The cool down begins

Unfortunately, other responsibilities coupled with sub-par fishing conditions have keep me off the water and the fly rod in the tube lately but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Last week after work dad and I got on the water for some low tide action and although we boated a few fish there really wasn’t anything to get really excited about but looking forward is a different story. The fall cool down is starting to happen and is making the fish; both fresh and salt become more active every day.

Saturday morning I was on the water before day light and was greeted with an incredible sunrise along with a howling NNE wind. Since it was less than optimal fly rod conditions I decided to use my time wisely and scout new areas that were exposed due to the low tide. The low water offers the opportunity to see what fish attracting structure lies in the maze of salt marsh creeks plus there is always that chance you will find a redfish cruising the shoreline with his back out of the water. After four wind blown hours the Gheenoe was back on the trailer and headed home… I had yard to mow. 

Seatrout on Fly - White and Chart Fro-Toad

With the lack of success from the morning trip and finally getting all the chores done I spent 30 minutes in the pond behind the house with some bass poppers. Working the bank yielded a few over zealous one pounders, until the proverbial “last cast”. The fish was just over four pounds and certainly made the day, until watching the ass kicking in the swamp later that night. 

Bass on hand painted popper

With Monday looming I decided to erase my case of the Mondays with an after work trip in the Gheenoe to fish some of the places I scouted in Saturday. The tide was high at 4:05p and although I do not like fishing a high as much I knew by the time I hit the water it would be flowing hard and hoped the fish would be moving. Small feeder creeks dumping water over oysters produced about a dozen trout that were carbon copies of one another at 14 inches. As the sun went behind the trees I opted to change over to a topwater plug and on the first cast landed a nice redfish that was slightly overweight to say the least. It resembled an over fed house cat with its big gut and tiny looking head. See for yourself. 

Red on Topwater

Also, this will be the last evening trip I will ever elect not to bring a cigar. The bugs were all over me and if not for long sleeves, pants and a buff it would have been miserable.  

Monday's Sunset

Again I apologize for the iPhone pictures.