Holiday Hot Tip

The work week finally came to a close and it was time to decide how to spend Friday evening. I was pretty sure I was going to be fishing somewhere.

It took a full two hours to fight through the holiday traffic on the way home.

I had a few Christmas deliveries to make to some friends and neighbors in our fair town and in the process I received a "hot fishing tip" from my good friend Mark Evans. He and his eldest son Josh were heading to Sargent to chase redfish under the drawbridge over the Intercoastal Canal. The report was that last weekend there were several keepers caught on speck rigs and dead shrimp.

Paul & I had discussed a possible run to Palacios with Paul Jr. and Matt, but we decided to join the Evans at Sargent instead. After all, fishing is about more than catching fish - it's also about the shared experience and camaraderie right? It surely is when the prospect of a few nice redfish are involved!

Paul had the longest ride and even though Mark & Josh got on the road before Matt & I did we all eventually ended up on site at about the same time. There were about nine fishers in all and we were prepared to do battle. Everywhere you looked were rods & reels, dead shrimp, swivels, lead sinkers, leaders, glowing plastic shrimp tails, speck rigs, and jigs of every size and configuration.

On the first cast, Josh's girlfriend landed a keeper redfish. Game on!

Through the next hour or so all the guys began to wonder if that was just luck or if she had just been in the right place at the right time.

Paul was the next to strike gold.

Josh looks on as Paul unhooks his red

The Tale of the Tape

Happy Fisherman

His fish was a little too short to keep but I think it was big enough to claim bragging rights among the Batchelder clan.

Matt & I needed to get busy or we were going to have to listen to Uncle Paul tell this story for years to come.

I didn't strike gold but did finally score on some silver.

This tiny sand trout would make a nice meal
for the kind of fish I was hoping for.


Matt & I changing our tactics

Just before we called it a night I managed to catch a whiting.


"Give me back my hook"

Similar expression

Not much to show for the night but we had a good time.

The best part of the trip was watching Paul & Matt try to catch a crab on some turkey necks we had purchased at the bait shop.

The trick to catching crabs this way is to tie a string on and hang the neck down to the bottom. Then just wait until a crab starts eating and slowly lift the neck up with the crab holding on and slip a net underneath to catch him when he lets go.

The problem was that these necks were frozen. Have you ever tried to sink an ice cube?

They tried attaching several sinkers to the neck. When that didn't work, Matt tried to break a brick he found so he could use it as an anchor and Paul was trying to tie on an oyster shell. They finally abandoned the pursuit and the crabs will live to pinch another day.

John & Mark having a laugh about something.

Yes it was cold, damp, and dark and yes the fish weren't as cooperative as they could have been. Even so it was a trip worth taking and time well spent.

Blessings to all -
DJWB.