Yesterday was one of those days. Barnacle and I slept in a bit so we launched after sunrise.
Kinda forgot I had a camera with me after that pic. I'm not a big one for taking pics of every fish I catch so you'll just have to use your memory. You know what a snook, redfish and trout looks like, right?
Paddled out to find mullet everywhere. Spent a few casts trying to prove the theory of find the mullet and you'll find the redfish but quickly gave up on that top go find the snook. On the last three trips to this area I'd found snook in the same spot. This trip didn't disappoint. After I rounded a corner I tossed the Spook Jr and hooked up with 2 snook in 7 casts. One was mid 20's the other a ubiquitous 20 incher. Always see some nice 30+ inch snook in the mix but its hard to get the lure by the more aggressive ewting smaller snook.
As I have a standing order for a redfish dinner, I went in search. Tried this area, tried that area, tried another area but just wasn't seeing anything. Finally, and I have to give Barnacle kudos for doing his fish finding job, I came across an acre of redfish. I was casting to my left and Barnacle became very interested in something off to my right. I looked and there were the reds actively feeding. With their backs coming out of the water and tails flipping up, I tossed a Slayer Gold Finga Sinister Swim Tail (SST) at what I was pretty sure was the edge of the school and hooked up almost before the lure hit the water.
Got that one to the kayak and measured it at 24 inches. Betting I could get bigger, I released it and quickly took off the destroyed Slayer SST to rig on a Riptide 5" Flats Chub in Firefly. This lure produced another red which became last nights dinner. Had to paddle a bit to get back to the school of fish which drew the attention of a guide in a power boat. He politely came in slow and quiet, asking permission with a raised hand. I got my 3rd red from the school just as he came in. His clients quickly hooked up as I was rerigging once again. After a few more casts I got my 4th red from the school and then they broke up. Not sure if I or the guide boat was casting into the middle of them but something made them take off. Might have been the other power boat that flew into the middle of them.......
By now the temps were rising faster then the sun, I had dinner in the bag and Barnacle was panting like, well, a dog. Why he refuses to drink water while on the kayak is a mystery. Once we get back to shore he guzzles it down like a guy who has just crawled through a desert. Decided to see if I could add a couple trout to the feast so I worked the edge of the channel and sand potholes in 3 foot of water.
Lots of bang bang on the lure with a bunch of hook ups. Kept pulling up 16 inch trout after 16 inch trout when they did manage to get hooked. Endless follows from 10 inch trout that couldn't get their mouth around a 4/0 hook, thankfully. Had one follow by a 20 incher but it kept biting the tail. Oh well, no trout for the feast.
On the water at 7:15, off the water by 10. Perfect plan, IMO, for these hot summer days. Spent the rest of the day watching some Olympics, some NASCAR and playing with my grand daughter in the pool. Plus the panko and parmesan encrusted redfish got rave reviews.
All in all, I chalk it up as a wonderful day. Now I'm going to make a sandwich with the remaining fish.
