craig, and we were all venturing into unknown waters.
The night before we decided to start the day later than usual, as we didn't know the area and weren't interested in paddling through the dark. 
As we arrived at our launch spot in Delacroix, the wind had already picked up out of the South east around 10 mph.  The temperatures were in the 50s and the pressure was rising around 30.13''.
As we entered the water, it didn't take us long to realize that we weren't alone, it appeared we launched in an area that is owned by several

alligators, yall remember ole Putt Putt doesn't like gators, before you knew it, he had his rods in their holders and was focused on getting as far away from the prehistoric beast as he could.  There were only about 7 or 8...... that we could see.
After a couple miles of paddling(the water was very low) and fighting grass beds with every stroke, I decided it time to make a move. 

I hadn't seen a redfish the entire time we were in the water, maybe the gators ate em, who knows, but what I did know is that I am going to be fishing a tournament in the next week, and this wasn't going to be one of my locations.

I paddled back to the gator infested water alone, Putt Putt and Craig stayed back to explore the dead marsh further, and yes, they came home empty handed(or at least that's what they told me). 
I loaded up my yak and headed north and then west and then back south to reach another part of the marsh that has always proved productive for.

As I reached my location, I saw fish everywhere, the grass was thick in areas, but the water was crystal clear and as long as I stayed in the middle of the canal I could work the beds to my left and right. 

 Within two hours I had landed 10 redfish and four of those reds were between 26-27 inches.  The perfect tournament redfish, now all I had to do was catch a bass(a bass and 5 reds gets you an extra weight and lbs for the weigh in next week).

 It didn't take me long to reach for my rod with the seeing spots inline spinner tipped with a kamikaze matrix shad, and on my way back to the vehicle, I landed two bass, both around the 13-14 inch range, enough to get extra weight for next week.

Seems like the fish weren't going out of their way to find something to eat.  Most of them were just sitting in pockets of grass and not moving at all.  While I did see a pile of fish, I didn't see one tail or back break the water.  I spent most of the day standing and paddling and drifting with the wind.  If I would see the red in time, I was slapping my lure on top of the grass and bringing it into the open pockets and almost setting it on the reds nose.  They were not aggressive at all.  Several times I had reds immediately suck the lure in their mouth, but then sit there and not move, they wouldn't turn, and they wouldn't run with it.  I watched one red suck up my soft lure completely and then slowly release it halfway out of its mouth, spit it, and then suck it up as it laid still on the bottom several seconds later.  It was an interesting day, I got to do a lot of observing, I didn't set the hook on every fish, it was nice to see their reaction and how they handled the lure after they ate it when I chose not to tug on the line.

Clear water is where it all went down, some grass on the sides of the banks, but overall the cleaner the water, the more success I had.

Patience, clear water, short dead end canals, and weedless lures, were the key to the day, that and learning the hard way that fluorocarbon can go bad.  My first three hook sets ended in a broken 20 lbs test leader.  I haven't broken a leader since I started using Seaguar, and this was a huge surprise for me.  Apparently something jeopardized the integrity of my line during my Everglades trip.  I have now replaced the spool and all my leaders and am looking forward to seeing it work as expected next Saturday at the Rumble.

Good luck to all those that are taking place in the BCKFC's Redfish Rumble.  See ya at the weigh in.

Lures used...Matrix Shad, Vortex Shad, Seein Spots inline spinner, fluke, spook jr

Until next time, stay safe and Catch1.....