By Rich Miller
With hunting season in full force just about everywhere, I had to make a long trip to the Gulf Coast last week. I have a couple of buddies that live down there, and so I figured since I had to be down there working, I might get a little fishing in while I was there. These guys catch a lot of fish whether it is snapper, redfish, or trout. Of course snapper fishing is great but thanks to our government we can’t enjoy it. They have jerked the snapper limits and seasons around so much it isn’t feasible for people to fish for them, and it is killing the fishing guys in the Gulf and the Atlantic side.
Luckily they have left the trout and redfish alone so far and that is what we targeted. I had a tackle box full of Pradco saltwater baits and was dying to try them. We didn’t get to go out until later in the day but as for as the tide and the fish biting – man, we hit it perfectly. I started out with the new Heddon Spook XT and with the two super sized treble hooks on it once I got a fish on there was no losing it. The other guys were using the Badonk-a-Donk and they were wearing them out, too. I don’t know if was the baits we were using, or if it was just the fish were biting that good.
On the way back up the bank we had been catching all the fish on, I threw up close to the bank. Not long after my Spook hit the water it was like a commode flushed around it. When I set the hook the fight was on, and my spinning reel was sure enough doing some spinning. A couple of times I was worried the fish were going to take all of my line. I only had 12 lb. test so I didn’t want to tighten the drag any more. At that point I just wanted the fish to come up so we could see it. I just wanted to know what it was in case I lost it. Finally, I got some line back on my reel and just kept taking my time and eventually got the fish up to the boat. It was a 33” bull redfish and man was he a pretty sucker.
We caught twenty something speckled trout and that one big red that afternoon. Usually when I get a chance to fish just one day it doesn’t turn out too good; but man was this trip awesome! We got the fish back and got them all filleted and luckily the guys told me I could have them. That was fine with me because it gave us something to cook up on Saturday while watching my Clemson Tigers whip up on Virginia Tech!
