Florida: Redfish Delight!
I know y’all are out chasing the elusive brookies and brownies in some of my fav small streams and rivers in S. Ontario, but I’m still ‘fighting’ the heat and humidity down here in the Sunshine State. So there may not be much interest in my day on the ‘saltwater’, but here goes anyway.
Went out by myself today in friend Ray’s flats boat, as he’s gone back to Buffalo for the summer and left his boat with me to store in my garage until fall. Haven’t been out for two weeks, mostly because the wind has been up too strong for fly fishing almost every day. It was up today too, but I was able to hide a bit in the lee shore.
My expectations were low, because we had a front go through Sunday that dumped a lot of rain and brought in drier, cooler air. Usually that’s enough to kill the bite for a couple of days until things settle down a bit.
Surprise, surprise ! I got a few 16” trout in the first hour or so, then I headed in to some shallow water in a spot I’ve fished before. I started casting a black/purple Clouser Minnow into a sandbar that was about two feet deep, and low and behold was rewarded with a major tug on the line. I did two hard strips to set the hook, and my quarry took off like a truck. Man, it was heavy. I knew right away that it was something special, but because the water was murky it was 20 minutes or so before I could get it close enough for a look. Redfish! A beauty. A full 30 minutes to land him. Biggest I’ve ever caught, bar none. Just under 7 lbs on the Boga Grip scale, and about 26”. The net in the pic is 15” in diameter, so I’m guessing at the length a bit. I wanted a pic, and the fish was already pretty tired from the fight so I was anxious to get it back in the water asap.
What a fantastic way to end the season. Couldn’t ask for more !
For anyone who might be interested or planning on some saltwater action in the future, my rig is an 8wt St.Croix Ultra legend, with a St. Croix LFR78 LA reel. I use a 9 wt Cortland 444 line that has a 9 ft I sink Ghost tip. Add on a 10 lb Bonefish leader (now down to about 6’), top off with 3’ of 20lb Mirage shock tippet and you’re ready to go.
