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capt hoop · #1 06-29-2015, 09:24 PM

We almost canceled our trip due to a front coming through the area. It was to stay just north of the city but as things would have it the front dipped a bit lower.

It was going to be our day to play dodge ball with the storms. Some of them had intense lightning in them. We expected to get wet but wanted to avoid the lightning and high winds.

After breakfast at the marina we headed down river. I went into a back pond and we started fishing. The Grass is starting to get heavy in that pond so the fishing will get harder as the summer goes on. On his second cast Neil hooks up to something he never expected. He had no idea what he had but it did not want to come near the boat. The fish brought him around the boat a few times. I have no idea of how long the fight took but he will never forget any second of the battle. Once I got the fish in the net I was surprised at the weight of the fish.

It was a SOLID fish. 41 inches, 24 inch girth, and 33 pounds. This was Neil's first redfish ever. What a way to get broken in.

We hit that place a while longer but the weeds were getting to be too much to handle. I moved out of that pond and into an open bay. There were a lot of other boats fishing that place. We all had the idea that the front would remain North of us. With things getting stirred up the bite was off a little. On our third place my niece Trina manages to land our first keeper of the day at 17.5 inches.

We got threatened with a storm and had to seek shelter for about a half hour. The storm did not hit where we were but we could see the rain a few hundred feet away as we ran to the shelter place. Once we left there we went back to fishing again but soon decided to head back to the marina with 1 in the box. A big system was coming right at us with a lot of electricity in it. Things got stirred up quickly 3 of us ran back together.

As we entered the marina there were a large amount of boats coming in from all directions. It was now 11:30 so we decided to have lunch at the marina. A lot of the charters called it for the day with whatever they managed to get for fish. It was already noon.

The storms remained south of us and right alongside the marina. Seeing this was a family trip I decided to head north and make another attempt getting something. With the west winds I went east and south storms I went north. 10 mile run just to find out it was a big mistake. Rough stirred up waters and in the almost calm waters with moving water the water was so dirty you could smell the mud. I made another run about 15 miles and settled in a shallow cut that produces fish sometimes. The tide was falling and the wind changed direction which pushed the water out quicker. I kept my eye on the quick drop because I did not want to get trapped in there. It was now almost 3:00 but we just put our second keeper in the box. We had a steady but not hot bite. A few shorts and a lot of sting rays in the mix.

Our last fish of the day was a nice 19.5 inch flounder. This was Bob's first ever flounder and it is a very respectable flounder for this area. I had to go several hundred yards over the shallow mud before I could even get a chance to get on plane. I tried several times with not being able to get on plane. I had the tabs down, people in front, jack plate up and prop in the tunnel. It was still a challenge. I kicked up some mud but once on plane it was "Next stop the marina". We headed back to the house making a stop at Iguana's for a refreshing drink after a long day. Once at the house I cleaned our hard earned catch while they got cleaned up for the 3 hour ride home.

Did a lot of hard running. Never before do I remember burning 31.6 gallons of gas on an inshore trip. A lot of work. Thankful for the few we were able to keep under those conditions.

Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM