First Redfish

[J. Rentch]

Just returned from a two day trip to the Ft.Myers area. I chartered with Gulf Coast Kayaks and was very pleased with their services. Our first day we fished the Matlacha Bay Area, and was kind of a bust- no tides, no wind, and very hot. Our guide, Mike Lahn tried to put us on some fish, but they weren’t interested. We did manage a couple of Speckled Trout as we headed back to our launch. The second day we traveled north to the Gasparilla Sound. We fished the numerous mangrove islands using a 1/8 red jig with a live shrimp. Within the first hour I was able to land my first Red. By the end of the day I had three Reds and four Snook- very productive day.
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[Mark]

John,

Outstanding. Now you know what's special about hooking a redfish. They're more than little fun to catch, aren't they?

[J. Rentch]

Mark, it was a blast, the way they pull and go back and forth, no jumping, just so powerful!

[belairfishing]

Sounds like a great trip. I caught my first redfish this year in the Everglades, on live shrimp. I caught a bunch, but they were all a little smaller than the one in your pic. They way they fight remind me of a big smallmouth, without the jump.

[J. Rentch]

Yes, exactly!

[yakscientist]

Nice fish! I always fish in NC every year, and I always seem to get there during the hottest week of the year, which as you've seen, is usually no good for fishing. I'm debating bringing my kayak this year but if the weather is looking overly windy or overly hot, it might not be worth it.

[J. Rentch]

My Monday trip was hard, temperatures went fro 76 at 8:00 to 95 at 4:00. Also there was no wind or current moving. Made it very difficult to fish.

[tarponguy]

I have a winter home in Port Charlotte and fish the Gasparilla sound area frequently. The redfish population has declined significantly over the last few years and are sparse so I'm very pleased to hear you were able to hook up with a few of them. I usually catch mine on a jighead and paddletail.

[J. Rentch]

Have you ever used a Slam R plastic on your jig?

[RavensDfense]

Congrats on your first red!

I caught my first one in Louisiana on a bachelor party. Ever since then I couldn’t shake the addiction. I’ll pedal all day to land one red drum over catching nonstop stripers. They are just a tougher species in every way and I enjoy the challenge.

[J. Rentch]

Amen brother

[tarponguy]

Have you ever used a Slam R plastic on your jig?

Never tried that one - my favorite is a jighead with gold glitter 3" paddle tail. That one catches just about everything - atleast for me