Thinking this might be a mixed bag day, I started with a Catch 2000. Started working down river when the pawl went bad in that reel. "Dang, and here I am without a spare pawl."
Stowed that rod, crossed the river, and picked up another rod. This one with a black and yellow Snagless Sally with black and chartreuse pork frog trailer on it. Letting the southeast wind and rising tide push me along up the west bank of the river, picking up a paddle just to steer, casting along the edge of the sawgrass and into the pockets in the grass. Wham, dang missed'im. A little bit later, "What was that chasing my lure back to the boat? Red? Maybe, but didn't really look right." A little bit after that, Wham, solid hook-up. "Feels like a red, better get the net. WTH is that? Since when do sheepshead eat spinnerbaits?" A good 19 incher into the cooler. Drifted along, bunch of redwinged blackbirds in the sawgrass, sun beaming down, nice breeze keeping things comfortable. Wham, "Another sheepshead? Nope, this one's a red." A 21 incher joins the sheepshead. Little bunch of coots up ahead. "Looks like a couple of ducks in with'em. Redheads, a drake and two hens. They're a little early. Well, maybe not, this is the middle of November. We just haven't had any cold weather to speak of." Wham, small bass.
Caught nothing but bass, off and on, the rest of the way up to Lower Bridge. Though I did have another sheepie chase my Snagless Sally to the boat and what I think was a red boiled on my lure one time. Most of the bass I caught were right in the mouths of the sloughs, or up in the sloughs and most of them were barely legal or short.
Everything hit that black and yellow Snagless Sally with black and chartreuse pork frog trailer, even though I did throw a Catch 2000 and shallow running Fat Free Guppy for a little bit here and there.
When the breeze started dying down in the middle of the afternoon the sand-gnats steadily increased their numbers until I got to the ramp at Lower Bridge and off the river. On the river they were trying ot eat me alive. Just a few yards off the water, there were none.
Final tally: a 19" sheepie, a 21" red, two 14" bass, a 13" bass and a whole crockpot full of smaller bass released.
