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Birthday reds!
Dad and I usually fish together on our birthdays. I was recovering from a nasty virus, so I told him not to stay home so he wouldn't catch it. I felt good enough to fish at least for a little while, and I'm glad I did. After not landing any redfish since June (despite their abundance this year), I hooked four and landed two yesterday in my top secret spot. 
The first was a 21-incher I caught trolling a white Gulp grub on a red, 3/8oz head:
It was a long fight, and my heart was in my throat the entire time since I lost so many nice fish this year.
Fortunately, it was firmly hooked.
I hooked up shortly thereafter with a smaller fish that got off. If you use jigheads with the round, black nickel hooks, I highly suggest bending the hook so the point is more downward or slightly off to one side. The hooks cost me two fish earlier this year, and I forgot to check it after catching the 21-incher.
I saw something slam a school of baitfish and cast the grub at it. WHAM! This fish fought even harder, but I wasn't under as much pressure to land it. Still, I got it to the boat two times before it finally gave up up and I could swing it into the boat on the third time.
The 22-incher:
I cast at another school of bait, hooked up again, but could tell the fish wasn't as firmly hooked. It ended up being a long distance release.
I also caught a mess of undersized stripers, a few white perch, and a couple spot. The redfish action occurred in a 30min window halfway between low and high tide while the current was running pretty quickly. I was near the inside edge of a grass bed near a change in the bottom contour that makes for a good ambush location when I caught the reds. Gulp was the lure of choice for the reds, but the stripers like the Gulp and my brook trout X-Rap equally well. I pretty much stayed in less than 5ft of water all day.
My wife cooked up the redfish for dinner, and it was one of the best pieces of fish I've ever eaten. I might like it even better than speckled trout. It was the perfect way to end the day.
The first was a 21-incher I caught trolling a white Gulp grub on a red, 3/8oz head:
It was a long fight, and my heart was in my throat the entire time since I lost so many nice fish this year.
Fortunately, it was firmly hooked. I hooked up shortly thereafter with a smaller fish that got off. If you use jigheads with the round, black nickel hooks, I highly suggest bending the hook so the point is more downward or slightly off to one side. The hooks cost me two fish earlier this year, and I forgot to check it after catching the 21-incher.
I saw something slam a school of baitfish and cast the grub at it. WHAM! This fish fought even harder, but I wasn't under as much pressure to land it. Still, I got it to the boat two times before it finally gave up up and I could swing it into the boat on the third time.
The 22-incher:
I cast at another school of bait, hooked up again, but could tell the fish wasn't as firmly hooked. It ended up being a long distance release.
I also caught a mess of undersized stripers, a few white perch, and a couple spot. The redfish action occurred in a 30min window halfway between low and high tide while the current was running pretty quickly. I was near the inside edge of a grass bed near a change in the bottom contour that makes for a good ambush location when I caught the reds. Gulp was the lure of choice for the reds, but the stripers like the Gulp and my brook trout X-Rap equally well. I pretty much stayed in less than 5ft of water all day.
My wife cooked up the redfish for dinner, and it was one of the best pieces of fish I've ever eaten. I might like it even better than speckled trout.
It was the perfect way to end the day.
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