I invited Johnny Q., http://www.johnnyquiroz.com/Site/JohnnyQuiroz.html, and his friend, Walter, to go fishing with me on last Wednesday. Johnny guides on the rivers of Texas and has had a stint guiding in Alaska.
The weather report said a light north wind in the morning, dying mid-day, then a slight south breeze in the afternoon with temperatures in the low 80’s and nothing but sunshine. In other words, perfect, and this time the weather person got it right.
I launched the Maverick HPX-T at the Arroyo and turned the key, …nothing. The battery was dead. I had inadvertently left the battery switch on and a navigation light ran it down. I was 40 minutes away from my house and they were to arrive to meet me any minute. I have always carried a pull rope in the boat but, over the years, I have never needed to use it. Could a Yamaha 70 HP motor be started with a pull rope? A cold engine?
The weather report said a light north wind in the morning, dying mid-day, then a slight south breeze in the afternoon with temperatures in the low 80’s and nothing but sunshine. In other words, perfect, and this time the weather person got it right.
I launched the Maverick HPX-T at the Arroyo and turned the key, …nothing. The battery was dead. I had inadvertently left the battery switch on and a navigation light ran it down. I was 40 minutes away from my house and they were to arrive to meet me any minute. I have always carried a pull rope in the boat but, over the years, I have never needed to use it. Could a Yamaha 70 HP motor be started with a pull rope? A cold engine?
Three pulls and the engine came to life. I told my friends that this could only mean that something good was going to happen out on the water.
As we left the Arroyo River and entered the bay, I skimmed over water that was a bit shallower than I expected. We made it “over the hump” and headed to an east location where I had seen good numbers of fish a few days before and the water would be a bit deeper, just enough to allow me to pole the boat. At first I was disappointed that we had not pushed a single fish where I expected them to be. I shut down in about a foot of water that was gin clear, hoping I would pole us into the fish that should be there.
We let Walter up on the bow first as this was his first experience sight fishing. He has not been “converted” to fly fishing, yet, give us a little time. Almost immediately, I spotted the first fish. He cast to the fish and on the third cast he came tight to a very fat 23 inch redfish. A great start but I was unprepared for what we saw the rest of the day. Redfish began to appear all around us as singles and groups up to about 20 fish. There were fish tailing and large groups pushing wakes in every direction. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they were aggressive. One fish actually raced 4 feet to get to the fly and eat. Over the course of about 6 hours, we saw what we estimated to be a hundred redfish. It was as if every redfish in the bay decided to have a convention at this location.
As we left the Arroyo River and entered the bay, I skimmed over water that was a bit shallower than I expected. We made it “over the hump” and headed to an east location where I had seen good numbers of fish a few days before and the water would be a bit deeper, just enough to allow me to pole the boat. At first I was disappointed that we had not pushed a single fish where I expected them to be. I shut down in about a foot of water that was gin clear, hoping I would pole us into the fish that should be there.
We let Walter up on the bow first as this was his first experience sight fishing. He has not been “converted” to fly fishing, yet, give us a little time. Almost immediately, I spotted the first fish. He cast to the fish and on the third cast he came tight to a very fat 23 inch redfish. A great start but I was unprepared for what we saw the rest of the day. Redfish began to appear all around us as singles and groups up to about 20 fish. There were fish tailing and large groups pushing wakes in every direction. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they were aggressive. One fish actually raced 4 feet to get to the fly and eat. Over the course of about 6 hours, we saw what we estimated to be a hundred redfish. It was as if every redfish in the bay decided to have a convention at this location.
I will let the photo’s tell the rest of the story. We had a blast.
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