The story of how I procured those fish...

Cam and I had been fishing for hours. We got at Crab Creek at slack high and had fished all of the outgoing with one snagged croaker to show for our efforts. Other than that just some Gulps with the tails bitten off.

Cam was playing on an exposed sandbar when I decided to try the gut where I had been with Forrest. Maybe that had some fish now that the water was moving in. Cam was not amused. He was ready to go home, but I wanted to catch more than a sunburn before heading in. Getting to the gut was proving difficult at dead low. There wasn't much water, but there was plenty of mud. Cam hates mud. There was some crying, but after various and cursory threats to his health if he didn't keep moving forward, we made through to the oyster beds and the gut itself. Thankfully, there was another sandbar for him to play on. He was over fishing. I made a few casts with the expected results.

"Cam", I said, "you stay here. I'm going to drift down this channel to the white house. If nothing bites, we'll go home. Do. Not. Get off this sandbar." "OK", said Cam. "look, a golf ball!" I drifted away, casting my line and shaking my head.

Halfway down I decided gulps weren't going to do it. I could see fish knuckling the water, but they weren't eating. At least not this. I put on something new called a Redfish Magic. It has a spinner bait attached. I got the color Cory had suggested.

I hate new lures. How fast? What depth? Do I jerk? I went with a quick straight retrieve. Nada. I varied it up, but still nothing. I was getting close to the white house. I did manage some see grass, though. Once more, I thought. I cast, aaaaaand....sea grass. Great. Then the grass started moving. Some thing had picked up the lure off the back of the grass. So after a minute, I had the fish Cam is holding.

I held it up to show Cam. He thought I was yelling for him to come to me, so he jumps in his kayak and paddles to me. Well, this'll work, I thought. "The fish are here", I told Cam, "but you have to be quiet. They'll spook easy. Just hang on to my yak and I'll hand you the rod once we hook one."

We circled back to a point halfway through my drift and let the wind and current take us toward the white house again. I was casting like a madman. I really wanted to get a fish f...THERE!!!!

"CAM, I GOT ONE!! C'MERE!!!" Cam tried to shoot himself along side my kayak but was only partially successful. Meanwhile, I discovered this fish was bigger than the first. He made two or three solid runs and peeled line off my rod. "C'MON, B'FORE HE GETS OFF!!!" Another run at 90 degrees to the first...this fish seemed determined to find a away out of the mess he'd gotten himself into. Cam was holding on to my side handle now. Just needed the right moment to hand it off. The fish was pulling us both around the flats, probably close to 350 lbs all told, and a fish was pulling us around. Another run, and the line goes slack. Crap. CRAP!! He's turned towards us!!! I reel line in for all I'm worth. The fish comes across the oyster flats, then goes under my kayak, then sees Cam and doubles back towards me. As I get the fish to the boat, the line wraps around and oyster and is cut. As the line goes slack, there's a splash as the fish falls in the water, and I see him dart under the boat with my new lure.

Cam and I look at each other with wide eyes, and like that kid from the Incredibles, scream to each other about how awesome that was, even though the fish got away. As were talking, I notice a white line in the water about four feet from the kayak. It was the fish I was fighting, wore out, sitting there. I reached over and picked him up, took my damn lure back and put him in the box with the other.

They were delicious...

The week(s) in pictures