Fresh Fish, Sometimes the catching is as good as the fishing!

You all probably know the old saying, “The fishing was great but the catching was terrible”. Perhaps you also know about dues days, a saying that refers to anything in that you have to pay your dues before you have any success. Regardless, we have had a couple of days where the dues have finally paid off and we have learned where the fish are when the weather cools off.

Dave asked me if I wanted to go out in his boat. He had told me that before the cold front the fishing had been excellent with limits of sheepshead and lots of really nice black drum being caught, (not just Dave but all of our friends are catching lots of fish). Of course I jumped at the chance to try out an idea we both have had and see if the fish were in the back bays.

As we left the dock the water was cold and crystal clear. While there were finger mullet at first all signs and sights of fish disappeared as we headed out into the bay. Motoring past our usual fishing places we slowed and noticed that there were no signs of life, just clear and cold forty five degree water.

Heading into a shallow and muddy back bay we started to see fish, lots of them. They weren’t just mullet either as we both spotted keeper reds, with the spot near their tail easily visible. Anchoring we waited patiently for the clouds to clear, which would allow the shallow water to heat up rapidly.

As the water warmed the fish responded and we both were soon catching undersize black drum. Lots of fisherman here equate smaller fish with bad fishing but I am just happy to catch anything. You could tell the fish were cold as they fought their way in with little of the hard fighting that black drum usually show.

One of my poles went off and my pole bent over with a good fish, it was obviously a keeper and I fought in a nice twenty two inch red drum. Baiting the hook with another dead shrimp, I cast out into the same spot and was rewarded with another nice fish, (we both love grilled redfish on the half shell).

Meanwhile the black drum keep biting and we managed to catch one keeper to go along with the reds. The tide went slack and the fishing shut down so I glanced at the shore, surprised to see two whooping cranes had landed nearby and were busy feeding in the marshy grass. I took some images but having the smaller camera with me I knew the resolution would leave much to be desired.

The tide started to come back in and the fish suddenly started to bite and both of us had a hard time keeping our poles baited. Dave caught three nice keeper black drum before I finally caught another myself.

The sun went behind some thick clouds and the temperature started to drop, (in case you are curious the water temperature had warmed to fifty eight degrees). The fish quit biting and it was time for us to head in before the sun set.

Who could ask for more, a day where the catching actually was a good as the fishing?  Not to mention l fillet knife, and he sped through the fish as I slowly cleaned them with my nice Dextex Russell standard blade, (the new Rapala knife has three times the power as the older model and even makes sheepshead cleaning easy). Thank you Dave and of course clear skies.

Ps I never take advertising and so when I mention a product by name it has really impressed me.