Big ugly

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karstopo
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Big ugly

Post by karstopo »

So I guess gone are the days where I roll out of bed at some wee hour to make sure I'm at the launch by first light. Now it's "oooh, this bed feels nice". Wife's like "aren't you going fishing?" "Yea, I'll get to it, how about another cup of coffee?" I went with the cover story that I'm waiting to go so that the tide can fall a bit more. All of that added up to a 10:00 am launch. But what a spectacular day with light northerly wind and dry comfortable air. I chose a spot mostly based on that I felt there wouldn't be a throng of boats, other craft, and waders in every direction which is pretty tough to accomplish these days on pretty weekends.

Plan was to paddle around and look for fish, duh. This place has a shallow flat and maybe some redfish might show on it in the falling tide. There are reef margins and drains to scope out, too. At one little reef near a drain, I see shrimp and mullet fleeing for their lives. It was subtle, but experience said try here. First cast with a shrimp fly, trout on, trout caught. Then one more, then another. The first trout confirmed that I selected the right fly by throwing up a shrimp. I would have been happy keeping at the trout, but a large black drum appeared in easy casting range. I hit the pie plate square, about a foot in front of the lumbering fish. Thump, big strip set, fish on. Evidently, big uglies have one gear and that's first, 4wd, low range. I really didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect a fight that never really got beyond my initial 40' cast but would take 30 minutes to complete. About mid way into it, I wanted to just break off the fish, but I'd come this far already. I stuck with it putting as much pressure as I could on my 18# grand max tippet. I'd gain a little, lose a little, all 10-15 feet from me. I could just see my 8/9 Short Stix straining to lift and attempt to turn this giant snail with fins.

Anyway, I finally did turn the fish and get the photo. It was neat to see it up close and I'm glad it swam away after the release. After all that, I found a couple more trout. Never saw a single red.
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karstopo
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Re: Big ugly

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karstopo
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Re: Big ugly

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Shrimp fly after big ugly encounter.
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Drifting Yak
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Re: Big ugly

Post by Drifting Yak »

Great story and nice write-up. Really enjoyed reading it so thanks for sharing!
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GoDoe
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Re: Big ugly

Post by GoDoe »

Nicer story. Those big blacks are such a tempting target but shortly after you have hooked them you are thinking, WHY. I like you had one on for 30 minutes before I could get it to hand and I swore I would never to that again. I can say I have been tempted to cast to them since then but have resisted.

I sleep late too. My excuse is always, can't see fish until the sun is high enough. That is about 10 usually. It is actually true. Nothing worse than getting anxious and getting on the water early and bumping fish that you just can't see soon enough in the early morning low light conditions.

Surprised you didn't get attacked by pot lickers while you fought the drum for 30 minutes. Must have not been anybody in sight.

John
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NativeSon
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Re: Big ugly

Post by NativeSon »

Great read, thanks for sharing.
A few years back something drug me around Cold Pass for about half an hour on a light trout outfit, finally got tired and snapped my line trying to horse it in. Suspect it was the same, big black drum.
Hate to admit it, but early morning adventures are getting harder and harder for me too.
Were you using your Cabela's fiberglass?
Congrats on finding fish.
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karstopo
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Re: Big ugly

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I was using the G. Loomis 8/9 short stix. I was carrying my 5/6 and 7/8 CGRs, but was enjoying the short stix at the time. I'm still getting the feel for that rod and absolutely loved it this time out. It swings so light especially for an 8/9, probably because it's so short at 7'6" and the super light weight Nautilus X doesn't hurt things. Shot was about 40 feet and I couldn't have laid it in better.

The negative to the rod is that 16" trout don't bend it much. It was the rod for big drum. It bent it a ton. Scared me. Rod was able to turn fish eventually. It's the rod I want to use if I ever get a really big fish that needs to be turned or lifted.

I really like casting the short stix. So much that I can't stand my minimag now. I still like the fiberglass CGRS, too. There seems to be enough softness in the tip to have a lot of feel with power when called up.

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karstopo
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Re: RE: Re: Big ugly

Post by karstopo »

GoDoe wrote:Nicer story. Those big blacks are such a tempting target but shortly after you have hooked them you are thinking, WHY. I like you had one on for 30 minutes before I could get it to hand and I swore I would never to that again. I can say I have been tempted to cast to them since then but have resisted.

I sleep late too. My excuse is always, can't see fish until the sun is high enough. That is about 10 usually. It is actually true. Nothing worse than getting anxious and getting on the water early and bumping fish that you just can't see soon enough in the early morning low light conditions.

Surprised you didn't get attacked by pot lickers while you fought the drum for 30 minutes. Must have not been anybody in sight.

John
There was a boat about 150 yards away. The fish drug me into his casting range. I apologized, but he was nice and told me he was enjoying the show. Fish did it's slow motion 180 and I was away from the boat.

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kickingback
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Re: Big ugly

Post by kickingback »

How did I miss this post! Fantastic! I love big uglies! Great read and thanks for sharing. Well done.
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Re: Big ugly

Post by StrykerDM »

Nice! Sounds like fun, even if it's something you only do once. I've never caught a black drum though so maybe that's just my ignorance talking.


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karstopo
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Re: Big ugly

Post by karstopo »

Sunfish are fun, big uglies are fun. In my mind, there's a an ideal fish that will probably never happen. Some defining moment. The perfect fish. Until then, it's just see what's next. Enjoy the moment. Lots of beauty out there.
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