JohnH0802
08-23-2010, 08:31 AM
I fished Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, dodging thunder storms the whole way. The tide was late enough for me to fish in HHI right after work on Friday.
I got there and immediately saw about three tailing....I made 2 casts and hooked up on an 18 inch fish on a gold crab pattern.
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8200212.jpg
As soon as I let that fish go the sky absolutely opened up. It was raining so hard that you couldn't see a fish moving on the flat unless he was standing at your feet waving at you. Then the lightning started. I moved in to the tree line and took shelter from the lightning.....it did not help the rain which I sat in for the next hour waiting for the lightning to pass.
The lightning did finally pass and I changed position on the flat. Fished for a little while without seeing a redfish, but it was still raining and visibility was tough. Moved again and the rain stopped and I started seeing some movement. I ended up catching one more, and missed one.
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8200213.jpg
By now the tide had fallen too much and I did not see any more fish moving.
I went out again with my daughter and her friend to a flat near the house on Saturday. There were again thunderstorms, but we dodged the main storms, and the lightning stayed relatively far away (8-12 miles). I saw alot of fish, and cast to at least 10 different fish. It was a frustrating evening for me...I was pulling out all the bad habits all at once, flailing the water, moving the fly to aggresively, not exercising patience to wait for a good cast, you name it. I finally did catch one, on one of my spoon flies:
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8210214.jpg
I also had another on that I lost, then at 820pm on my way out I saw a fish busting something on the bank, and I managed to cath this one:
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8210215.jpg
So on a day where I had a good 10 shots at fish, I only managed to hook 3 and land two. Not a bad day by any stretch, but I was disappointed in myself.
On Sunday fished another flat with a couple of friends. It started raining almost as soon as we got out there, really pouring. Didn't see anything until the rain stopped, or at least slowed to a sprinkle. The fish on this day didn't seem to want to come all the way out on the flat. I saw them and heard them busting and chasing bait in the grass. Then I finally started seeing some fish on the end of a flat. They were not cruising, and they were not tailing. They were darting across the end of the flat like torpedos. I finally managed a cast far enough in front of one of the rockets to have the fly there when he went buy, and missed him. Tried it several more times and slam, nice fish on. This fish rolled and was very red. Then the line just went slack. I thought that the fish had come unhooked, but the fish had actually pulled out the nail not on the flyline, taking my fly, the leader and tippet. This was Orvis wonderline redfish line in 7wt, with the nail knot that had come on the line from the factory. The lightning then came down on us quickly and we were forced off of the water.
The good news is that even with the relatively poor tides this weekend, the tides were running at least 6 inches higher than predicted, and I was able to fish and see fish each time.
JohnH0802
I got there and immediately saw about three tailing....I made 2 casts and hooked up on an 18 inch fish on a gold crab pattern.
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8200212.jpg
As soon as I let that fish go the sky absolutely opened up. It was raining so hard that you couldn't see a fish moving on the flat unless he was standing at your feet waving at you. Then the lightning started. I moved in to the tree line and took shelter from the lightning.....it did not help the rain which I sat in for the next hour waiting for the lightning to pass.
The lightning did finally pass and I changed position on the flat. Fished for a little while without seeing a redfish, but it was still raining and visibility was tough. Moved again and the rain stopped and I started seeing some movement. I ended up catching one more, and missed one.
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8200213.jpg
By now the tide had fallen too much and I did not see any more fish moving.
I went out again with my daughter and her friend to a flat near the house on Saturday. There were again thunderstorms, but we dodged the main storms, and the lightning stayed relatively far away (8-12 miles). I saw alot of fish, and cast to at least 10 different fish. It was a frustrating evening for me...I was pulling out all the bad habits all at once, flailing the water, moving the fly to aggresively, not exercising patience to wait for a good cast, you name it. I finally did catch one, on one of my spoon flies:
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8210214.jpg
I also had another on that I lost, then at 820pm on my way out I saw a fish busting something on the bank, and I managed to cath this one:
http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af34/JohnH0802/2010%20Redfish/Aug%202010/P8210215.jpg
So on a day where I had a good 10 shots at fish, I only managed to hook 3 and land two. Not a bad day by any stretch, but I was disappointed in myself.
On Sunday fished another flat with a couple of friends. It started raining almost as soon as we got out there, really pouring. Didn't see anything until the rain stopped, or at least slowed to a sprinkle. The fish on this day didn't seem to want to come all the way out on the flat. I saw them and heard them busting and chasing bait in the grass. Then I finally started seeing some fish on the end of a flat. They were not cruising, and they were not tailing. They were darting across the end of the flat like torpedos. I finally managed a cast far enough in front of one of the rockets to have the fly there when he went buy, and missed him. Tried it several more times and slam, nice fish on. This fish rolled and was very red. Then the line just went slack. I thought that the fish had come unhooked, but the fish had actually pulled out the nail not on the flyline, taking my fly, the leader and tippet. This was Orvis wonderline redfish line in 7wt, with the nail knot that had come on the line from the factory. The lightning then came down on us quickly and we were forced off of the water.
The good news is that even with the relatively poor tides this weekend, the tides were running at least 6 inches higher than predicted, and I was able to fish and see fish each time.
JohnH0802