January 12
Sauk, Hoh and Queets

February 18
Permit in Placencia

May 7
Ice Out on Hebgen

September 9
Float Tubes

There's a old Montana joke that goes if you want to catch a white fish, use a fly with white on it - that covers two guide standbys, the bitch creek and bead head prince....

Today was the inaugural fishing day of the Alexander '05/'06 redfish season - it started with cursing the PC and printer at 5am when we realized that we needed licenses and that computers, bureaucratic organizations, printers low on toner and people who haven't had their morning coffee shouldn't interact...  Forty minutes later we had freshly printed licenses in hand.  We locked the dogs into the backyard - last time we tried this we arrived home from fishing to find them sitting in the front yard looking smug.  So we drove around the block - no dogs, then off to get gas and tacos.  A second pass, no dogs - ok then, off we go.

Between the PC and dogfretting we didn't get as early of a jump on the day as we'd hoped, and so drove off into the rising - read blinding - sun and into what ever 'rush hour' traffic the tiny berg of Rio Hondo could throw at us.  These guys are nutty.  They love to drive on the shoulder, even if its in a construction zone over railroad tracks, but we arrived at the launch unscathed.  The launch was funny.  A crew of muchacos who were rebuilding one of the launches, watched our put in.  Maybe they were impressed by Bob's flawless backing job, but they got a real chuckle out of pointing out that we had not removed the safety chain which attaches the boat to the trailer.  That might explain why two grown adults couldn't managed to push the boat off of the trailer despite the fact that much of the boat was already floating.... Bob jokes to them 'I hope we put the plug in'. 

I climbed on board, started the engine.  It turned over first time.  I think the dudes were disappointed that it didn't sputter, belch a cloud of black smoke and die.  I put 'er in reverse and backed out of the launch. This boat has about 3 inches of freeboard and an open transom.  It also has all of its weight on the back - me, the poling platform, the 70hp engine.  Backing up, therefore, results in 'taking on' a little water - ok, the back 3 feet of the boat end up slightly submerged.  The guys on the dock panic.  HEY LADY!! HEY LADY!! THE PLUG!!! YOU ARE SINKING!!!  I look behind me and sure enough they are right.  I stand on my tiptoes and shout back ITS ALRIGHT!!!   The dumb broad can't even sense danger so they start yelling at Bob. STOP! SHE'S SINKING!!!  I put 'er into forward and the boat slides out from beneath the water on the back. They are still very concerned.  So I pretend to check the plugs and wave and smile.  I nudge back up to the dock and pick up Bob and off we go.

We run out the Arroyo and up towards Port Mansfield into a northerly.  Its the same northerly/cold front that kept the hurricane from heading into the Gulf - so we are not complaining.  We didn't get to fish much last year as it took until March for the boat to be completed and then we spent most of its new time breaking in the engine.  So this is really our first season exploring the Laguna Madre.  We go to a spot that, even though the water is really low, we should be able to pass into a mini-bay with out going aground - Nuts! Someone (one of only 3 boats we see all day) is there and actually fishing this little passage.  We decide to be friendly and not roar right past them.  We skirt around a long, skinny island and enter the bay from the north end.  When we kill the engine we realize just how windy its gotten.  I'm freezing from the run out - despite the fact that I'm wearing all the polypro that made the trip to Texas. 

We got a tip last night from our mentor and buddy Rick Hartman that he's been using red flies. So I tied a few up and that's what we've tied on - red flies for redfish - makes sense. 

I climb up onto the poling platform - it seems about the size of a napkin.  But after a few minutes I've got the hang of it and am actually maneuvering downwind skirting patches of dry land, wading birds, grass clumps and sticks which mark underwater hazards.  We start looking for fish.  We spot a few fish, but a little too late.  They spook before we can get a cast off.  Poling right down the shoreline - I'm trying to keep us just off the beach.  In this 8" water we are likely to see fish earlier.  There's one.  Its straight ahead and going the same direction we are headed.  Bob makes a nice cast, pause, strip, strip - ZINNNNNGGGGG.  I get so excited about the fish I forget about the wind blowing us onto shore and sludddddgggge we come to a stop.  Undaunted, Bob gets the fish close to the boat.  When the fish sees the boat or maybe it saw Bob, it freaks out and slip goes Bob's experimental knot (another story - he's going back to the improved clinch knot).  With some grunting we unbeach ourselves and work the rest of the way down that side.  We had a great day - great considering the wind, the water is a still a bit off color (thus the bright red flies), and our eyes are a bit rusty. The boat worked very well and we returned to find that the dogs were still in the backyard. A successful day!!! Check out this 28" beauty... notice that at 1pm I'm still bundled up...