Thursthouse
Tight Loins
Spent a week down in Pawley's Island for a family vacation. My brother-in law and I took a guide out for Redfish (red drum/red bass). Neither of us had fly fished in salt water before, so the learning curve was a little longer than what it probably should have been which resulted in missed fish (both raising the rod to set the hook as opposed to a strip set and making poor casts and spooking the fish). We didn't come across a ridiculous amount of fish, but we did see some ladyfish smashing baitfish as well as Reds. The Reds when swimming in a school, even more noticeable to my untrained eye in the shallows, caused a wake which was pretty neat to see and trying to toss that fly in front of the wake was a lot of fun. We should have hooked up with a couple more fish, but being new to salt water fly fishing, never casting 8/9 wt rods and the fast paced style of fishing (ie load the rod, one false cast, place the fly, miss? move on) and the adrenaline....ohh the adrenaline...it was pumping close to that of seeing a deer creep by your tree stand.
But finally making a good presentation and seeing that wake close in on the fly and then just feeling the fly stop dead followed by the sound of line peeling off the rod was welllllll worth.
And watching those Redfish tails poking out of the water (tailing) when they're bottom feeding was truly special. You might only catch a glimpse of the top of the tail or when they really settled in you were able to see the dot on the tail which was fantastic. Not another sole around when we were fishing which also added to the adventure.
But finally making a good presentation and seeing that wake close in on the fly and then just feeling the fly stop dead followed by the sound of line peeling off the rod was welllllll worth.
And watching those Redfish tails poking out of the water (tailing) when they're bottom feeding was truly special. You might only catch a glimpse of the top of the tail or when they really settled in you were able to see the dot on the tail which was fantastic. Not another sole around when we were fishing which also added to the adventure.
