Catching Redfish During The Falcon Launch

I didn't expect to be catching redfish during the Falcon launch today but that's exactly what happened.

After getting some groceries and Weed and Feed for the lawn, I decided to drive to the spot where Karen lost a nice redfish yesterday and see if I could pick one up.

Karen went to play with her horse so I loaded up a few rods and headed to the bait shop to pick up some bait.  They had some finger mullet just come in so I got a dozen and headed to Peacocks Pocket road.

As I drove over the bridge, I saw a slew of people parking along the river with binoculars and camera so I suspected that there was a launch of something today.

I pulled up to a couple and asked them what time the launch was scheduled for and learned that it was going off in 20 minutes.  More than enough time for me to set out a couple of baited rods at Karen's spot.

When I drove into Peacocks Pocket road, it was obvious that there was going to be a launch.  There were a lot of out of state tags on the vehicles I saw along the road.  Some were parked checking out the wildlife and others were setting up cameras.

When I got to the spot I intended to fish, I was hoping that the wind would die down but no such luck.

The air temperature was in the low 80s, and the wind was blowing harder than yesterday.  I heard on the radio that a cold front was heading our way for the weekend, so I expected some decent fishing.

I put out two rods with large finger mullet, unfolded a chair and sat down to wait for either the launch or a fish.

It didn't take long for the launch which I managed to video on my smart phone.

Right after the launch, I was going to call my wife but an oversize redfish on the rod with the Okuma bait runner took off down the marsh canal.

I was going to try and video the fight but I decided to catch the fish instead.  I lost Karen's redfish yesterday in the brush and I didn't want to replicate the experience.

It was a heavy fish and it made several nice long runs in the shallow canal before I finally landed it.  I took these pics, removed the hook, and put it back into the tannin stained water to grow even bigger.

The fish actually measured in at 32" to the fork of the tail.

I called Karen and told her that I caught "her fish" and texted her a picture to prove it.  She laughed and said we were going out again tomorrow.

After I called, I baited up with another large mullet and tossed it out into another area to see if I could pick up another fish.

I putt the rod down, set the bait runner to free spool, and picked up my smart phone to check my emails and before I could load up the emails, the 30# Power Pro started peeling off the reel.

Another redfish inhaled the mullet and headed in the same direction as the last fish, only this one was heavier. 

It was at least 30 yards down the marsh canal on the other side of a small island before I could turn the fish around.

This fish put up a great bulldog battle and almost got off in the brush two times before I finally brought it to the bank.  I bent down to pull the fish from the water and one of the out of town visitors to the launch pulled up and asked me if there were any fish on "that side" of the river.

I didn't bother to answer, I just hefted up the fish to show him.

This fish had the 5/0 Owner hooked deep and I had to get my long fish pliers to get the hook out.   I took a couple of quick pics and released the fish into the marsh canal.  It took a couple of minutes before the fish revived and took off, but it was in good shape and none the worse for wear.

This fish measured in at 34" with the tail pinched like you're supposed to measure them.

I texted Karen the pics of the second redfish after I put out another mullet and sat down to check my emails again.

I'd like to say I caught another redfish or two, but I waited an hour without another bite and got tired of the wind blowing in my face, so I packed it in for the evening and headed home.

Catching redfish during the Falcon launch was a blast.  This is no doubt the only place on the planet where you can have a ringside seat of a rocket launch and catch fish to boot.

Till next time, Tight Lines.