Fall N Tide 7 is in the bag and a great day of fishing it was.
As usual my camera was neglected for most of the day. I started the day at 12:30 am when my partner text woke me to announce a family emergency. We swapped gear back to my car and I started my prep a few hours early. I had a 3 hour drive ahead so I hit the road around 1:30 am. Without my fishing partner I felt a little unsure about my day but hoped to have success.
As I arrived in the area I saw the tell tale white lights of headlamps flashing around one of my favorite spots. After the storm there was some question if we would be able to launch there but I found a few friends willing to help me haul my boat over the levee and get after it. And at the early time of 5:30am I launched to fish. By daylight I had my third 18" trout in the bag. The day's target was one red, one trout, one flounder. You count on the Redfish to get your weight and hope for a flounder to qualify. So after a lull of about 30 minutes I paddled out to the marsh to seek my redfish.
When I hit the marsh I saw the distinctive swirl of a predator around a clump of grass and grabbed my "Shiney Hiney topped cocahoe plastic minnow" and promptly caught a 19" trout. A pleasant surprise.
Then I worked my way into the marsh and heard the crashing of redfish every where. It was going to be a fun day and for the next 3 hours I caught all the redfish I could stand but had a hard time getting over 25" (the goal is about a 26 and 3/4 inch redfish). I caught reds until I had cramps in my arms even having two in the net at once:
You can see one of the TTF Shiney Hiney jigheads hanging out the mouth of the one the other was caught on my modified Johnson Silver Minnow - I take the 1/8th spoon and dip it in black powder coat. This pair of 25" reds were a blast to catch I reeled one in and saw the other wake and caught him while the first was still in the net.
So by 10 am I had 4 25" reds in the bag and seemed to be getting nowhere so decided "I've got 4 hours to try and catch a flounder". And boy did I try. I caught another dozen reds but not one flounder. Finally I caught a red with 9 spots and kept him for a chance at a prize.
But by 1:30pm I was exhausted (I had only paddled about 2 miles) too little sleep and too many reds had taken their toll.
I called it a day and went to the weigh in satisfied no matter what happened next. What happened was a nice little Citica Baitcaster for my 9 spotted redfish:
I feel like the Lord taught me a few important things again, patience, rejoice in the holiness of the moment, and don't let a tournament ruin a great day of fishing. I had a blast and at the end of the day the reel was worth more than I paid for the tourney, fishing, and food for the day - you just can't ask for more than that.
As usual my camera was neglected for most of the day. I started the day at 12:30 am when my partner text woke me to announce a family emergency. We swapped gear back to my car and I started my prep a few hours early. I had a 3 hour drive ahead so I hit the road around 1:30 am. Without my fishing partner I felt a little unsure about my day but hoped to have success.
As I arrived in the area I saw the tell tale white lights of headlamps flashing around one of my favorite spots. After the storm there was some question if we would be able to launch there but I found a few friends willing to help me haul my boat over the levee and get after it. And at the early time of 5:30am I launched to fish. By daylight I had my third 18" trout in the bag. The day's target was one red, one trout, one flounder. You count on the Redfish to get your weight and hope for a flounder to qualify. So after a lull of about 30 minutes I paddled out to the marsh to seek my redfish.
When I hit the marsh I saw the distinctive swirl of a predator around a clump of grass and grabbed my "Shiney Hiney topped cocahoe plastic minnow" and promptly caught a 19" trout. A pleasant surprise.
Then I worked my way into the marsh and heard the crashing of redfish every where. It was going to be a fun day and for the next 3 hours I caught all the redfish I could stand but had a hard time getting over 25" (the goal is about a 26 and 3/4 inch redfish). I caught reds until I had cramps in my arms even having two in the net at once:
You can see one of the TTF Shiney Hiney jigheads hanging out the mouth of the one the other was caught on my modified Johnson Silver Minnow - I take the 1/8th spoon and dip it in black powder coat. This pair of 25" reds were a blast to catch I reeled one in and saw the other wake and caught him while the first was still in the net.
So by 10 am I had 4 25" reds in the bag and seemed to be getting nowhere so decided "I've got 4 hours to try and catch a flounder". And boy did I try. I caught another dozen reds but not one flounder. Finally I caught a red with 9 spots and kept him for a chance at a prize.
But by 1:30pm I was exhausted (I had only paddled about 2 miles) too little sleep and too many reds had taken their toll.
I called it a day and went to the weigh in satisfied no matter what happened next. What happened was a nice little Citica Baitcaster for my 9 spotted redfish:
I feel like the Lord taught me a few important things again, patience, rejoice in the holiness of the moment, and don't let a tournament ruin a great day of fishing. I had a blast and at the end of the day the reel was worth more than I paid for the tourney, fishing, and food for the day - you just can't ask for more than that.
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