Went to get the boat out Saturday early afternoon and almost didn't do it. It was gray, cold and blowin'. But I did get it and tied it to the dock thinking it would lay down, clear up and warm up. Went out to do a few things with my wife and none of those things happened so the the boat stayed tied to the dock.
It was pretty chilly this morning but abundant sunshine and light winds so I went out to fish the last of the outgoing and incoming tides on the flat where I've seen redfish schooled up the last few weekends.
They did not disappoint! I set up to drift w/ the increasing wind and maneuver the boat w/ my Ipilot. It took a little while but the school appeared and spooked slightly. I had been working hard to be low profile. I casted into where I thought the edge of the group was and bam! Hooked up w/ a hoss! Took 5 to 10 minutes but I got him to my readied net. Turned out to be a 29 incher.
As I finished the drift another fella in his boat was going by and went up to do the same drift I had done. I motored up to him and chatted for a few minutes and then went back to the start to repeat the drift. I was moving slightly faster than him and after a while I got within a couple hundred feet of him so I was getting ready to put down the power pole and let him have some space. Just then The school spooked again and created a stir but didn't leave. I put down the power pole and casted into them. Again bam! this time a 27 incher that came to the net more easily.
My new buddy caught one shortly, said he was leaving and pointed out where the school was. I finished that drift and did one more seeing many fish. I had a couple takes but missed getting a hook in them. After that I saw many fish but by now they had a bad case of lockjaw.
Overall a great experience and learned some new things like what "too close" to the fish is. A couple times I ended up on top of them and they didn't bolt but certainly wouldn't eat.
29 Incher
27 Incher
Also, I took a pic of what used to be a 31 foot Sea Ray that burned up last Sunday and drifted onto the area where I've been chasing these reds.
It was pretty chilly this morning but abundant sunshine and light winds so I went out to fish the last of the outgoing and incoming tides on the flat where I've seen redfish schooled up the last few weekends.
They did not disappoint! I set up to drift w/ the increasing wind and maneuver the boat w/ my Ipilot. It took a little while but the school appeared and spooked slightly. I had been working hard to be low profile. I casted into where I thought the edge of the group was and bam! Hooked up w/ a hoss! Took 5 to 10 minutes but I got him to my readied net. Turned out to be a 29 incher.
As I finished the drift another fella in his boat was going by and went up to do the same drift I had done. I motored up to him and chatted for a few minutes and then went back to the start to repeat the drift. I was moving slightly faster than him and after a while I got within a couple hundred feet of him so I was getting ready to put down the power pole and let him have some space. Just then The school spooked again and created a stir but didn't leave. I put down the power pole and casted into them. Again bam! this time a 27 incher that came to the net more easily.
My new buddy caught one shortly, said he was leaving and pointed out where the school was. I finished that drift and did one more seeing many fish. I had a couple takes but missed getting a hook in them. After that I saw many fish but by now they had a bad case of lockjaw.
Overall a great experience and learned some new things like what "too close" to the fish is. A couple times I ended up on top of them and they didn't bolt but certainly wouldn't eat.
29 Incher
27 Incher
Also, I took a pic of what used to be a 31 foot Sea Ray that burned up last Sunday and drifted onto the area where I've been chasing these reds.