Day 1 – Tuesday
My brother Jeff had a chance to come for a couple of days, so off to the gulf we went. It turned out to be an interesting trip with several surprises.
Day 1 we got to the ramp at Froggie’s and the water was very off-colored and the wind was blowing pretty good straight out of the east. We had planned to wade some but decided to head up to the Oil Cut #1 and throw plastics out of the boat until it warmed up some, the wind laid, and the tide would clear the water up.
We got there and started to throw plastics on the points and in some of the cuts. As we worked our way in we managed to catch a few small ones when the birds started diving in the mouth of the last cut. The wind was howling right down the cut but the trout were there. Now most were small, and we caught about 15, but only kept 3 out of the bunch.
We also tried to catch a redfish, but other than seeing one tailing which we could not get to bite, we had no luck on them at all. it was now about 11, so we headed around the corner to the flat by the old Coast Guard ruins, but the wind was blowing right on it and it was muddy and covered with grass. So then we headed to what I thought was going to be a wade spot near Bill Day’s Reef, when we came around the corner and there were the birds doing it again.
We stopped upwind and immediately got bit. Now most were small, but we did box a couple. There were also a few catfish mixed in, so after catching a couple on popping cork, I kept at it with the plastics. I was using a 4″ red/pearl tail, and my brother was using the Tsunamis, which he uses a lot. About that time he got a big bite, and here is the result.
Horizontal and……….
Vertical. It was over 20 lbs on the Boga and on 8 lb. test was one heck of a fish!
Jeff did a great job handling this fish. On that light line, and medium spinning rod there was ample opportunity to lose it. He took his time, did not horse it, and when the time came eased it right to me to slide on the Boga Grip. We then did a little CPR and off he swam. A nice job on a big fish!
Additionally, that fish came out from under the birds. This is the second time in a row I have caught them under the birds. Now I will admit you have to work your way through small ones, and the occasional catfish, but there are trout under those birds, and the occasional big boy like this one.
We finished the day by keeping 8 trout, but caught lots of them. The redfish was clearly the highlight of the day. It only takes one thing like this to make a whole day. This was Jeff’s biggest redfish yet, and coming on 8 lb. test made it all the sweeter. Our anticipation for day 2 was at an all time high.
(Note: I have the whole thing on video, but am having problems loading it to youtube, but will get it resolved and post it here in the next day or two.)
Day 2 – Wednesday
One of the places we have pretty good trout luck is in Army Cut. The right side heading into the bay has a flat, with of course the good drop in to the channel. And in the middle of the bank is the cut leading into The Lagoon on the backside of Dewberry. When the tide is falling, as it was when we started yesterday, the fish set up on the edge of the drop, right by the stake. That stake marks what passes for a channel into the Lagoon, which is really shallow.
We started throwing topwater and immediately had three nice blow ups, which resulted in no fish, so we make another pass down the cut with the tide, throwing the topwater but had no hits. So we fished the opposite side and Jeff caught a nice keeper on a Spook, but that was the last topwater hit. We switched to plastics and started catching them, but they were small.
We into the Lagoon and the birds were going nuts, so we eased in there but only caught 1 trout below them. As long as we were there we decided to throw Redfish Magic for a red, which only resulted in one small one, and one good one chasing it, but not catching. We basically ended up wasting about an hour and a half in there. The tide was falling hard now so we eased out to the channel and managed to add 3 more keepers on the bank leading out on the right above the channel marker. Those all came on plastics.
At this point it was time for a wade. We cut across the bay and tried a spot in front of Pringle, where I only caught one, and Jeff did not have a bite. So off to Grass Island. We started on the sand bar on the Pringle side, Jeff still throwing the topwater, and me with plastics. By the way our best colors were bone with chartreuse tail, chicken on a chain, and Jeff really did well on a clear purple flake Tsunami. I managed a 22′ red in about a foot of water, actually where Jeff had just walked.
That side of the island did not produce any other fish, so we move to the other side in about the middle of the island, basically the N.W. end of Grass Island. This was Jeff’s first real attempt at wading, but he got the hang of it real quick. He took off, and before long was out almost chest deep. There were birds diving in the area and lots of bait. And he started catching them.
Jeff with his trout on his first real wade trip.
We ended the day there. Most of the fish were in 4 -6 feet of water initially, but as the tide came up they moved a little more shallow. What it really boiled down to was finding the bait and then fishing all around you. The action was fairly steady, and we had 2 other things happen that made the day.
First, I had a small one who immediately started thrashing on top, and when I released him a huge boil, which I could feel on my leg, came up in front of me. I knew it was a shark, but did not see him. A short while late I released a small one and the shark went nuts trying to catch that trout. He was frantic, and the trout was too, and I was headed for the boat. I got a pretty good look at him and he appeared to be a Bull Shark about 6 foot long. Now I am not scared of them, but when they are that excited it is time to put some distance between you and them.
Also, Jeff actually hooked a big sea turtle, which appeared to be about 15 or 20 pounds. I went over to help hims release it. It was hooked right on the edge of the shell behind his head. He finally was able to shake him off by jamming the rod straight at the bait.
We ended up keeping 11 trout and one redfish. We also caught quite a few small ones, at least enough to keep it interesting. I lost several keepers while wading as Jeff had the net and I was using the Boga, and after that shark at my feet I was not interested in to much messing around with them, just a quick release.
So all in all a couple of pretty fun days. A great redfish on light line, a close encounter with a shark of the scary kind, and a sea turtle. And to top it off, we actually caught some fish.
So again thanks for reading my stuff. I will try to get the video posted tomorrow, it actually turned out great. So stop by later. If you have a chance to go, hit the gulf, the fish are biting and the weather is fine.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
