Peacocks Pocket Redfish

The Peacocks Pocket redfish are on the prowl and they're hungry.

This time of year is great for chucking topwater lures to "gator" size sea trout in the shallows early in the morning and late in the afternoon, however; when you don't get time to schedule your fishing trips, its time to go after redfish.

Redfish can be caught almost any time of the day or night if you know what you're doing and provide great sport on light tackle.

After spending a couple of weeks in the mountains of North Carolina, it's great to be back in salt water.

Although I was raised in Pennsylvania and am used to fishing the limestone creeks in the Pocono Mountains for native trout, I never did get the time to wet a line in the beautiful creeks of Highlands, N.C.

This video shows the scenery and type of fishing conditions you can expect to see there.

Now to the Peacocks Pocket redfish situation.

My wife, Elmo our wonder dog and I got a late start to our favorite fishing spot.

As we entered Peacocks Pocket Road, we stopped to pick up a few 6" plus size finger mullet for bait with my cast net at the kayak and canoe launch ramp.

Since the last time we fished the area, the water levels had risen considerably; so we decided to fish some new areas just for the hell of it.

The roseate spoonbills, egrets, ibis and other waterfowl were out in mass wading the shallows for their dinner. I took some pics below.

The wind was blowing quite a bit from the west, so we fished the marsh side of the road.

My wife and I both decided to bait up with finger mullet. At the first spot we fished, there were some swirls made by bait fish, but the reds didn't seem interested.

The second and third stops provided some taps but no fish. At the third spot we tried, it was another story.

I flipped out a mullet about 7" long at a swirl that I noticed on the opposite bank and after about two minutes, the line started screaming off my spinning reel.

I was using a 7' Medium action Shakespeare Fishing Ugly Stik Fresh Water Rods Rod, 7' 0", M, 12 20lb., a Quantum "energy" reel loaded with 10# Cajun line, 3 feet of 15# flurocarbon leader and a 5/0 Owner hook.

The fish made an inital run of about 75 yards before it decided to slow down. During the run, it went around a brush pile and I had to "baby" the fish until it finally freed itself.

After Karen brought the boca grip, I fought the redfish for about 15 more minutes before I could finally lip the fish onto the bank.

These pictures speak for themselves.

The fish measured in at almost 38" long and was one my better catches.

Karen took some more pictures of me and the fish before I released it to fight another day.

While Karen was getting me the Boca Grip so I could land my redfish, a second redfish hit the mullet on her rod but it wasn't hooked well and got off.

The wind was picking up and the weather was getting ominous so we decided to move on to another spot we call "bobcat bay".

Karen tossed out her mullet and I free lined a mullet with one rod and started casting a jerk bait with my other one.

I saw the wake of a large fish chasing some bait on a sallow point, so I chucked out the pink and green jerk bait.

Almost immediately I hooked on to a very large fish that I thought was another redfish however, when it made a half hearted jump I realized it was a huge gator sea trout.

The fish was close to the size of the redfish I caught earlier and probably would have weighed in at around 10 pounds, but after another run, the hook tore out of the fish's soft mouth.

I heard Karen shouting that she had a fish on and as I started out to help her with the fish, she yelled back that she lost it. It was another nice over size redfish.

It was beginning to get dark and as the rains started, I hooked another redfish with the finger mullet that I was free lining.

The fish tore off several yards of mono from the reel before it broke off.

I have no idea how big the redfish was but I do know it was big. When a fish pulls off that much line, that fast; it's a big fish.

Anyway, it started lightning and it was beginning to rain harder, so we decided to call it a day.

All in all, we both hooked a total of five fish and landed one.

Not bad for my first day fishing after being out of practice in Highlands, N.C.

Till next time, Tight Lines!