With Cape Escape open for a few days, I decided to head south and see how the Redfish bite was. Got into town in the late am Saturday, with plenty of time to catch the outgoing tide that evening.
Wade fished the usual spot, the bottom of the development's beach area near Plantation Creek. Conditions were perfect when I hit the water around 6:00 PM. Temps in the high 80s, calm winds, and water in the upper 70s (at least), and the water starting to move out. Only issue was the low sun, which took away visability a good bit. Not really an issue. But when I'm wading in thigh-deep water, I like to see if anything is swimming near me.
Things were kind of slow. The solunar calendar had Saturday as a one-fish day. In that respect, it was right. I decided to throw a Electric Chicken-colored paddletail under a popping cork. For awhile it looked like skunk city. As I got tired of casting, I went into lazy mode, cast the cork out, and popped as I waded down towards Plantation Creek. Every once in awhile I'd look back to make sure the cork was still there and still out in the channel. After a few yards of wading I looked back and the cork was nowhere to be seen. A couple of turns resulted in a great fight. From the fish taking drag, I knew it was a good Red, and was not disappointed. A 28 inch fish, all coppered up, came to the hand. Figuring I'd hook a few more, I revived the fish and sent him on his way. Of course, the fish gods laughed at me, and for the next hour I went without a bite.
(regrettably, a camera malfunction prevented photographic proof....)
Went back out this morning, with the tide moving out around 8:30 AM. This time the wind was up, and visability was even worse, so I ditched the paddletail for a Dyne XL swim bait. Nuthin.
Temps hovered in the mid to upper 90s for the rest of the day, giving me time to troubleshoot the camera. Still itching to feel a tug, I decided to head to the bass ponds in the late afternoon. Temps had cooled off considerably, down into the mid-80s, with the sun obscured by scattered thunderstorms popping up in the bay. Took both spin and fly rods, hoping to score on something.
Started with the spinning rod and a crank bait. After about 20 minutes I had my first hookup, which I lost. But not long after I hooked and landed a nice bass that easily went 4lbs.
Mission complete. So I switched to the flyrod, and tied on a big chartreuse popper, figuring the overcast would make the bass less spooky. And after a few casts a fish hit the popper, which I immediately missed, being too excited and pulling the trigger too soon. But I let the popper sit, and after one more pop the fish came back and slammed it. A nice 3 lber.
The bass saved the day. But the calendar shows bay conditions improving for the next few days. Hopefully Redfish will be on the menu at some point. Tonight, "unfortunately," it's crab cakes.
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
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