Fish Catching Travel
This was one of those days when I get to wondering what really makes for a successful day on the water? Is it the number of fish, maybe a big one, or it could be where you are fishing. So by a “good day” on the water standard I guess I sort of had a good day.
The weather report was a little better for today, and the high tide was going to be around 11:00 a.m. So with hope in my heart I headed to Indianola. I intended to fish the Powderhorn and then Keller, depending on the wind.
I noticed along the beach that the water was off colored, no big surprise, but the 5 – 10 out of the northeast seemed to be 15 mph plus out of the east. So with the tide moving in I headed about halfway back in the Powderhorn on the North bank. The water was high, a nice thing to see after my last couple of trips, and the wind was not to bad.
I started tossing a Strike King Redfish Magic, my go to bait when the water is up in the grass. Even though it was off colored, it looked a lot worse in my sunglasses, it cleared to at least fishable as the tide kept rising. It was an hour before I had my fist bite, and it was when the tide was really moving.
A nice slot redfish.
I am such a fan of throwing the Redfish Magic. It really is one of those baits that if there are some reds in the area, you can usually make them bite. This one, along with the other 5 I caught today, were right on the edge of the grass, most of them hitting the spinnerbait within a foot of the bank. I did not catch one off from the bank today, but did have a big fish of some sort boil it at boatside when I went to lift my spinnerbait out. That I did not see what kind of fish it was gives you an idea of the water color. I did catch this one, but he made the pictures for a totally different reason.
Mouthful of Redfish Magic.
The reason this guy is here is because sometimes you hook a fish that just plain fights, and this guy was a champ. Not big, in fact a couple inches short of a keeper, but that did not stop him. He grabbed it the minute it hit the water and into a big grass patch he went. He ripped it up, thrashed and carried on, and then made a break for it, right into a duck blind. I whipped over there with the trolling motor and was finally able to ease him back out. If they all fought like this guy you couldn’t land a 25 lber.
There was one small downer today, while reeling the spinnerbait on a muddy high bank I thought I had oysters on the bait when it started moving sideways. I set the hook and instead of the red run, it was a slow thumping. Big flounder, and I mean heavy. He came straight out and pulled off right at the boat. To bad, he missed out being the guest of honor at a fish fry.
So for a short day not to bad. Caught 6 with one good one, missed 2, lost 2, and lost a big flounder. Being on the water today without a pounding wind, and at a temperature I could live with, was great. The reds were definitely scattered today, but with fall coming they will be bunching soon. According to Bink Grimes’ article today there are some redfish starting to bunch in the back lakes. With this low humidity making for cooler temps, and now a good chance of rain, things are looking up.
I did not trout fish today. The bay was off colored, so I just stuck with the reds. It wasn’t fast by any means, but one just often enough to fish until 2. What makes a good day? In this case the simple fact I was fishing in better weather and tide was enough. But it did not hurt to catch a few. And as far as losing that big flounder, it felt as big as any I ever put in the boat, and it would not have hurt my feelings if it had had a better ending. But it never would have happened if I wasn’t fishing, so no great loss.
Tomorrow morning it is back to Coleto, I just can not resist. We have a chance for some clouds, and maybe even rain tomorrow, and it could be a good day to bass fish. Out at daylight in the morning throwing the watermelon red worms on flat grassy points, shouldn’t take long to see if that pattern is still working.
I did want to say one more thing. Almost every single bass you see on this website, and the majority of the coastal fish, get a little CPR. Catch-Photo-Release. I only keep fish that will be eaten soon. Over the years I have had fish in the freezer way to long, and it is something I just do not let happen now. This is not a back handed stab at folks who keep their limit, as long as we all are following the law there should be no criticism. Before you keep your next fish though please be sure you have eaten the ones in the freezer. Be nice to the fish, catch and release works. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
