Friday, March 25, 2011

Dances With Fish

Somebody had the fishing love this time and it wasn't me... I managed to get Friday off and that meant we were headed for PPRV #7 as soon as I could escape the city. I cast-netted up some mullet thinking we might be able to entice a flattie or a big trout before dark. It is really nice to see the sun go down after missing it for the last few months.

Well, the mullet was unsuccessful but there were plenty of shad in the river. Tracy requested the double glow shad rig shortly after dark and she promptly connected with a fat 19" trout.

We fished for a couple hours and caught only a few small specks and one more keeper caught by yours truely. I didn't know that would be my only keeper fish of the trip. The morning dawned cloudy and breezy. We headed out to the Redfish Hole with a quart of live shrimp and Tracy caught her second 19" trout on the first cast! While that was fun and a great way to start the day the real show was yet to come. After fishing the "hole" for an hour or so with no more action, Tracy suggested that we cross over the channel to the mouth of the cut. This spot was a little tricky to fish since we were contending with a south wind and an outgoing current. These two opposing forces caused the boat to move about the anchor rope and it was hard to hold a stationary position.

Tracy cast into the outflow and connected with a fat 25" red. This guy meant business and was really having his way with her while testing the limits of the equipment. My fishing partner put up a great battle and even exercised extreme patience when her big red got tangled up in the flooded timber.

The best part of the show was when the red finally came loose from the timber and began circling the boat causing "the dance". Tracy deftly steered the fish along the side of the Second Honeymoon, around the prop and motor, over me, my rod, and the net, and up the opposite side of the boat. Somehow she managed to keep from getting tangled up in the anchor rope. Finally the mighty fish gave up and allowed Tracy to lead him into the net.



Tracy caught several small flounder - one was only 1/8" short of legal. That is a tough way to miss a slam!



We fished a while longer and finally headed in for lunch. We fished off the bank after lunch and though we both caught some small fish, nothing went in the box.

Even though I didn't catch any keepers we had some great fish to cook and share.

God is good!

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