Every year, for many years, the great sportsmen of the Pasadena Casting Club in California have auctioned a two for one trip with Kenjo Fly Fishing. This year, Steve and Barry jumped on the opportunity to chase some Texas winter redfish with me for four days of glory. And they were astounded.
Glory day
The weather for those four days we fished together was magnificent and the redfish and black drum kept us busy! One particular fish gave us a hell of a time, being that we casted at it 100 times. Continuously, it refused every offering and several different flies. Over and over and in circles, we chased the fish on the pole as fast as possible to keep it in range, and while this fish finally “seemed” to eat the fly, when we landed it, we discovered that we had accidentally snagged it in the cheek. We took our time boat-side letting the fish recover in the water, and with close inspection we could find nothing obviously wrong with the fish. Very interesting experience with more unanswered questions. This fish must not have been hungry at all!
Cravings
Steve and Barry’s cravings for catching redfish and black drum was not exactly their only desire. They mentioned to me one the first day about how they loved barbeque, so I offered to smoke a brisket that night and we chowed it down over the next few days along with some homemade kimchi!
Our fish were all very healthy and above average size with many shots at oversize redfish each day. Both anglers got to feed so many fish I too am amazed at how great the fishing is this winter.
Hook Sets with Incentives
Both Barry and Steve had to overcome their “trout-setting” instincts. After trout-setting on several fish in a row one particular day, I decided to give them some incentives to “not” trout-set on these hungry red drum. The incentive I offered was a fresh $100 bill to the next person to break the tippet during the next hookset. Accordingly, they did not manage to win that “hundo”, but the challenge inspired him to set the hook properly with a strip-set, and he landed that redfish on fly!
Fly Fishing the Port Aransas region can be very challenging, and sometimes, extremely rewarding. Tenacity, courage, ever-evolving adaptation are key characteristics in fly fishing saltwater. Being a great sportsman also makes any experience a really great time!
While our Texas winter is not quite over at the moment, fear not, we have had a very mild winter with many “glory” days of sight fishing. And many more to come!
The days of glory are not over though! We should really see some great fishing this spring. Don’t forget to book your next Texas saltwater fly fishing experience in Port Aransas! Fly Fishing dates are open for spring break as well!
