Really low tide challenges

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Prof. Salt
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Really low tide challenges

Post by Prof. Salt »

Playing in the Nueces marsh is a shallow muddy game, especially when the tides are running lower than usual. Saturday it was a bit windy for launching into the gulf so I packed my redfish gear and headed to the Nueces. I paddled a mile to the "short cut" to get from the river to the shallows and found hundreds of yards of dry land blocking me from getting through. So I turned around and made the long paddle to the mouth of the river and then headed for the back end of the bay. On the way I scanned the shoreline for any roving reds, and I did locate a school of smaller fish. One cast with the 6wt and my Redfish Crack fly was inhaled by a 21 inch fish.
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The school went deeper and I didn't relocate them. I worked down to the marsh and took one of the entrances, working slowly. I found redfish feeding in the entrance, in 3-4 inches of water. Approaching within casting distance is always a challenge, because the rudder dragging through the mud makes noise that spooks the fish. It requires slow patience, and I did get shots at a few as I made my way into the flat. I worked down to the next exit and headed back towards the bay. I could see open water 500 yards ahead, but the path was evidently only 1" deep and required hard efforts to keep the kayak sliding that direction. At one point I saw a redfish exposed and headed my way. I put a soft plastic near him and brought it back. The fish followed but wouldn't commit. I pulled the lure away at about 20 feet and waited for the fish to swim past. A second pitch behind me allowed me to pull it past his nose one more time, but he spooked and ran past me towards the bay. I kept pushing and as I neared the entrance there were lots of blow-ups happening in the mouth of the drain. I got close enough to cast to the shallowest ones, and landed two more reds. One was a mid-slot fish and the other was undersized. I pushed forward a few more yards and noticed bait being smashed in extremely shallow water and wondered how a redfish could hide up there. The next cast landed beside the commotion and was hit hard. A flounder flew into the air and I made sure to maintain pressure and quickly get him into the net before he could throw the hook. As soon as I touched the lure it fell out of his mouth, so I was lucky to get him into the net without losing him. At 17.5" it was the best flounder I've caught in a couple of years and he went onto the stringer.
Imagecross for room
As I got into enough water to float the kayak a passing boater out in the bay noticed my activity and drove in as close as possible. The noise shut off the feeding activity like turning off a light switch and I knew it was time to begin the long paddle back to the launch. As I passed boat after boat along the shoreline, I was a bit frustrated that they were parked at each of the spots I would be looking for fish. I couldn't blame them, that's where I would be too ...but then I noticed a group of birds working a point ahead where no boats were nearby. I quickly got to the area and caught three trout on three consecutive casts before the school broke up. The trout were all under 17" so I kept moving. By the time I got back to the truck I had paddled just over 14 miles and was ready to head home and rest. It was a workout, but two nice redfish and a flounder made the effort worthwhile.
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karstopo
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Re: Really low tide challenges

Post by karstopo »

Very nice! I wanted a flounder like that on my last outing, but could only find 1 year old fish. Many fish now seem to be way up in the marsh based on this report and some others I’ve heard about. Way to get up in there with them. I think I need to make a deep into the marsh trip soon. Thanks for the report.
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Kitsune
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Re: Really low tide challenges

Post by Kitsune »

Man when those flounder get nasty they sure do cause a commotion. I have only seen them feeding on top of the water a couple of times... it was short lived madness. It still impresses me to this day how shallow redifsh will get. Just when you think there wont be a fish, a red flash catches the eye. It also amazes me how they can hide just below the surface in such shallow water. Good hearing reports out of Nueces too.
Yakety_Yak
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Re: Really low tide challenges

Post by Yakety_Yak »

WTG on grinding it out and catching what you did!
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