A Bad Day Turns Good

I guided Tom Dorrell from Corpus and his buddy Steve Elliot from Houston the other day. We almost rescheduled because the forecast called for 20-30 knots. Ouch. But they opted to come down anyway. We headed out on Tuesday in 20 mph wind (destined for 25+ later that morning) and found no birding in my two favorite places for early morning birding action. I was getting ready to pop a Prozac,but as we left the second place, I noticed birds working just east of the Interacoastal. Trout, I surmised. So we looped upwind and floated down to them. We could see tails popping up under the birds in the low light. Steve's first cast scored our first redfish of the day. The day was looking better, but no one expected much after that. But we were all surprised. About 18 trout later––many of them in 17-18 inch range––we picked up and headed south, hoping to find birding in a third venue. Nope, it was too shallow. So we headed east onto the sand, and found crystal clear water in 20-25 knot wind. For the next few hours, we waded there, and landed four more reds. We had plenty more opportunities, but the reds weren't feeding head down, and therefore could easily spot you as soon as you moved.  For a crappy weather day, it turned out to be a glorious catching day. You never know what you'll find. You just have to show up, and few angler will show up on bad days. So they never know what's possible.

Here's the link to a new video  of my day with Dr. Sam Fason that I just uploaded to YouTube. It has some of the best "birding" footage I've ever shot.  The redfish are going crazy feeding--I just love to watch them when they're doing this. Not many people have ever seen this. By the way, Does anyone know the identity of the small black tern diving on the reds? -- Capt. Scott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n9v6FiHQGU