So I had been watching for an ideal day and time to go see about the bull reds,
and after clearing my schedule, about noon I headed down to the ferry, drove right on. Minimal tourista day as well, this has got to be a good sign.
Got to the jetty and the channel was blue-green, beach was flat and blue all the way in, jacks spraying mullet everywhere. On the channel side, the big golden bulls were rising. I swear it was like watching/ fishing steelhead in the Columbia river.
Super awesome vibe, got to a good spot, rigged up, and I was tight on the 3rd cast.
nice fish, 32"-ish. Thanks to Cale for the landing assist!
About 10 cast later I got plowed by a fish that looked to be 5 feet long and 50 lbs, he was massive. Instantly had me in catch-up mode and I was chasing him down the jetty at top speed (semi-old guy speed, to be honest). finally got squared up and made a stand, stop 'em or pop 'em. Well he popped me headed to Cuba. 1 popper down.
Went back to my spot, tied on another popper, cast and was immediately owned by another sub-40" fish that shook his head once and popped me at the leader connection wit th popper floating away. I think you all know the feeling of losing your last whatever in the middle of a hot bite when that lure is the thing. Yeah, that feeling. So I tied on a gold spoon and was getting short strikes but no commitment. looke down the jetty and saw my popper was right up against the rocks, so I went and got it, tied it on and had an enormous strike after 4 or 5 casts. this fish was clearly much bigger but just didnt fight hard, had him to the rocks in 5 mins. Once I fish-gripped him and hauled him up, it was clear this was a big fish. Turns out 43.5", and well over 30#. This is my largest redfish EVER, and I got him on a popper, and it was released unharmed.
I fished for about another hour until the current eased and the fish stopped rising, ending a 3 hr session with 14 strikes, 6 hookups and 2 landed/released.
Awesome day.
Big thanks to Kilsong for these JS rods (9' bay special), they are awesome.
and to Brady, thanks for the tips, worked like magic!
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and after clearing my schedule, about noon I headed down to the ferry, drove right on. Minimal tourista day as well, this has got to be a good sign.
Got to the jetty and the channel was blue-green, beach was flat and blue all the way in, jacks spraying mullet everywhere. On the channel side, the big golden bulls were rising. I swear it was like watching/ fishing steelhead in the Columbia river.
Super awesome vibe, got to a good spot, rigged up, and I was tight on the 3rd cast.
nice fish, 32"-ish. Thanks to Cale for the landing assist!
About 10 cast later I got plowed by a fish that looked to be 5 feet long and 50 lbs, he was massive. Instantly had me in catch-up mode and I was chasing him down the jetty at top speed (semi-old guy speed, to be honest). finally got squared up and made a stand, stop 'em or pop 'em. Well he popped me headed to Cuba. 1 popper down.
Went back to my spot, tied on another popper, cast and was immediately owned by another sub-40" fish that shook his head once and popped me at the leader connection wit th popper floating away. I think you all know the feeling of losing your last whatever in the middle of a hot bite when that lure is the thing. Yeah, that feeling. So I tied on a gold spoon and was getting short strikes but no commitment. looke down the jetty and saw my popper was right up against the rocks, so I went and got it, tied it on and had an enormous strike after 4 or 5 casts. this fish was clearly much bigger but just didnt fight hard, had him to the rocks in 5 mins. Once I fish-gripped him and hauled him up, it was clear this was a big fish. Turns out 43.5", and well over 30#. This is my largest redfish EVER, and I got him on a popper, and it was released unharmed.
I fished for about another hour until the current eased and the fish stopped rising, ending a 3 hr session with 14 strikes, 6 hookups and 2 landed/released.
Awesome day.
Big thanks to Kilsong for these JS rods (9' bay special), they are awesome.
and to Brady, thanks for the tips, worked like magic!
