Diving For Redfish

This evening proved to be one of the most interesting fishing excursions I've had the pleasure of experiencing in quite some time.

Even though my wife had a colonoscopy procedure early this morning, she wanted to take our wonder dog Elmo, to the "swamp" and get some late afternoon redfish fishing in.

She seemed to be fit enough, so we took off for one of our favorite spots at around 4:30.

The wind was settling down, and the water in the marsh canals had enough of a ripple to suggest the fish should be biting.

We stopped at several spots and caught some trout and catfish. I picked up some barely legal trout on D.O.A. white paddle tailed jigs, missed several on my chug bug topwater lure, and missed two over slot sized trout before moving on to our favorite spot.

Karen, used her tried and true dead shrimp, on a 5/0 Owner hook with 20 pound florocarbon leader.

I fished until I was about about 40 yards from where Karen was fishing, and just as the sun was setting, I heard my wife yelling. I thought she had a fish for me to dehook and soon noticed her predicament.

As she came down the road, it soon became obvious that she took a swim. She was wet from hair to toe, and looked like something the cat dragged in.

She caught a nice, heavy, over sized redfish that had put up quite a fight.

When she climbed down the bank to pull the fish out, the fish took off, and Karen took a head first dive into the canal, trying not to lose the fish.

Diving for redfish is something I do not recommend, especially in these waters. She was extremely lucky there were no gators in the area.

The redfish is pictured here, and was released after I cut the line and revived her. It measured 33 inches, and according to Karen, was worth the swim.

Needless to say, we packed up our rods and headed home before she got sick.

I wanted to take her picture for the blog, but she threatened my life if I took the picture. I decided that discretion is the better part of valor, and gave up on the picture.

Anyway, tomorrow we hope to duplicate the fishing, without the diving incident.

Till next time, tight lines!