3 Chassahowitzka Redfish on first 3 Casts!
Danglers & Tanglers: What’s my NAME? For those of you that haven’t fished here in Chassahowitzka, or haven’t fished here in awhile, WHAT are you waiting for?? The weather is beautiful and the fish are AGGRESSIVELY feeding! As the water continues to warm the possibilities of a TROPHY catch continue to increase! Rumors of the “Silver Kings” arrival also increase! Yesterday was one of those days that any angler dreams of! My first THREE casts, I had THREE Redfish in the boat all before 8:30 AM!! As most of you know, the limit, (is it ever going to change), on Redfish in Florida is one fish per person per day between 18 and 27 inches. The first Red, I caught was 18 1/2 inches and the next two were FAT 17 inches so I decided to put the 18 1/2 in the live-well, just in case I CAUGHT a bigger one later in the day and released the 17’s. So with success so early, and after a conversation with Captain Johnny Roush, while picking up my 100 shrimp for bait, about not HAMMERING a school of fish, I decided to explore and fish places that I haven’t fished in “Bare Bottoms” before. What a decision! I caught fish at EVERY stop, except for you seasoned Chassahowitzka anglers, the BLOW HOLE, and had non-stop action all day!! The shrimp were being inhaled as soon as they hit the water! The day’s final tally was 16 REDFISH, 2 Sheepshead, and who knows how many Sting Rays!!! I kept looking for Cobia on the Rays! Most of the Reds were between 17 to 19 inches! As I continued working my way South, I decided to stop and fish one more shoreline before heading back in. By this time of the day, the remaining shrimp were small, so I decided to put either two or three on the hook and cast towards the rocky shoreline. Again, they were being wacked as soon as they hit the water and my lightest rod and reel just began to scream! The battle was on and I was walked around the boat a couple of times! After catching so many Reds during the day, I immediately knew this was a BIG one! So BIG that when I finally did get him to the boat, he was almost to BIG for my net!! So that first 18 1/2 inch Redfish, that had rode around with me all day, got to swim free! Now some of you may be wondering how I got a picture of me holding the 26 3/4 Inch REDFISH, as I had fished by myself all day? The photo was courtesy of the two Florida Fish & Wildlife Agents that stopped to check my license and catch, who commented that was the nicest Red they had seen in a long time! What’s my NAME?? Let’s go CATCHING, Captain Red ED