The weather man said that it would be a nice and enjoyable day with temperatures in the 70s with clear skies. Unfortunately there was plenty of cloud cover and a chill on the wind blowing 15 - 20 knots making sight fishing and poling very difficult. Fortunately within ten minutes of being on the boat we hooked up on a slob bull redfish that had a mean streak three miles long.
I have crossed many stubborn fish in my travels but this red fought hard for an hour and a half. I used the trolling motor to keep on top of the fish, trying to keep him from breaking us off on submerged structure and keeping other vessels at bay. The majority of the fight was a stalemate with the redfish staying on the bottom under the boat much like a tuna would do offshore using the current to his advantage. Finally 90 minutes later and several hundred yards of travel with the trolling motor we had the redfish boat side. We snapped a few quick pics and this ornery beauty swam off strong to give one hell of a time to the next angler that decides to tangle with him.
Though my angler's forearms were burning from the epic battle with a trophy Mosquito Lagoon redfish he wanted more (must have a thing for abuse). We ran out to the fishing grounds where we found a few schools of good numbers and landed a few very nice fish that measured over the slot. Though these last few redfish are above average they seemed tiny after handling that great trophy redfish.
The water levels are very low right now and I have been witness of many boaters parking their boat on shallows and having to push their vessels off. Make sure to be careful out there and side with caution when you are not certain what the water levels are.
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Till the next bite.
[B]"Get Your Fish On! Florida Fisherman Style!"[/B]
Capt. Mike Ortego
[B]"The Florida Fisherman"[/B]
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