Spooled then Schooled

Last weekend I got spooled by a big fish - this weekend I didn't come anywhere near one. My fishing wife however saved the day by putting a nice red in the box. We fished under the lights after supper and a short drive on the beach. I thought I was going to have a repeat of last week when a big gafftop took my live shad for a ride out to the middle of the river. I was able to stop his run and cranked him back to the bank. We each caught a few more "slimers" and Tracy caught two small specks on one cast. I caught one sand trout before we gave it up for the night. The wind has been brutal during the week so we got an early start. The bait shops all had the same story - "No live shrimp" so we resorted to using soft plastics, topwaters and Gulp. The sun was just peeking over the beach road as we crossed the ICW on the way out the Diversion Channel to the Redfish Hole. We saw plenty of boat traffic after anchoring up and I was able to catch this group kicking up a roostertail as they sped down the channel. After fishing all morning with nothing to show but a couple of Croaker and small black Drum we went in for lunch and took a break from the wind and headed down to the beach. I had a big idea to throw the cast net in a marsh drain but forgot the net at the trailer so we took a walk and looked for sea beans. Tracy found one - a Tropical Walnut. After our break, I bought a pound of "fresh dead" shrimp. Fresh in this case means not frozen - but not necessarily "fresh". This batch had been on ice for several days and was a little weak but we were getting desperate for some fish. We went back down the Channel to the Hole but once again could not seem to find the fish. Before it got too late I gave my First mate the "Heave Ho the anchor" signal and we headed upriver. We were blessed to see the Bald Eagle on the nest just south of Selkirk which made my day. Shortly after getting set up on our spot, Tracy caught this nice 21" red on her first cast. Looks like fish for supper after all!. We fished this spot for the next hour or so without catching anything but little throwbacks and bait stealers so we called it a day.

I may have to start asking Tracy for tips on her uncanny ability to come out on top...