Evening limit after work

[Prof. Salt]

I left work a little early yesterday and headed to my Nueces area. The winds were higher than forecast, but I knew the fish would likely get hungry in those conditions. Besides, with all the thunderstorms coming in the next few days this might have been a last chance to fish for a bit. I wanted to stay relatively close, so I explored some nearby structures that I paddle past on morning trips (plenty of others frequent the area while I look for solitude). After finding no visible fish here, I continued to a back lake that happened to be directly down wind. Getting there was easy, and as I began to work along the shoreline of this huge space, there was very little movement. At the very top of the lake were two drains pouring water into lakes above that I had never visited. I followed the little rivers into both of the new-to-me lakes and found plenty of mullet but not the fish I was after. As I returned to the big lake it was covered in whitecaps as far as the eye could see. I began to work to the last shoreline when I saw them. Four gulls were hovering out towards the middle of the lake, close to the surface. I knew what that meant as I turned the kayak in that direction to go meet my new friends. As I got close I could see a dozen tails rising and falling as they fed along. I kept the kayak down wind and casted over the tails. It didn't take but a second or two for the line to come tight on fish number one. It ran through the school and scattered them but only for a few seconds. As I drifted away with my fish, they re-formed and the gulls maintained their vigil above. Just before netting the red it shook the hook loose, and I immediately headed back to the birds. The next cast had a similar result but I waited a split second longer before setting the hook. This fish went in the hatch and I repeated the sequence ...over and over and over. Very Happy Every one of these fish was dark orange with some green hues on the head that looked vibrant as they were brought near the kayak. It was beautiful fall colors that I don't see very often this time of year. There was no time to photo each fish because with the waves washing over the deck and high winds I was afraid I might lose a rod or other gear. After ten reds and two more that pulled the hooks before getting in the net, I began to work back for the next fish when they suddenly got wise to the game. Within two seconds the fish disappeared, the birds broke up and it was just open water, white caps and me suddenly thinking it was time to head back. I couldn't be disappointed - that was more action from a single school than I had enjoyed in a long time. It took a while for me to work the four miles back to the truck (directly upwind) but I took my time and got there eventually. Arrived back just as the GPS hit ten miles. Not a bad workout!

Within a mile of the truck it was getting dark so I pulled over and got the fish out for a photo. They weren't as vivid as they had been earlier, but it was a great group of fish at 23, 25 and 25.25.

[Kitsune]

Thanks for the report and the unique looking redfish… super cool!