I had planned to fish in the Jacksonville Florida Times Union Redfish Spot Tournament this weekend with friends Tim Parker and Brian Knicley, so we fished on Friday to see if we could find some fish biting. We met early at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River to fish the exposed oyster beds. It wasn't long before we were picking up a bunch of Trout and a few Reds here and there. Tim and Brian were using Temptation Baits and were putting fish in the boat, while I was using live shrimp to catch some, too. Fishing was outstanding on Friday and the weather was beautiful. We followed the same game plan on Saturday and left the Sisters Creek boat ramp to run north to Nassau River. We picked up Trout again early and then added a couple of Redfish, with one in the Slot, but with only two spots. A storm was rolling in and it began to rain heavily. As it began to thunder I hooked up with a BIG fish and had a long and drawn out battle. The lighting began to pop and crackle and the thunder boomed as we fought the fish around the boat and eventually landed it. Tim noted that it had NO SPOTS, worth $500 if the first no-spot entry, but this one was way over the size limit, measuring at 33 1/2", so we returned him to the water. We made run for cover and got out of the storm. After the lighting passed we were able to get in some more fishing, albeit in the rain, and Brian had the hot rod going. He hooked up with a couple of Trout, a small Red, a Puppy Drum then he had a strong hookup that ripped drag off his reel. FISH ON! He battled the fish around the boat, from bow to stern and back to bow, then eventually wore it down and brought it to the net, a legal 26 1/2" Red with 5 spots! We gave the fish some fresh water in the live well, pulled anchor, and made a run through the rain to check in. Our fish gave us 30th place in the tournament but better than that, we took home some crazy fishing memories!
No comments:
Post a Comment