Florida: Bruiser Redfish!
Ok, sports fans. This was one of those ESPN moments in fly fishing that you see on TV. A fantastic Florida Redfish caught yesterday by my buddy Ray on a #6 Olive over White Clouser Minnow fly in about one foot of water.
Well, Ray, who’s been fly fishing for like 40 years and has forgotten more about the sport than I’ll ever know, says it was not quite an ESPN moment, because he was not sight fishing the Red, just blind ‘area’ casting. Picky, picky, I say!
We set out about 10AM, and it was cold, at least for here. Last night got down to 36F, and the temp was about 40F when we hit the water. Past outings have taught us that the fishing slows appreciably when things cool down, but yesterday we were again fooled.
For about two hours we fished some water we had not tried before, and lo and behold we did ok on some decent size trout. Then we moved up the bay to try another spot we had fished before, and again got a few nice trout and a couple of good Ladyfish. We were fishing just off a shallow bar, where the water drops from nothing to about 6 feet in short order. Ray was casting in toward the bar, and I out to deeper water. I hooked onto a fine Ladyfish, and before I knew it I was well into my backing. Ray says, Freddie, I’ve got something heavy too….. and it isn’t a Lady. I finally manage mine to the boat, my biggest Lady of the season. I turn around, and Ray has his only half-way in! My goodness, it’s either a huge Gator Trout or a big Red. Ray says he thinks it’s a Red at least two feet long, and once I catch a glimpse of its back and dorsal I’m inclined to agree. It takes him at least 15 minutes to get it to the net, a 27” Redfish that has to go 6 pounds. We were both as pumped as you could imagine. High 5’s all around !
The local guides talk about catching reds over 20”, but Ray and I had yet to hook into any over 16”. That was special.
You can see the sandbar in the background, so it gives those of you who are interested an idea of the terrain.
The rest of the afternoon was barely ok fishing, with a few more Trout and Ladyfish, but we didn’t mind at all.
