When fishing does not go as planned

Sometimes, a fishing trip does not go as planned. This was certainly the case on Friday evening. Elliott and I decided (at the last minute) to target Redfish on the fly. It was breezy but the wind was forecast to subside, making for challenging but fly fishable conditions. The wind did not subside. Elliott thought I was bringing my 8-weight flyrod and I thought he was bringing his. We ended up fishing with an inexpensive 6-weight flyrod that I keep on the skiff (for just such emergencies). It was way under-powered for the size fly (a chartreuse bead chain Clouser Minnow) and wind conditions (15 knots) but it was all we had.

Upon arrival at our designated fishing area (a shallow area with a slight channel), we immediately saw a small school of Redfish chasing shrimp. Elliott volunteered to pole the skiff and I took the bow with 6-weight fly rod in hand. My first, second and third casts were simply awful. The wind kept knocking my presentation off line or short. In such conditions, an 8-weight fly rod would have been a great help. For the next hour, we cast to several fish but it was more of the same. I resolved to buy an 8-weight fly rod and keep it on the skiff.

Just as I was about to give up, Elliott spotted a single Redfish tailing beside an oyster bar. It was a short downwind cast and my first accurate fly presentation of the evening. On the first strip, I felt weight and thought the fly had gotten hung up on the oyster bar. Very frustrated, I began cussing and tried to break the fly off. Then I realized, it was actually a Redfish. Elliott made a comment about “the worst hook up on the fly” he had ever seen. He was laughing so hard, I thought he would fall off the poling platform. I began laughing too.

We eventually caught, photographed and released the fish. Fly fishing can be a challenging endeavor. Especially, when you forget to bring your fly rod.