Oak Point Redfishing...

I was going to wait another week before I headed back to one of my favorite spots to hook up with some redfish but a phone call from my office put plans into overdrive. The best weather for fishing on this particular day, especially after the cold front that passed through a few days before was at Pointe Aux Chene. Sunny, 70's, winds under 10mph and a sever case of fishbrains were all the excuses I needed to get my boat into the marsh. On top of that my good buddy Trent had wanted to learn to fish and I could use some company on the drive to the marina. 

We were in the water before 8am and I spent some time teaching Trent what little I know about where the fish are and why. Gave a few casting lessons and we were off tossing plastics and gold spoons into the slick waters. The first few hours it began to warm up but the reds were being extra spooky and not quite ready to bite. We worked some familiar territory with nothing to show for it before I made the decision to try a spot I had found on my last trip. The skunk was knocked out of the boat on the way over there when I picked up a rat red on a point near the top secret pull over location. The fish had probably been holding deeper for the past few days and I figured they'd be out on the flats to soak up some sunshine come around lunchtime. We came up with a game plan and paddled to our target canal. This canal had produced a few nice trout before and this time was no different. No trophies but a few of those paper mouths fell victim to a Vudu Shrimp under a cork. 

The sun was high in the sky and my redfish count was still at zero. Something had to give. The sargasso weed was thick in the foot and a half or so of water making sight-fishing the name of the game. The winds had shifted slightly and we found some nice sheltered pockets and we started prowling. Not long after we got in there we were sighting reds and sheepshead in every slick patch we came across. The water was shallow and crystal clear. These reds were either drunk or just sloppy because they were lazily swimming in circles and letting me make multiple casts to them and each time showing no interest or charging my bait only to turn away at the last second. 

At about the time I had my second red of the day, and a damn fine one at that, Trent had hooked into his first ever Cajun Sleigh Ride. He netted a beautiful redfish simultaneously as my red jumped out of the boat after putting him down on the center console of my cuda....doh!!! He wasn't overly tired from our brief battle and he dove straight into the weeds and bedded down to recollect his thoughts. Can't blame him and I hoped I hadn't stressed him too much. I'd be back later for him and we continued the same circuit of pockets and canals for the next few hours. 

Our system was ideal. Make a loop and fish all the flat waters and if you spooked a fish, fine. Chances were that next go round he was in the same area and you could work it form afar without paddling on top of them. This produced a few nice redfish for me in the afternoon sun. I had 3 fish in the boat in a 30 minute span, the last and largest being my personal best redfish to date. I was paddling back to restart my circuit around the marsh grass when I drove him and a buddy out of the flats. They made a b-line for a small pocket and were all of the sudden trapped and not moving, backs in full view. I made a cast onto their nose for the hell of it and to my surprise the fish inhaled it!! A 27" fat bellied red that took my line for a joyride and made my drag sing a few songs along the way. 

So my fish count was 4 reds and a handful of trout. I had hooked and lost a few fish and wanted my limit. It was getting late and we agreed to try and upgrade some trout and fish the shorelines back to the marina. I didn't paddle far until I threw my plastic into a patch and hooked up with a decent little red. There, done, limited out. Unfortunately that's about the same time my spinning rod decided to take a swim and my reaction was to grab it. I just happened to grab it right near the tip as it was falling out of my boat and I snapped it. It had served it's purpose.

We fished out of the trout canal and put 1 or 2 more away. This was when I decided to break my spinning rod while trying to unhook my last trout. 2 broken rods, one tired angler, time to go. 

 All in all it was beautiful day with lots of action and I put my buddy on his first redfish. It won't be his last, thankfully. Point Aux Chene is awesome, hands down. Can't wait until the next trip down there.