Redfishin' in the Rain...

Against my better judgement and weather outllook, I set out to go back to Point Aux Chene around 4am. It was drizzling, cold, windy and the front was moving east with me. Sometimes you just have to go, and I intended to.

I was at the boat launch by 6:45am and in the water by 7:15. Waders, wade boots, rain jacket, fully covered head to toe and the tide was running out hard with the wind and rain. Just a drizzle and I hoped it would pass like the forecast said it would. It never did. The day would be how some peoples envision purgatory being. Cold, wet, ripping current, headwinds, choppy, no sightfishing to speak of. The water was low and murky. The marsh around PAC is low at high tide and on more than a few occasions I would paddle right into 3" of water. I'm really, REALLY glad I decided to test the new waders and boots out today. At a few spots like along the power lines I got out of my boat and fished the boat lane as if it were a spring creek.

Despite the less than ideal conditions, I was able to put a 22" redfish in the cooler. I found him in a canal I dubbed "Redfish Alley". He fell for a chrome/chartreuse Rat-L trap after I worked a gold spoon up and down the canal to no avail. He put up a hell of a fight and took my line for a run underneath my kayak a few times before I was able to net him. That's not to say that PAC didn't take it's fair share back. Maybe I'm careless, clumsy, or both, I don't know. I lost my rear anchor and line because I neglected to put a stopper knot at the end of the line to keep it from running out of the block. I lost said Rat-L trap on a cast down wind where my line and everything just went sailing off. Guess my clove hitch didn't hold. Oh well. As rough and unruly as the day was, I pulled in a fish, paddled hard and was in my boat for most of the day. Can't complain about that.

 My goal for the trip was to catch my first fish on my TFO 8wt. rod. The conditions had something else to say about that. There will come a day when i'm able to pull in a limit of reds on the fly, but for now I'm happy to put a fish in the cooler any way I can. It's january, it's colder, and i'm not sure how the rest of the winter will be. I am really looking forward to more days down in the marsh and more redfish on the end of my line. Bonne Pêche!