Memorial Day Weekend Redfish On Topwater Baits

Next to sea trout, catching redfish on topwater baits is one of my favorite activities and this evening turned out to be one of my better fishing excursions.

I got home late from work and didn't hit the wildlife refuge until around 6:30 pm.

The air temperature was in the high 80s and there was almost no breeze blowing when I entered East Gator Creek road.

As I was tying on a new Skitterwalk topwater bait that I bought at Bass Pro in Savannah, a Fish and Wildlife officer drove up for a license check.

We chatted about the fishing and when some of the roads would be opening, if ever, before he continued down the road.

I started casting the new Skitterwalk into the shallows over the weeds and was eventually rewarded with a hit from a large sea trout.  The fish missed the bait and didn't come back for a return hit so I continued fishing the area casting into likely looking spots.

It took about twenty casts and two more misses before I hooked up with and landed a nice ladyfish.

I took a pic and returned the fish to the shallows before moving up the road towards Peacocks Pocket road.

I spotted a slot redfish in the shallow marsh canal and started pitching a Zman jerkbait to the fish when a "fisherlady" I see in this area on a regular basis drove up and started chatting about the fishing possibilities.

Beatrice told me she was catching some nice sea trout and redfish in the area on various baits and I shared some of my reports before she moved on to her spot.

The fish were not in the shallow ditches this evening.  They appeared to be in the shallow grassy ponds chasing baitfish around, so I decided to target a large pond that I knew harbored some nice reds.

This pond usually produces some nice sea trout and reds but only early in the morning and later on towards dusk.

I "jump fished" my way to the spot and had a couple of nice hits on the way but no fish landed.

When I got to the area I intended to fish, I started fishing a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon but after many fruitless casts, I put the rod up and changed over to the Zman jerkbait.

I briefly hooked a small sea trout but it spit out the bait.  I continued fishing the jerk bait without any luck until the evening topwater action started.

It was like a light switch that just turned on.   The fish started busting baitfish in the weedy shallows and they weren't small fish!

I changed rods and started casting the new Skitterwalk bait as far out into the pond as I could.

I had two misses before remembering that I neglected to smear up the bait with some Pro-Cure.

The Pro-Cure made the difference.

I made two more casts around a big fish that was busting bait around a small grassy island.  On the third cast, the fish inhaled the Skitterwalk and started peeling line off my spinning reel.

On the first run the redfish almost spooled me but I increased the drag enough to pump back line.

The second run wasn't as long but the fish showed no sign of giving up.  It continued making shorter and shorter runs until I was beginning to think I could land it.

After 20 minutes or so I crawled down the bank with my Boca Grip and finally lipped the fish to the bank.

 

The stocky fish measured just over 30" and was in great shape.  By it's girth it was obvious it had been feeding on mullet.

I took a few quick pics before reviving the fish and letting it go to fight another day.

 

It was getting late and I decided to head for home.

On the way out I spotted Beatrice.  She told me she had just caught a 25" black drum on a "rancid" shrimp in the shallows around Catfish Creek Loop.

I told her about the red I caught and headed for home and some dinner.

Hopefully this Memorial Day weekend will prove to be as fruitful as this evening's trip was.

Till next time, Tight Lines.