Launched the Adios the other morning at 6:30AM. Still dark and plenty foggy. Why so early in the inky dinky? I wanted to catch a redfish on St.Paddy’s Day. And we had a dawn low tide that promised to hold a few “tailers”.
As soon as I reached the flat I spied “tails” waving through the fog. Not many mind you, but hell I only need one. Right? Easing off the Adios, I crept forward with my trusty 6-weight and dropped an feathered offering nearby. Bingo, a red grabbed hold. Now there’s the luck of the Irish!
Unfortunately, after that, “tailing reds” became rarer than hen’s teeth. I only saw two other “tails” that morning and only got a cast to one. And that cast was instantly nabbed by a snook! My friend Dave calls them “hitchhiker” snook. They followed reds around the flat, hanging back in the shadows, ready to pounce on anything the redfish stirs up.
Sight-fishing for Redfish
Later that morning, out on the sandbar, I tried sight-fishing for reds coming up on the flat with the rising tide. A group of three chunky reds, circled by me. Within thirty feet. Four minutes later they did the same. So I placed a crab fly in their preferred path and waited for them to reappear. They showed again, and as they swam up, I twitched the crab fly. One red inhaled it. Yeah, the Irish are lucky!
