Went down to Haulover Canal to fish for some of the bull redfish that are in there right now and wound up breaking my favorite spinning outfit on the rocks.
I managed to slip on a step down coquina outcropping and it was either break a bone or the rod.
Needless to say, I'm too old to suffer any broken bones so the rod suffered.
Fortunately, I just got the email link below about Bass Pro Shops Annual Clearance Sale with Up to 70% off and free shipping over $50.
The sale already started 12/26/2019 and ends 1/8/2020.
I picked up another graphite spinning rod and a Penn Fierce II baitrunner outfit which should be here before I have to get back to work in Mobile, Al next week.
I fished the canal for about an hour and a half with a smaller outfit that was spooled with 10 pound Cajun Red and had two hits on sections of live blue crab.
The first fish broke off on the coquina rocks after about a minute or so, and the second fish took off up the canal towards the bridge pilings and also got off.
I usually spool up with 30 to 65 pound Power Pro to handle the bruisers, but I left those rods at the house.
It was chilly on the water today so after losing the second fish I decided to head for the house and try again tomorrow with some heavier tackle.
Till next time,
Tight Lines and have a Happy New Year...........
Dauphin Island jetty fishing in December is supposed to be good for bull redfish, so I decided to hit the rocks Sunday afternoon to see if the reports were as purported.
I started late and didn't bother checking the tide until I has halfway there. As luck would have it, the tide was slack and just beginning to run out into the Gulf.
I planned to fish the pier at the parking lot near the boat launch, but when I got there, I was disappointed to see that the pier was closed to fishing.
Apparently the hurricane did it's work on the wooden pier and caused just enough damage to make it unsafe for fishermen.
I drove past the pier to the parking area for the beach and easily found a space. Winter time in the Gulf makes for easy parking!
It was quickly becoming evident that the fishing was going to be slow. No one was fishing off of any of the jetties.
Since I made the 15 mile drive to the rocks, I decided to at least wet a line give it a try anyway.
I brought a 9' rod that was loaded with 20 pound Cajun Red line and about 4 feet of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader. I had a 4 oz. barrel sinker above the swivel and a 4/0 Owner hook snelled to the business end.
I brought along a couple large frozen mullet for bait and was going to buy some fresh mullet at the local bait shop, but when I learned that the tide was against me, I opted for using frozen mullet instead.
I trudged to the end of the longest jetty, cut of a chunk of mullet steak, tossed it as far as I could into the deepest area, and started taking pics of the surroundings.
There was a lot of boating activity and more beach goers than I expected but I was the only one fishing from the rocks.
I kept losing baits so I down sized my offering and started catching smaller fish.
As the tide started to go out, I managed to catch 6 whiting, three croaker, and one small sail cat.
The last croaker I landed was only about 5 inches long so I hooked it in the lip and tossed it out in hopes of catching a big redfish.
I's like to report that I landed a bull red but I didn't. I spent the next 45 minutes or so drowning the croaker without another bite and because the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping, I decided to pack it in and head back to Tillman's Corner.
Although I didn't slay the local fishery, it was good to get out and enjoy the winter afternoon at Dauphin Island.
Since I've been spending a lot of time working in Mobile, Al., I've been able to sample some of the Dauphin Island fishing spots that the locals talk about.
This evening after I got through with my work I decided to drive down to the Dauphin Island jetties to see if I could pick up one of the bull redfish that the locals catch off the rocks.
I stopped by Jamisons Bait Shop and picked up a couple of fresh mullet to chop up into chunk baits and headed for the jetties.
The beach was crowded as usual and the parking spots were pretty much filled up, so I parked the truck, set up my two heavy duty surf rods and headed to the rocks.
I'd like to say that I picked up a couple of reds, but the truth is that I spent an hour and a half on the rocks watching the boat traffic and looking at the oil rigs without a single bite.
It was getting late, so I decided to park my but on the small fishing pier to see what I could catch there.
When I pulled into a parking space, there were several fishermen already on the pier with light spinning rigs fishing for "white trout", croaker, whiting, and "brown mullet".
I walked to the end of the small wooden pier and tossed out both of my spinning rods with chunks of cut mullet and started making conversation with the guys who were already on the pier.
The guy on the one corner was evidently in a "honey hole" because out of everyone who was fishing on the pier, he was catching the most fish. On almost every cast, we was pulling in either a white trout (sand trout), brown mullet (southern whiting), or a croaker.
White Trout
Brown Mullet
Everyone but myself was using shrimp for bait, and although I had some shrimp with me, I stayed with the cut baits hoping for a bull redfish.
There was a lot of human and avian traffic on the water and on the fishing pier. One friendly gull that the regulars called "gimpy" had only one leg and kept coming up to us hoping for a free handout. And there was a green heron that I called "buddy", who was apparently not the least bit afraid of people that kept walking up to us looking for a free meal.
As the sun set and the full moon started to rise over the horizon, I started getting a bite on the large chunk of mullet I was dunking on my Okuma baitrunner.
The line slowly peeled off the reel and after a couple of long minutes I set the hook into a heavy fish.
I fought the fish for a few minutes until the line suddenly went slack. When I reeled in my rig, the hook was gone and the 30 pound fluorocarbon leader was cut and abraided. It looked like a shark had hit the bait.
Undaunted, I snelled on another 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook and heaved out a larger chunk of fresh mullet.
As I was checking out the full moon and the lit oil rigs, another fish hit my bait.
I let the fish peel off some line and set the hook into another good fish. This time I horsed the fish in as quickly as my 30 pound Cajun Red line would allow.
After a few minutes I got the fish to the edge of the pier and reached in to bring it out.
It turned out to be a two foot plus Gafftopsail catfish that weighed at least 5 or 6 pounds.
I took a pic of the fish in the dark and offered it to the guy who was catching all the white trout, but he didn't want to clean it and neither did I, so I released the fish to fight another day.
I usually don't keep salt water catfish, but I learned many years ago from a Destin, Fl. captain that the "sail cats" are great eating. The problem is that you have to skin them and tonight I didn't want the hassle.
The wind was picking up and I was getting chilly so I bid farewell to the friends I made on the fishing pier, packed up my gear, and headed back to my apartment.
I learned that night fishing is when the "regulars" pick up some nice fish, so I told the guys I would be seeing them tomorrow if the weather was decent.
Working out of town frequently allows me the opportunity to sample fishing in a variety of settings and this weekend, I managed to try out Dauphin Island jetty fishing for bull redfish.
From what I was told about the area, March is a good month to target bull redfish off the jetties and the beaches of Dauphin Island, Al., so this Saturday and Sunday I decided to try out the area.
The last time I tried fishing this area, I learned the hard way that you need stout tackle.
I was spooled by a bull redfish that was probably in the 30 to 40 pound class which ended my fishing day.
This time I stopped at Bass Pro and picked up a Penn, medium heavy outfit that I spooled with 20 pound Cajun red line, a three way swivel, and 40 pound fluorocarbon leader.
I stopped at the bait shop before the bridge to the island and picked up a couple of large mullet that I cut up for bait. The lady at the bait shop told me that a guy who came in earlier caught a 33 pound bull redfish on a mullet head, so I decided to use cut baits.
I couldn't wait to try out the new outfit I bought myself for my birthday, so I drove to the end of the the island, found a decent parking space, and proceeded to trudge out on the jetty.
The fishing conditions Saturday afternoon were far from ideal. There was a brisk wind blowing, and the air temperature was in the high 60s to low 70s.
As I made my way out to the farthermost point on the rocks, I wondered why there was nobody else fishing the area. I was later told that the tide was wrong.
Undaunted, I cut up a fresh mullet, baited up my 5/0 Owner hook, and on my first cast, the rod broke about a foot and a half from the tip.
Mad as hell, I quickly reeled in the broken tip, trudged back to the truck, and drove back through the tunnel across the bay to Bass Pro.
When I explained what happened, the guy at the register apologized and replaced my rod without any guff.
It was too late to drive back to Dauphin Island, and there was a wreck before the tunnel that had westbound traffic on I-10 backed up for miles, so I drove back to my apartment resolving to try it again tomorrow.
On Sunday, I started out around 1:30 pm and repeated the drive to the jetties.
The weather was a bit nicer, but the air temperature was still cool and the tide was apparently going out. Again there were very few people fishing the area.
I baited up with a large chunk of fresh mullet, cast out and began the waiting game.
While I was waiting for a fish to hit, I took some videos of the oil rigs in the Gulf, the boat traffic, and some dude in a kayak that was apparently trying to commit drown himself.
I spotted several porpoises in the area, and a shark that briefly surfaced around the outer edge of the jetty.
It took about 45 minutes before I finally got a hit that almost jerked the rod out of my hands. Whatever the fish was, it took off like a shot and then dropped the bait.
I reeled in what was left of my mullet head, baited up with a smaller chunk of mullet, and pitched the rig out as far as I could from the jetty rocks.
I missed two more fish before finally hooking and landing a hard head catfish.
At least I didn't get skunked.
As the sun started to hit the horizon, it started to really get chilly on the rocks, so I decided to try one more bait before calling it a day.
I cut the head off the second mullet and pitched it out one last time.
This time I hooked a nice redfish that I played tug of war with for a bit before losing it on the rocks. I quickly discovered that landing a fish on the jetties without any help can be a big problem on the wet rocks.
I was cold, disappointed, and hungry, so I decided to head back to the apartment and come back when the tide was more favorable.
As I left the area, I briefly stopped to see if anyone on the small fishing pier was catching anything. Other than a few croaker and sand trout, nobody had caught a redfish. Probably because everybody was using shrimp.
With the weather change coming, I probably won't get out on the jetties again until my next trip to Mobile, so until then.
Tight Lines.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Haulover Canal in December is a great place to fish for huge black drum and bull redfish.
My wife and I decided to take Elmo and Odie for a quick trip around Catfish Creek loop to see if any bank fishermen were catching black drum yet.
The drum start hitting good during the winter, with November and December being the best months.
Karen and I were surprised that only one group of fishermen were on the bank and they had not caught anything when we drove by and asked them about the fishing.
We left Catfish Creek Loop and drove over to Haulover Canal to see if the fishing was any better.
There were a lot of trailers parked in Bairs Cove and the banks were lined with fishermen, mostly dunking cut baits and shrimp.
I saw a couple of bank fishermen with drum and pinfish, and one guy with a nice redfish.
There was a guy anchored off of the bank apparently fishing for mangrove snapper but we didn'
t stick around long enough to see how he was doing.
We drove to the south side of the canal where I got out to take a few pics of the area which I consolidated into the video above.
The guy who was fishing at the drawbridge was fishing with cut mullet but hadn't been there long.
He told me that the bank fishermen were catching drum, redfish, sea trout, flounder, and snapper.
I wished him good luck fishing and we left the area to head for the house.
Although it was late in the afternoon when we visited Haulover on Saturday, there were still a ton of fishing boats anchored at the both entrances to the canal.
FishingHaulover Canal in December is always good for black drum and reds especially if you have a boat with a good quality fish finder.
Because my work has been keeping me in Mobile, Alabama, I've missed fishing the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, so this afternoon, I decided to take a drive and check out the Dauphin Island bull reds that some of the locals have been talking about.
Dauphin Island, Al is a barrier island situated directly across from Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores guard the entrance to Mobile Bay.
During the fall months, some nice bull redfish can be caught along the shores of both areas and in particular the jetties at Fort Gaines, which is why I decided to wet a line this afternoon.
The air temperature was in the low 70s and there appeared to be an outgoing tide when I drove into a parking spot at the end of the road at Fort Gaines.
The only rod I had with me today was a 7' river rod with 8 pound fluorocarbon line. Not what I needed to tackle a bull redfish!
I planned on fishing the farthermost jetty but it was already occupied with a for or five fishermen so I didn't want to intrude. Instead, I walked down the beach to a rocky outcrop and started fan casting with a 1/4 oz. jighead and a chartreuse Strike King paddle tail bait.
The water was a bit rough and dirty close to shore so I spent a lot of time bouncing the jig across the bottom without any response.
As I was fishing, I noted that the guys on the long jetty were catching fish on their 8' to 10' rods. These guys came prepared.
After about a half an hour of casting, I finally hooked into a fish that took off like a "bat out of hell". It came close to spooling me before breaking off the jig.
As I was reeling in my limp line, I saw one of the guys on the jetty hooking up with something decent. At first I thought it was a redfish, but it turned out to be a hefty sail catfish. The short video below shows the catch.
Almost immediately after he landed the Sail Cat and got back to his spot on the jetty, he hooked into another fish which turned out to be a nice bull redfish that looked to be at least 25 pounds.
At this point I stopped fishing to take some pics and another video of the catches.
After he caught the second fish, I tied on another jig and started fan casting but I never got another hit, so when the guys on the jetty hooked into another fish, I decided to walk over to take a pic or two of his catch before heading back.
The second fish was a bit larger than the first red and looked to be about 30 pounds. Definitely candidates for a decent fish fry!
Although these two reds would be illegal to harvest in east central Florida; Alabama regulations allow harvesting one fish per day over the slot, with a three fish limit.
Both of the bull reds were caught on chunks of cut mullet for bait.
As I left the jetty, I made a mental note to pick up some mullet for bait and a heftier outfit for my next trip to the jetties.
During the hot summer months, Haulover Canal is your best bet for really big Bull Redfish.
Cayden Bly's caught this big redfish on a shrimp outside of Bairs Cove boat launch. The big grin on his face indicates that he will probably be fishing the area again.
The "Dog Days" of August are coming up and like the past month or so, the best times for catching are in the early morning hours till about 8:00 am and then again at dusk.
The exception is the deep waters of Haulover Canal where big Redfish, Tarpon, Snook, Black Drum, Mangrove Snapper and Grouper can be caught at almost any time of the day or night.
The video below captures the action and joy of catching, not just fishing.
It was a windy Sunday afternoon fishing trip for Karen and our two wonder dogs, but the dogs were begging to get out of the house and take a ride.
We decided to hit areas we hadn't been to for a while so we headed for the Jones Street boat ramp in Mims for our first stop.
The bait shop that once stood here was long closed and an old hull that once was inhabited looked like it was being restored.
I was going to fan cast the area but decided to move on to our next area instead. This particular area is noted for gator sea trout that can be found in the adjacent flats.
We decided to drive up to Scottsmoor and see what the water level at the boat ramp looked like.
I'm still hoping to get my Maverick out for a spin when the weather gets a bit cooler.
When we got to the boat ramp, there was only one other vehicle parked and they were in a pontoon boat.
We let Elmo and Odie out to do their duty and walked around to see if it was worth casting a topwater bait around the area.
The wind was blowing into the shore and there was a layer of sea grass bunched up at the bank which made fishing a waste of time.
I took a few pics and we decided to ride over to Shiloh Marsh Road and see if there were any Tarpon in the canals.
When we got to Shiloh Marsh Road, they still had the refuge signs up despite the fact that the area will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
A Wildlife Officer I spoke to a couple of months ago told me that until the road gets a makeover, it will remain closed. As of now it is only open to bike and foot traffic.
In any event, we drove down to the barrier and stopped to fish an area I knew held juvenile Tarpon.
I pulled out a rod with a Chug Bug and started casting into the shallow creek. I had a couple of followups but no hits.
As I came up to a small pond I spotted a couple of Tarpon cruising in the shallows.
I cut up a chunk of ladyfish and dropped it into the pool but the fish showed no interest.
Normally when they can see you, they will not bite and this was no exception.
I went back to the truck, got my camera and took a short video of one of the fish.
After a half hour or so, we decided to drive over to Patillo Creek and see if any Tarpon were in that area.
Elmo and Odie were in their cruising mode and were having a great time hanging out of the windows on the way over.
We drove around the area, took a few pics and fished awhile but didn't catch any fish or spot any Tarpon. After a half hour without a follow up or a bite on Karen's cut bait we packed up the dogs and our rods and headed for Peacocks Pocket Road.
I told Karen about the partial road improvements and wanted to show her where I missed a nice sea trout yesterday.
We drove into Peacocks Pocket road and spotted a couple fishermen dunking cut baits with no success so we moved up to the area where I lost the fish.
I cut up a couple of ladyfish "steaks" for her to fish with and I put on my new sports camera and started casting a Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure offshore formula.
I hooked and lost a nice sea trout in the marsh canal before I even turned on the camera.
Undaunted, I turned on the camera and started wearing out my arm casting the topwater bait.
Karen missed a huge redfish because she forgot to set the hook and we spotted several other nice reds in the area.
The weather was getting foul and the fish were beginning to get active.
We spotted three small pods of redfish and two more bull redfish before the bite went down.
Karen missed a second redfish that took the bait and ran towards her. She didn't know the fish was even on until it turned in the middle of the marsh canal and headed back onto the shallow grass flats.
Meanwhile I nailed a nice sea trout on the Chug Bug just before Karen hooked and lost her fish.
The video from the sport cam is below.
Maybe next weekend the Tarpon will be more willing.
It's always great fishing during a rainstorm or shortly thereafter and this evening was no exception.
When I finally got home from work this evening it was just beginning to rain. I waited a while hoping for a break but it looked like it would continue so I packed up six rods and headed for the river.
By the time I crossed the A. Max Brewer Memorial bridge it was beginning to slow down and by the time I got to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center it had stopped.
I drove down Peacocks Pocket Road and briefly stopped to fish at the kayak launch. There were several large pods of mullet in the area being chased by either sea trout or redfish.
It started to rain again, much harder than when I left the house so I put on my Frog Toggs top, got in the truck and started to slowly drive down the road to see if any action was visible.
The temperature dropped to 73 degrees and the wind was blowing at a moderate rate with some heavy gusts. Not great for casting.
I stopped to fish several places in the marsh canal and got several hits from sea trout and briefly hooked a large ladyfish.
Finally, the rain subsided enough for me to do some serious casting. I stopped at a small pond that I knew held large fish and started casting a chartreuse and silver Chug Bug that was smeared up with Pro-Cure.
I caught two small sea trout which I released and hooked a very large ladyfish that got tangled in the mangrove roots and finally broke off.
I wasn't too happy about losing my Chug Bug, but it's part of the game in this area if you plan on catching any fish.
I tied on another Chug Bug pattern (Tennessee Shad I think) replaced the 15 pound test fluorocarbon leader with 30 pound leader and started casting my new lure.
At the next pond I fished, I caught three sea trout on the Chug Bug pattern and missed two more that got off.
The one sea trout was under the slot and the others were all in or over the 24' slot.
As the rain started up again, the sky was getting dark but I decided to keep fishing until dusk.
I moved to another pond area and started making long casts to the shallow grassy flats and retrieving the bait over a drop-off.
The second cast brought me a hookup with a nice redfish that made a brief run and eventually pulled off. Apparently, the fish wasn't hooked well.
I was going to move on but I didn't want to waste fishing time so I decided to continue fishing the little pond.
About five long casts later, a redfish exploded on the topwater Chug Bug and headed for the middle of the pond.
The rod I was fishing with was spooled with 30 pound green Power Pro and a length of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader but the redfish I had on tore off line like it was 4 pound mono.
The first run was almost 100 yards into the middle of the shallow pond and I couldn't do anything but hang on. The fish finally turned to the right and continued running around the pond. I picked up some line and fought the fish for almost 20 minutes before it finally showed signs of giving up.
Finally the redfish started coming towards me, allowing me to pick up most of the line I lost on the first runs.
When the fish finally swam close enough for me to get a look at it's size, I was taken back. The big redfish was almost four feet long.
Apparently it didn't like my looks because it took off again on another long run as soon as it saw me.
I turned the fish again, but this time it headed for a small mangrove island, got into the roots and broke off taking my Chug Bug with it.
I wanted the fish for pictures to post here, but it was not meant to be.
I was going to tie on another Chug Bug but it was getting too dark, so I decided to head for home and give it a shot tomorrow.
A couple of my buddies said they have caught really big Bull Redfish of this size in the marsh area but until this evening I chalked it off to braggadocio.
The fishing is hot right now depending on what you are fishing for.
This weekend was great for ladyfish but not so for redfish or gator sea trout.
I didn't do much serious fishing this past weekend but I did manage to catch some nice ladyfish and stir up a couple of small Tarpon in the Mosquito Lagoon.
I only fished an hour or so Friday evening when I got home from work and a couple of hours late Saturday in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Friday I specifically targeted ladyfish and managed to score a half dozen or so in and around East Gator Creek road.
I caught most of them on a ZMann Paddler Z rigged on a 1/2 oz. jig head. The fish loved the bait when fished super fast or skipped across the sea grass in the shallows.
As it got closer to dusk, I switched to a topwater Skitterwalk and picked up two more ladyfish and missed a nice size sea trout. The sea trout hit the topwater plug as it was sitting "lifeless" on the surface.
Saturday afternoon I was after anything but only scored on ladyfish and a small sea trout.
I missed a small Tarpon just off the ICW in the Mosquito Lagoon on a DOA Bait Buster while wading and spooked three nice redfish in the clear shallows on a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.
Unfortunately the fish I jumped Saturday all had lockjaw and refused my baits.
My buddy Jason and his friend did much better on the Indian River than I did, as you can see by the pics below.
He said he saw several large schools of big Bull Redfish and caught these on live mullet.
He was skipping mullet to the schools on the edge of the grass flats were they meet up with the big bare sandy patches.
Catching a Bull Redfish in the marsh was something I didn't have on the agenda this evening but that's exactly what happened just before dark.
When I got back in town from work this evening, I planned on going fishing either at Playalinda Beach or in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Since it was late and the refuge was closer than the beach, I decided to fish the refuge and see if I couldn't snag a redfish or a gator sea trout.
Karen had plans with her girlfriend so I packed up five spinning outfits, some new Z-Man PaddlerZ baits I picked up at Bass Pro Shops in Savannah and headed for East Gator Creek road.
The air temperature was 88 degrees when I crossed the bridge and there was almost no wind blowing.
I drove to East Gator Creek road and stopped a couple of times to work a silver and black Chug Bug off the flats to see if I could stir up some action.
I had a couple of follow ups but no hits, so I headed up to Peacocks Pocket Road to fish some of my favorite spots.
I've been working on the house and haven't been fishing as much as I like to, so this evening I decided to target redfish instead of the usual sea trout that I love fishing for.
I threaded an "electric chicken" Z-Man jerk bait on a light red headed jig and started pitching the bait into likely looking areas on both sides of the road. The Z-Man baits are already scented but I added some Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater formula just to make it more attractive to the fish.
I had a couple of hits before finally landing a small sea trout which I quickly released.
Evidently the fish loved the bait because it engulfed all 5" of it up to the jig head.
I had two more good hits on the bait but missed both fish before I decided to switch rods and fish with a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.
I knew I wouldn't be catching as many fish with the spoon, but the fish I would catch would be larger.
There were tons of spoonbills and alligators in the refuge this evening so I took a few pics before moving on to the last area I planned on fishing before dusk.
I spooked a couple of nice tailing reds on the Indian River side of the road before catching a larger sea trout on the spoon.
At first I thought the sea trout was a red, but a fish is a fish.
Anyway, as I released the fish I noticed some topwater activity on the river so I switched rods and started popping the Chug Bug around the turmoil.
I briefly hooked a sea trout that got off and after a couple more casts snatched the Chug Bug away from a nice fish that hit the bait.
I missed the fish but the Chug Bug came back to me and hit me in my right forearm. Hooked Again!
I got my fishing pliers out of the truck and tried to jerk the hook out of my arm, but it was in too deep.
I was pissed to say the least and didn't want to repeat the emergency room stay I put up with the last time I hooked myself in the side, so I pulled the hook all the way through, cut off the barb and switched back to my other rod with the gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.
My wound was bleeding profusely so I let it bleed to clean out the puncture. I dabbed on some antibiotic that I had in the truck and continued fishing.
It was getting dark when I noticed a push of water in the marsh canal at the entrance of a shallow pond.
Several casts with the spoon didn't get me a hookup so I pulled out the bottle of Pro-Cure and smeared up the spoon to give it some additional fish appeal.
It took three more well placed casts to the opposite bank before a bull redfish inhaled the spoon.
At first I thought I just spooked the fish because it swirled around and swam straight towards me. When I noticed that the line was slack I knew that the fish had the lure so I quickly reeled in the slack and set the hook, just to make sure.
The bull redfish literally went crazy in the shallow water. It made a long run up the marsh canal with me running behind it trying to keep it away from the stickups. Every time I got close to the fish it took off again like a freight train.
The battle continued for about one hundred yards or so up the road and about 25 minutes later I was beginning to believe I could actually land the fish. It took several more minutes before the bull redfish was tired enough for me to land it.
I had the boga grip with me and as I led the fish to the bank I stepped into the canal to grip the fish out of the water for some pics.
I quickly got the tape out of the truck along with the camera and took some pics of the fish before releasing it.
The fish measured in at almost 38 inches and probably weighed in at over 20 pounds. The pics don't do justice to the girth of the bull redfish.
Anyway, I unhooked the fish and after reviving it let her go back to where she belonged to fight another day.
I took some pics of the sunset before calling my wife to let her know she should have gone fishing with me this evening.
There really are some nice bull redfish in the marsh!
Wading Catfish Creek wasn't on the agenda this afternoon but that turned out to be exactly what I would up doing.
Odie
My wife, Elmo and Odie wanted to go fishing so Karen and I packed up the rods, some frozen bait and headed for the closest water available.
Unlike yesterday, the weather this afternoon was pleasant and the wind was minimal.
Yesterday, as I was heading home from Peacocks Pocket road I stopped to talk to a fisherman who was also leaving the area.
He said he caught a ladyfish that he chopped up for bait and then landed a 40" redfish on the cut bait.
To prove his story, he whipped out his Iphone and showed me a picture of the fish.
This afternoon, I decided to try the area where he said he caught the big breeder redfish. It was the same general area where a group of wade fishermen pulled in some nice fish this past January,.
Karen was ok with this idea so we pulled up to the spot, which happened to be in Catfish Creek and set out the rods.
I brought a couple of Ande surf rods with Okuma baitrunner reels which I baited up with half a blue crab.
On my other rod I used a fresh chunk of finger mullet.
Karen used her Cajun Thunder float with a frozen jumbo shrimp for bait.
We fished the spot where we hoped to hook up with one of those "bull redfish" but never got a bite on any of our baits in the two hours we were in the area.
I was fishing a topwater Heddon Zara Spook Jr. and a Johnson Sprite gold spoon to pass the time and eventually got into the water to wade fish.
I didn't see any gators in the river area so I spent a half an hour or so wade fishig with the Johnson Sprite gold spoon.
I missed a redfish which churned up a nice wake and finally hooked up to a slot size sea trout which I released.
Karen gave up fishing the river side and moved to the marsh canal where she missed a fish she thought was a red.
There was a lot of activity on the marsh side and virtually none where I was wading Catfish Creek.
After a while the gnats started sucking too much blood from us so we decided to head for home and dinner.
and about 4 feet of 30 pound 
and a Johnson Sprite gold spoon to pass the time and eventually got into the water to wade fish.
.
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