The sunrise was beautiful today, and the best part, it was the last day prior to Daylight Savings time. It was the last day I could sleep in and did not have to wake up crazy early to fish the sunrise. My friend and I decided to launch at the Eddy Creek ramp and fish the SE side of the lagoon.
We saw a few Redfish hugging the shore as we paddled North in my canoe. We were on top of them much to fast. The low light did not give us much time to prepare even when we were casting ready. We eventually pushed a small pod of Reds. They were very happy where we found them so we obliged by allowing them to settle down and then restarted our pursuit.
Mike was first to land a fish, a trout, and then another. Both were in the 17 inch range and each put up a feisty battle. A smallish gurgler fly fooled both fish. I changed flies and again used a borrowed pattern, an EP baitfish: the sun had climbed above the horizon. Three consecutive casts moved our Reds. The fourth cast provided a wider birth. The cast, I paused, moving the canoe to keep both fly fishers in casting position. I resumed stripping the fly and “BAM”, as Emril would say, a Redfish hookup.
The Red measured out at 30 inches and bit my thumb hard as Mike took its picture. I returned the relieved red as it did its job well. The water where the Reds hung out was surprisingly clear for this time of the year. We made several more passes thru the area, each time allowing the fish to settle; and we did see more of them, but we managed no more strikes.
We did sneak up on a few more Reds while we paddled the shore. I managed to entice a strike with another fish ten feet or so from the boat. I blew it on the strike. Manipulating the fly to trigger the strike was “cool”. We paddled back to the ramp with another great day under our belts.
