Our last shot to get this trip run was Monday. It was right behind another big cold front, but conditions had tamed down quite a bit from Saturday. We met at the ramp at 9 AM, and got our two Ultimates launched after going over the equipment and preliminaries. We were off. The tide was very low, and would be coming in for most of the day. Tom took to the kayak and paddling like a duck to water. He was taken with the whole experience; the beauty of the area, the water, the weather, and perhaps most of all, the Ultimate. He seemed to love it. After some paddling I suggested he get familiar with the trolling motor so it would be comfortable once we were on the flats.
After fifteen minutes or so we were at our destination. But, the tide was still so low that we couldn't even float the kayaks across the flat to some potholes I wanted to fish. I told Tom it wouldn't take too long to get another inch or so of water once the tide began coming in. We pulled up on the bank, and got out. I walked to a pothole about a hundred yards away and began casting my jig to the back edge of it. On the third cast I hooked a beautiful trophy trout. I invited it to dinner. By the time I walked back to the boats and Tom the water was moving well. By the time we got the fish stringered, we were ready to go. We pulled the boats for about a hundred feet until we got to about four inches of water, and got in. We paddled to the hole. Tom was still talking about how cool the boat was.
We got set up on two adjacent potholes to start our fishing. It became quickly obvious that Tom, who fishes nearly every day during the summer, is a very skilled angler. He was a quick study of this fishing. We had action quickly in the form of big winter trout. The flat is dotted with potholes, which are always home to big winter trout. Some of them gave us a single trout, some multiple trout, but they all had fish. It took a while to take a limit of legal trout because many of them were over the top of the slot. The largest was 6 pounds! One fat trout.
As the tide continued in, and we got to the end of that series of potholes, things slowed down. We spread out a bit to fish some larger potholes perhaps a hundred yards apart. I got on some steady action for a while, and Tom also caught more fish. But, as the tide began to cover things up, the bite died.
I asked Tom if he wanted to join me to search for redfish in the very skinny water, or stay and continue to fish that area. He decided to stay and continue the pothole fishing. We stayed in touch by radio. They work very well.
I was slowly working my way across the flat, watching and casting. I didn't see a single fish or push. There was almost no mullet activity. The water was cold. My silent relaxation was pierced by Tom's voice shouting, "Fish on!" He relayed that he had his first redfish. Not large, but scrappy.
At that point I theorized that the redfish just had not come up out of the holes yet. It had been overcast most of the day, and the water had warmed little, if at all. I realized that they may not leave the holes to prowl the flats, but continued my vigil.
Again, I heard Tom announce another redfish. I was happy that he was pulling a couple out of the potholes with the DOA CAL jig.
By now it was around 3 PM. Tom said he should be getting back soon. So, we began a slow voyage back to our ramp, stopping to make a few casts around structures along the way. We didn't pick up anything else.
We finished the day with around 18 big trout, many of which were over the 20" trophy limit, and most of the rest of which were right at the 20" mark, along with Tom's 2 redfish. It had been a good day of pothole fishing for big trout, and Tom said it was just the medicine he'd needed to cure his Minnesota winter blues.
Back at the ramp Tom's folks showed up while we cleaned fish and got the boats onto the trailer. We divvied up the fish, and said our goodbyes. Tom again told me how much fun the day had been, and promised to be back next year with his wife. As they drove away my gut told me I'd made a long-time fishing friend with Tom. That's what it's all about.
