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capt hoop · #1 07-14-2014, 02:07 PM

I was just cleaning up from an offshore day when a man and his son from Michigan asked about going out the next day for some inshore fishing. We were greeted once again the next morning with building thunder heads. Although beautiful to look at they are not beautiful to be around or under.

They had no intention of keeping any fish except maybe a small amount for the restaurant to cook for them. The father grew up in Florida but the son had not and never caught a redfish in his life. I rolled out to an area that holds some good sized redfish. I stop the boat and show him how to work the line popping the cork. He makes a good long cast, pops the cork once, and the drag starts screaming. What a great way to start our day.

As we drift the flats we pick up a drag burner that I soon figure out is not a redfish. For a guy who's biggest fish was a salmon this was already a momentous day but things were about to get better. This fish almost spooled him twice and with him standing on the bow the fish was pulling the bay boat and even turning it at will. I keep my drags quite tight for this type of fishing. I do not know who tired first but eventually I was able to get this Jack Crevalle on the boat.

Dad was watching his son have the time of his life and I was feeling bad for dad not hooking up. I even made a few casts while we were drifting but dad did not want to take the rod. His son took it and landed another. It was a long time before dad finally hooked up but when he did it was another good one.

The storms were near by but there was no break from the heat. It is about 10:00 and we are cooking. The highlight of the day came when I thought we had another jack on the line. It took a long time before it turned near the surface and I saw the fins of a large bull redfish. Now things get more serious. I made sure the trolling motor, power pole. and outboard were up so when it went under the boat in the shallows things would be out of the way. We still had the trim tabs to worry about. Once near the boat the fish did everything possible to get free but it was beaten and had to succumb the landing net. His biggest fish of the day. A nice solid 34 pounder.

We caught a few others but the bite slowed so we decided to try for some table fare prior to the storms hitting us. They were building right near us at this time.

I moved to another area looking for some smaller reds but all we found was a few of these guys.

When he landed this he did not know if it was a good fish to keep. Being from the north central part of the USA he honestly did not have a clue. I even managed one of them for the box.

It was about noon but I had to call the trip due to the weather forming above us. The winds were starting to blow the rozos over a bit an as I ran out of the area the thunder and lightning was just beginning. We did get a bit of rain on us as we ran back to the marina but did avoid the heavy stuff.

The entire trip was a new experience for the son and it was also the biggest redfish the father ever caught in his life also. He told me "They were not this big in Florida when I grew up."

Life is Good!

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

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM