Beating the winds
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2024 10:24 am
Saturday morning was the last day to start "late" and still paddle across the marsh before sunrise. I had finally recovered from the week long elk trip and putting away all that meat in the freezer, so I was excited for Saturday morning on the water. The forecast showed windy conditions, but a short window of lower winds early. I launched an hour and a half before daylight and made my way up near the top of the Nueces delta to begin my day where I knew fish should be hunting some protected shorelines. I encountered quite a few schools of fish, and although I hoped for hard charging fish leaving large wakes, that didn't materialize and they were actually relatively hard to spot. A few schools had birds that made it easy to see them from long distances, but most were close when I realized they were feeding along the grass. Tide levels were high, so there wasn't much protection from the wind and fish were easily hidden in the extra water. The tried and true Z-man Trick Shot worked great, and once I broke a fish off I switched to the other rod that had a TRD craw. Neither bait gets turned down, so by the time I caught a third fish and the wind was blowing pretty good, I began the long paddle back to the truck. On the way back I got a shot at a couple of extra fish that were working in the reeds. One pulled the hook and one was released after a photo. It was a nice "welcome back" and I'm glad to be back in familiar waters.
