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Slimey in West Bay
Daniel and I had planned to fish West this morning regardless of the forecast. I was a little skeptical about how things would turn out with Southwest wind blowing around 15, and it was every bit of that when we arrived at the ramp at 5:45. We decided to drive around to another ramp that would afford us a little wind protection for the first run in the dark. By the time we got the boat in the water and out into the bay, the wind had dropped to less than 10. I guess that someone likes me after all.... 
Our first stop was a shoreline where I had been catching reds on top. They didn't cooperate well this morining. Only a few blow ups and two small reds. Daniel had a big one follow his she pup almost to the boat, blowing up several times, but never making the commitment.
Made a quick run to a nearby reef and hopped out. Didin't take long to locate the fish, with some bait bouncing and loons diving. Probably on my 5th cast, I was rewarded with a solid thump on my Corky. This fish was heavy, but no headshake. Didn't take long to figure out that it was a red. Good fish, about 26 inches, but not what I was there for. While fighting her I announced to Daniel that they were on this side of the reef. He came across and almost immediately hooked up with another good fish. His turned out to be the right species. After a nice fight, he landed her and we shot a couple of pics. She was 26.5 and 6.5 on the boga. For some reason, after a short span with no bites I decided to walk across to the other side of the reef. There was plenty of bait showing, and after about 30 casts, I finally got another hard thump. This one was immediately at the surface shaking her head. A couple of minutes later and after a short circle dance, she was in my hand. Another nice trout at 5.5 on the boga. Quick pics, and back in the water.
Daniel was on the right side, and I guess i was on the wrong side of the reef. he ended up landing probably 6 or 7 more trout, all between 3.5 and 5 pounds. I must not have been holding my mouth right. They bit right on the major around 8:30 and didn't stay active for long. I headed back for the boat so that we could hit another spot where we have been trying to feed some giant trout. The sun was out and we knew that we needed to be there. We ran drop offs along several shorelines on the way and saw plenty of reds and a few decent trout, and the winter motherload of sheepshead.
When we got to the spot, conditions were still looking pretty good, but the clouds were starting to show. We opted to stay in the boat for the better spotting ability. We saw a few reds, mostly too late to get a bite and in one little area, we saw 5 or 6 trout all at least 25 inches or better. We weren't able to feed the trout, but did get one to chase a lure. We caught several more reds here before we deceded to head back to another shoreline where we saw a few.
The last spot had plenty of bait shallow, and I wanted to try my new TFO, BVK fly rod that I picked up this week. I walked shallow and Daniel stayed on the drop off line. It didn't take long before I saw a redfish move, and she liked my fly. She was about 18 inches, but fun anyway. I walked around for a bit and didn't see much so headed back for the boat. Daniel had a good trout on as I was walking towards him, but she pulled the hooks. He said that they were smaking the Corky but somehow missing the hooks.
I had a couple of maintenance items to work on and we are planning to fish again tomorrow, so we headed in.
Total was around 10 trout and 10 reds for the day, with most of them very good quality fish. Back at it in the morning.
We both forgot our cameras, so we took several pictures each on our phones.
Our first stop was a shoreline where I had been catching reds on top. They didn't cooperate well this morining. Only a few blow ups and two small reds. Daniel had a big one follow his she pup almost to the boat, blowing up several times, but never making the commitment.
Made a quick run to a nearby reef and hopped out. Didin't take long to locate the fish, with some bait bouncing and loons diving. Probably on my 5th cast, I was rewarded with a solid thump on my Corky. This fish was heavy, but no headshake. Didn't take long to figure out that it was a red. Good fish, about 26 inches, but not what I was there for. While fighting her I announced to Daniel that they were on this side of the reef. He came across and almost immediately hooked up with another good fish. His turned out to be the right species. After a nice fight, he landed her and we shot a couple of pics. She was 26.5 and 6.5 on the boga. For some reason, after a short span with no bites I decided to walk across to the other side of the reef. There was plenty of bait showing, and after about 30 casts, I finally got another hard thump. This one was immediately at the surface shaking her head. A couple of minutes later and after a short circle dance, she was in my hand. Another nice trout at 5.5 on the boga. Quick pics, and back in the water.
Daniel was on the right side, and I guess i was on the wrong side of the reef. he ended up landing probably 6 or 7 more trout, all between 3.5 and 5 pounds. I must not have been holding my mouth right. They bit right on the major around 8:30 and didn't stay active for long. I headed back for the boat so that we could hit another spot where we have been trying to feed some giant trout. The sun was out and we knew that we needed to be there. We ran drop offs along several shorelines on the way and saw plenty of reds and a few decent trout, and the winter motherload of sheepshead.
When we got to the spot, conditions were still looking pretty good, but the clouds were starting to show. We opted to stay in the boat for the better spotting ability. We saw a few reds, mostly too late to get a bite and in one little area, we saw 5 or 6 trout all at least 25 inches or better. We weren't able to feed the trout, but did get one to chase a lure. We caught several more reds here before we deceded to head back to another shoreline where we saw a few.
The last spot had plenty of bait shallow, and I wanted to try my new TFO, BVK fly rod that I picked up this week. I walked shallow and Daniel stayed on the drop off line. It didn't take long before I saw a redfish move, and she liked my fly. She was about 18 inches, but fun anyway. I walked around for a bit and didn't see much so headed back for the boat. Daniel had a good trout on as I was walking towards him, but she pulled the hooks. He said that they were smaking the Corky but somehow missing the hooks.
I had a couple of maintenance items to work on and we are planning to fish again tomorrow, so we headed in.
Total was around 10 trout and 10 reds for the day, with most of them very good quality fish. Back at it in the morning.
We both forgot our cameras, so we took several pictures each on our phones.
Attached Files
"I love the smell of napalm and watermelon slicks in the mornin'...."
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