Tide: 0.4ft Low at 10:30am
The 2012 IFA Kayak Tour held its first event of the year on Sunday out of Punta Gorda, FL. Despite the awful weather forecast (typical this time of year), forty anglers registered for the redfish + trout event. I talked with quite a few people during the captains meeting and it seemed those who prefished had a tough time locating the big fish. I prefished for two hours and caught some big trout and saw some diesel reds so I knew where I was headed in the morning.
Even though these kayak tournaments aren't very large in comparison to the $20,000 boat tournaments, you can't help but get excited and lose sleep over them. While you try to fall asleep the night before you tend to think about your game plan to give yourself the best chance of utilizing the minimal time you're given. At least I do. My plan was mapped out in my head of the exact route I would take, even specific grass patches and potholes I would cast into. But, as it often happens, the weather forced me to call an audible at 6:30am as there were whitecaps at the launch making my scheduled pedal almost impossible. I made a 15 minute drive to another launch that was somewhat protected from the northeast wind and made my way out to the flat. I concentrated on the edges of potholes for two hours and was able to get 3 trout to 19" and a 22.5" redfish on topwater. I was going to wait for the tide to turn and hope more fish showed but my stakeout pole broke so I couldn't anchor on a day where one was definitely needed. I decided to cut my losses and head back to the truck.
At 9:30 I arrived at my redfish hole where I knew a couple monsters reside. I thoroughly covered a lot of water with the Mirrolure Lil John and finally got the thump I wanted after an hour of casting. The bad part was it wasn't the right species!
That at least gave me the confidence to keep casting for awhile longer. Another two hours of nonstop casting went by and things were looking bleak. It was the exact same situation as the tournament last November. Same spot, going after the same fish. I was honestly ready to turn around and go home. I mean, you can only cast so many times in the same area before you start to question your chances. But then I saw a 12" mullet jump in an area I've never seen one before. I flipped the Lil John under the mangroves near the splash, made a few twitches, and got SLAMMED. The next 3 minutes will forever be etched into my brain as it was the craziest shit ever. As soon as I hooked the fish it came up to the surface and kicked its tail, giving me a clear look at what I had. It instinctively swam deep under the mangroves and pulled me with him. I jumped out of the PA in five feet of water and followed the line with my hand until I eventually got hold of the leader. The fish was still there but was wrapped around every damn limb in this mini jungle. Thirty seconds or so went by and I cleared the line from the branches but a new problem presented itself. The line wrapped around the rod so if the fish ran I was sure to get broken off. So with the rod in my mouth and in water up to my neck, I hand lined the fish in with the braided line rubbing against my hand acting as a surrogate for drag. The damn fish swam under the mangroves 3 more times and I had to repeat the untangling process over again and again. For reasons I will never know or understand, the line never parted. I lipped the fish, made a loud celebratory yell and swam back to the kayak with a 33.75" redfish in my hand.
The word at the weigh-in from Sarasota to Estero was that the fish were biting as long as you were able to present the bait to them in the wind. Third place had 47.75", second had 52", and I barely edged him out with 52.75". I took home a brand new $2549 Pro Angler, $200 for biggest redfish, and $100 for placing the highest out of a Hobie kayak. A hell of a day and a hell of a fish. I know it sounds quite cliche, but you can never quit even when things don't go as planned. If I would've headed to the weigh-in when I was going to I would've been in 10th place. It really only takes that one fish to change your day. And that fishes name is Lucky.
