1 Fish...2 Fish...Redfish...Black Drum!

So we went out again on Monday because the weather was supposed to be nice (remember, I said "supposed") with calm winds.  We decided to go out earlier than usual for us because it was supposed to get a little windy and rainy in the afternoon.

We got up and got ready and when we got outside it was FOGGY!!  Years ago I listened to a morning radio show on B100 called the B Morning Zoo...they had Kermit the Frog give the morning fog report...and he reported the amount of fog at 1 to 5 "Piggers"...so when we went out to go fishing on Monday morning, I would have to say it was about a 4 pigger!  Pretty foggy....

As we launched the fog was starting to clear a little...maybe down to a 2 or 2 1/2 pigger...so we plugged in our navigation lights and started out down the ICW.  The foggy morning was quiet and calm, and the sight of a shrimp boat heading past us was pretty majestic.

And there were dolphins hanging around our fishing area, which usually means there's fish nearby!  (And they're such talented dolphins...they swim sideways!)

The spot we had picked wasn't far, so we got there pretty quickly.  We were using frozen shrimp and FishBites, a packaged scented bait that we had heard was working pretty well for Black drum and Redfish right now.

We fished the first spot for about a half hour and caught a couple of small fish, but nothing we could keep.  So we moved to another spot...and no bites there...We moved a couple more times during the morning, trying to find "the" spot.

As the morning progressed, the fog cleared, but the sky was looking pretty ominous and dark.  It started sprinkling and the wind picked up a little...I'm not too opposed to fishing in the rain, but I'm really not fond of fishing in the rain with the wind blowing, too...and the dogs are really not fond of it!!  Samson was giving me dirty looks the whole time...

But even though the weather was kinda crappy, we fished on, because that's how we roll...we're either hard-core or crazy...you decide which one!

So we picked one more spot...the one where Dale had caught his first keeper Black Drum, across the ICW from where we were currently fishing.  The reason we hadn't gone there in the first place was that we had lost a bunch of tackle there because there are oyster beds right where we were fishing and we were trying to bottom fish because the Drum were staying deep, in about 5 feet of water.

(Now before we got here, we had only fished mountain lakes that were 30-300 feet deep...and when we got here, we got told that the fish were deep and to fish in the deeper waters...so one day, I asked what is considered "deep" here and was told that down here, 4 feet is deep!  Everything is relative...)

So we went across the ICW to that spot and tossed in a couple of lines...after a few minutes, Dale's line went ZING! and his rod bent over...he reeled in a nice big Redfish, but when we tried to net it, it spit out the hook and it went flying right past my head!  But it missed me "by that much"!!  Oh, well...you can't catch 'em all...and at least he got to see it.

Then about 5 minutes later, he reeled in because his line had gone slack and he wanted to check his bait.  As he reeled, all of a sudden, it took off and spooled some yardage!  He reeled, the fish fought...it was a great battle!  Dale finally won, and we netted a nice 21", 5 lb Black Drum!  

Then about 10 minutes later, he reeled in a 20 3/4" Redfish!  The Redfish put up a good fight, too! 

A little while later, Dale's pole bent over...he grabbed it and it ran his line out fast...it must have been really big because it took his line and before he knew it, his line snapped!  It took his leader and all! 

I still hadn't caught anything keepable, but I wasn't giving up...I got caught up a couple of times on the oysters, but the nice little pinfish would grab my bait and try to run with it...they weren't big enough to get hooked, but they would move my tackle off the oysters and get me unstuck!  If only they would quit stealing my shrimp!!

After the pinfish got my line loose from the oysters, I cast one more time into the 5 foot water...and...BAM! something grabbed my line and started running!!  The fight was on!  I reeled...it ran, spooling my line...I reeled some more...and finally I got the nice Black Drum to the boat where Dale netted it.  It was my first Black Drum and was about 20 1/2", 5 lbs.

We fished for a little while longer but the wind was getting pretty strong so we decided to head for home...what happened next is for another post...I think I'll call it "The boater's Walk of Shame" although it doesn't involve walking at all...