I went to the coast this morning to pitch some topwater and other than a couple of small trout, I was without fish. Usually I hear the pop of something getting eaten but not today. Bait. All I heard was bait. And big mullet jumping. So the sun came up a little ,and I moved a little, and I heard one. Up under some mangroves. At first I looked at the tree and figured I couldn’t get to him. As I got closer I saw that it was a maybe. I’d brought a Bobby garland body on a 1/8 jig and a light action rod that was easily maneuverable it tighter quarters better than my favorite 7’6”. Made one cst and it was short. I made sure the next one went past the tree but as close as I could get it. Only inches deep, less than a foot, I had the reel in gear and the jig moving cuz I couldn’t let it sink. It hit just where I wanted it and I kept it moving. Just as it passsed the tree, the line came tight. He’d snuck up behind it but boy, once he turned it was on. My guess is between 16 and 18” and the rod and line were just right. But he turned to go back to the mangrove and I couldn’t have that. So I leaned on him but that didn’t do it. Then I had to stop the spool from letting line go and he pulled the hook, I thought. Turned out that crappie hooks ain’t tough enough for steamed up Redfish. He’d straightened out the hook enough to say goodbye. If I’d had open water I could have at least gotten a pic cuz we can’t keep ‘em here anyway. All my other hooks were way big for that body so I just put it away. Fished near six hours with nothing for dinner. I’ll do better next time and hopefully they’ll be in a topwater kind of mood. Hope y’all got out and did better than me. Here’s the pics…….Skeet
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