Aucilla 3/1/08 - JBT Redfish Tourney
Posted: March 1st, 2008, 6:42 pm
Launched at the Aucilla this morning behind Showboat and Suber...the tide was real low and so I idled out the river to one of my favorite spots East. Fished a series of bars - my dad throwing a spoon and me throwing a soft jerkbait. At Spot #1 we caught 7 trout to 20". They were caught in less than 2' of water on oyster bars with muddy / spotty bottom.
We fished a few creek mouths in the area, saw a few redfish, but the fish were real skittish. The water temp at spot #1 when we got there was 53, but rose to around 57 around 10:30 when we left it. We were having fun catching fish, but were in a redfish tourney and left the biting trout in search of the pumpkins.
Spot #2 was a series of muddy / rocky coves that TC and I had seen fish in the last redfish tournament. We saw fish in the first cove, but once again, they were spooky and so we moved on. In the second cove, we saw quite a few fish - some good ones mixed in with the runts - and mullet were present and happy. We eased into the cove and I hooked a decent red on the jerkbait...it wrapped me around an old crab trap and broke me off. Pops catches a small red - 19.5" - on a spoon and so we set the power pole down.
We continue fishing the patchy bottom / oyster bar for a few minutes and he has a good one drill the spoon. It rips out about 20 feet of drag and then comes loose. By this time we're frustrated and so we decided to head west and forget about the first two locations.
Around 12:45 we ease into a nice shoreline with rocks and happy mullet and immediatly spook a few reds with the trolling motor. We continue fishing West and I catch a red on the jig that goes about 20".
We've got two fish, but they aren't tournament winners so we continue fishing down the bank. We ease into a spot that we'd found in December with nice spotty bottom up close to the grass line. Pops hooks a good one, fights it for a minute or two and we get it in the boat - 24". It had several buddies with it so we power pole down and let the area settle for a few minutes. I'm still throwing the jerkbait and have a good thump as I'm twitching it. I set the hook and a GOOD (22+")trout comes up and shakes it head. It pulls out some drag, comes up and shakes again and throws the hook. Damn.
We're still pp'd down and so Pops flings the spoon out and sticks a good one close to the boat. It went 21" and culled the other fish (it swam away happily). The bite got real hot around 1:30 and we were pressed for time and didn't take any pics of the fish we weighed.
Tally for the day: 7 trout to 20" and 5 reds to 24"
We ended up having 8lbs 4oz and came in third. It was a beautiful day with one of my best friends...what more can you ask for.
T - 10 , R - 17
We fished a few creek mouths in the area, saw a few redfish, but the fish were real skittish. The water temp at spot #1 when we got there was 53, but rose to around 57 around 10:30 when we left it. We were having fun catching fish, but were in a redfish tourney and left the biting trout in search of the pumpkins.
Spot #2 was a series of muddy / rocky coves that TC and I had seen fish in the last redfish tournament. We saw fish in the first cove, but once again, they were spooky and so we moved on. In the second cove, we saw quite a few fish - some good ones mixed in with the runts - and mullet were present and happy. We eased into the cove and I hooked a decent red on the jerkbait...it wrapped me around an old crab trap and broke me off. Pops catches a small red - 19.5" - on a spoon and so we set the power pole down.
We continue fishing the patchy bottom / oyster bar for a few minutes and he has a good one drill the spoon. It rips out about 20 feet of drag and then comes loose. By this time we're frustrated and so we decided to head west and forget about the first two locations.
Around 12:45 we ease into a nice shoreline with rocks and happy mullet and immediatly spook a few reds with the trolling motor. We continue fishing West and I catch a red on the jig that goes about 20".
We've got two fish, but they aren't tournament winners so we continue fishing down the bank. We ease into a spot that we'd found in December with nice spotty bottom up close to the grass line. Pops hooks a good one, fights it for a minute or two and we get it in the boat - 24". It had several buddies with it so we power pole down and let the area settle for a few minutes. I'm still throwing the jerkbait and have a good thump as I'm twitching it. I set the hook and a GOOD (22+")trout comes up and shakes it head. It pulls out some drag, comes up and shakes again and throws the hook. Damn.
We're still pp'd down and so Pops flings the spoon out and sticks a good one close to the boat. It went 21" and culled the other fish (it swam away happily). The bite got real hot around 1:30 and we were pressed for time and didn't take any pics of the fish we weighed.
Tally for the day: 7 trout to 20" and 5 reds to 24"
We ended up having 8lbs 4oz and came in third. It was a beautiful day with one of my best friends...what more can you ask for.
T - 10 , R - 17
Consequently, it was judged to be too big (27.25") and so they went from first to fifth weighing only their other fish - a 2 or 3 lb fish.