Freeport Groundhog Day

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karstopo
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Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by karstopo »

Launched at oneish. Plan was to hit this mud and shell shelf not far from the launch for some easy redfish action on the rising tide. Water levels seemed about right, maybe just a bit under ideal. Warming trend, lots of sun, water looked okay. Fish should have been there, but no fish. Could not find them in the usual spots. Poured over the area for a time maybe thinking I missed something, but if they were there, they weren’t to be found by me. Why don’t fish follow the plan?

Plan B was paddle until I find something interesting. I was generally heading towards deeper water and heavy shell. Had phone calls, equipment failures, @#$*&% Braid, had to cut away 50-60 feet of it. Fly line got hung up in some shell. Bad word, another bad word, several in a row, total meltdown, got it out of my system, felt better, kept paddling. Paddled really hard, the harder I paddled the better I felt.

Found myself in a deep channel loaded with reef. Reef on all sides and places of reef in the channel. Tons of current. Was tired of paddling. Decided to drift along and toss out a tuxedo tail on a 1/8 ounce jig head and let it fall in the current. Thump, fish on, 17” trout. Found a place to stake out and try to repeat the pattern, albeit from a different angle. Got more thumps and fish on. Lots of 14-15 inch trout, oh so close. One right at 15” but I decided not to risk it. Caught a couple of 18-19” reds too.

It was enjoyable still getting the line pulled and trying to anticipate the thump even if the fish were all only Louisiana keepers except the 17” trout. Every cast, there was this hope that I’d get the bigger one. I repositioned a few times looking for the motherlode, but it was more a trickle of 14” fish. Ah, the horizon with the sun inching closer. Time to hustle home. Wish I had another hour or two to fish, but no lights, no thanks.

PS. This channel had some boat traffic. I talked to one guy idling by. He had caught one slot and one rat red, pretty slow he said. I had caught most my fish by then, so felt I represented my kayak community alright. Whatever demon possessed me earlier was all gone. The birds and the sun and the fish washed it all away. I had a great time.
imaoldmanyoungsalt
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Re: Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

I've had my share of those meltdowns when it seems Every. Single. Thing. Goes. Wrong. Funny how a 30-60 second temper tantrum gets it out of our system and can turn things 180 degrees. Way to power thru and make a nice day out of it!

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2 Weight Willie
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Re: Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by 2 Weight Willie »

Way to turn it around!

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YakRunabout
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Re: Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by YakRunabout »

A great tale of an adventure!
So much there on why to get out on a kayak!! Thanks
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Chubs
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Re: Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by Chubs »

It seems like whenever you are kayak fishing, everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong. You quickly get to the "F it" stage and either go home or unleash the beast, push through the agrivation, and then end up having a great day afterwards.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Freeport Groundhog Day

Post by Ron Mc »

Not sure how I missed this the first time around, but it was a gorgeous day - the groundhog obviously saw his shadow.
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