Quick Weedon Island Trip

This was my position most of the afternoon as I drifted the flats looking for reds, trout and snook.  The noon started off slow with just a couple of pinfish until I got up to the potholed flat that I've fished with John before.  After just drifting a few hundred yards I had seen more big redfish than I probably had ever seen at one time.  Most every open sand hole had a rather larger redfish in the bottom of it.  Unfortunately, they were extremely spooky and every cast sent those fish flying off their holes.  I was fishing a circle hook with a shrimp head hooked with a small pinch on weight to drive it to the bottom but after watching a nearby boat hook up on free lined white bait I knew my rig had to be modified if I was going to catch one of these fish.


So I took off the weight and then tailed hooked the shrimp for more scent and easier casting and made another pass across the area.  I had a couple of quick misses so I knew I was on the pattern even though you had to make much longer casts in order for the shrimp to sink the 2 ft to the fish.  Finally, I had a red lined up perfectly facing away from me so I could throw over the top and reel back to the fish to present the shrimp perfectly.  He came up out the hole chasing the shrimp, missed twice and finally picked it up on the third try as I drove the hook home.  After a quick fight and a picture I was back on the hunt.

 

I started back across the flat and hooked up on a rather large trout with a huge gash across the dorsal fin but I was unable to land as the hook came off at the boat.  I guess the Ospreys have been working that area as well and maybe the reason why the fish were spooky.


I turned back with the wind and drifted in order to be as quiet as possible and went over the holes with the larger fish in them again.  Half way through the drift I spot a larger red out in front of the boat that would be a great target.  I put a good cast in on the fish and it responded by chasing down the shrimp and picking it almost off the top of the water and then it was off to the races.  The video below is after two blistering runs that didn't get on camera (*click picture below).

After that I had it dialed in but the tide was quickly coming to an end and I caught one more red and another fish that I didn't know what it was before the tide died.  I jumped up out of there and ran back to the launch under some great conditions to open up the motor a little which has been few and far between lately.