A Story to Tell?
I believe this seven pound, tailing red has a story to tell. Sorry, I can’t reveal it quite yet. I want to check on a few facts to see if what he told me is really true.
Still I can tell you that this adventure was wild six-weight fun. Aired out some fly line, this bad boy did. And rest assured when I understand things better, I’ll be sure to get back to you.
Tailing Red
Well I got it this morning. No not that, I got my first tailing red! Very cool.
Before first light I ran into Andy down at the boat ramp. Andy has far more experience with reds than I do. So naturally I was asking him some questions. Along with the answers Andy kindly gave me a fly to try. Nice of him.
To make a long story short, later that morning the fly produced my first tailing red. Man I’m psyched. This tailing redfish thing is a great game. It is every bit as much fun as tailing bonefish, and reds tend to be bigger!
Recent Red
I’ve been sticking close by in recent times, trying to learn my home waters. How’s my results? A mixed bag amigo. Some days it is a very slow pick, a fish here and an hour later one there. Other days are better. One morning I had two slot reds and a chunky snook. Nice.
Overall I’m hoping for a shot at a tailing red. No luck to date. Occasionally I do see a tail, but by the time I get in casting range its gone, never to return. Damn. Still there are some fine morning low tides headed here next week. Maybe my luck is about to change!
A couple of days ago I caught another boat ride with Ron Whitelely. Ron sure knows how to find the fish! We immediately ran into a huge spanish mackerel blitz spread out over a couple of miles of beach front. Endless fish and birds. And some of these “macks” were up to two feet long. Great fun.
Sweetening up the mix, at times there were little tunny mixed in too. You had to wait and watch for the larger explosions and then key to then. It took a little patience but it wasn’t really difficult to do. Now these were big bad “albies” to say the least, double digit and teen size fish. Yikes. They had my 10-weight crying for mercy!
One of these rocketships ripped my entire leader off. At first I thought it was a failed nail knot; something I had never seen before. Later at home I could see that the fish had actually broken the fly line itself! It was a warm water, clear intermediate without a braided core.
Inexpensive Kayak Push Pole
How to make a inexpensive kayak push pole. Man, I’ve been wanting a kayak push pole to help me sneak up on reds. So I did a DIY push pole. You can see it in the photo to the left. Its blue and on the near side of the kayak.
Now I could have used a simple length of PVC, but I wanted something a bit better without putting a hole in my wallet. At Home Depot I found a lightweight aluminum pool pole, intended to be used around a swimming pool.. It was adjustable from 8 to 16 feet in length, and cost a whopping 23 dollars. Perfect!
Inexpensive Kayak Push pole
The shaft has a good handle on one end, but was open on the other so I need to make a foot to fit. I headed over to plumbing and picked up a 1″ PVC “T”. Two reducing bushing that stepped down to 1/2″ thread, and two 1/2 threaded plugs. Total cost for all parts around 27 buckeroos. Took it all home and Gorilla glued it together. There you go a good DIY kayak push pole.
Inexpensive Kayak Push Pole
Used it today for the first time. Nice! Not very heavy. Plenty stiff enough for kayak use. And the adjustable length proved handy during my day on the water. Does the pole float? You bet. How durable is it? Time will tell my friend.
Update: After several days use I have found a glitch. When the pole is extended beyond 8 feet, care should be taken not to apply heavy pressure to the upper section or it may slip. The remedy is simple. Always begin a “push” with your lower hand, the one around the thicker nonadjustable shaft. Or better yet begin your push with your hand around the white knuckle. Once the kayak starts to glide forward, additional light pressure can be applied to the thinner upper section. The other solution is to find the right length for your water and taped the the two sections together so they are solid.
Update: See January 2014 post
