Wading for Topwater Redfish

I almost talked myself out of going. Fishing buddy Joe Jones said “c’mon, we’ll go for a couple hours”. So I gathered up my gear and we drove a few miles to a secluded flat to hunt for redfish. We arrived to a negative tide and waded down a shallow creek to a small bay hiding the redfish flat.

The bay is fed by two creeks on either side and has a muddy bottom. On one side is a long oyster bed adjacent to one of the creeks, and in front of that a deeper depression that slowly rises to the mud flat that comprises most of the bay. We entered the bay via the creek opposite the oyster bed as the tide began to flood in.

We waded out onto the soft mud and signs of fish were everywhere. Across the bay the mullet were jumping and baitfish were scattering nearby. Joe and I were both using a bone colored Spook Jr. A little wind was blowing over the water making it a bit more difficult to work the lures effectively, but in the end, it would make no difference at all.

Within two minutes, Joe said “fish on”, but I heard the splash of the lure getting crushed. I made my way over to Joe, slogging through the knee deep mud, to get a picture. He released the slot redfish and we continued fishing. A minute later, another splash. This time I could hear drag peeling as Joe is trying to control this beast. As I make my way back over to him, I see the big redfish as it makes a run right past me. “That’s a nice fish!” I call out to Joe as he laughs out loud and replies “Yeah”. Joe brings the redfish close in just as the leader breaks, losing both fish and lure.

 

As Joe was busy retying, I was busy catching. I casted my Spook Jr toward a mullet school that looked a little agitated. After three attempts at the lure, the redfish finally hit it and we were locked in a struggle. It wasn’t a huge fish, but he felt big on my light tackle. After a fairly quick fight, the slot fish was released. He was quickly followed by two more.

 

Joe had tied on another Spook Jr and was back at work. This time it was a sailcat! On topwater! Joe followed that up with another small redfish. I stopped taking pictures as it was too difficult to move in the deep mud. We had been in the bay for about an hour and a half, and we were already feeling the effects of the workout. We started making our way back toward the creek when Joe spied fish near the mouth. Joe made a near perfect cast and his Spook Jr was crushed by a snook that sent the lure flying into the air. No hook up, but fun to watch.  

 

We made it back to the truck right at the two hour mark. It was a great morning for topwater redfish, but we were feeling physically. It was worth the work with many fish landed by both of us.