Slump Busting

I got an invite from a local kayak guide, Tim Taramelli (NCPierMan) to head out looking for top water reds. I needed to break my recent luck and I knew he was a guy that could help. We launched at just after day break and began looking for top water reds. This is all pretty common, fishing low light conditions with top water and covering ground. It got interesting when we didn't stop despite several short strikes. The sun rose high in the sky and we still went with topwater, crazy I thought. Tim looked past my negativity ensuring me we would find em and he was excited to see me catch one, despite our luck to the contrary. At one cove he waved me over and showed me a school, he hooked two and had a ton of missed blow ups, I tried to not crowd him but he insisted. Before I could get close enough the bite died.

We kept looking and I was thinking my luck had followed me from Charleston. Tim hooked up on two more reds, one being a hoss at 25". He offered the lure he was throwing but I insisted I would find some fish on my lure.

I finally got in on the action with three reds of my own, the first was a double with Tim besting me with a 24" to my 19.5" Red.

We kept at it until I got a fish that stretched to 26" with a pinched tail!

 

 

 

Tim put me on some nice fish and we had a great time in between bites. If you are ever in the Jacksonville, NC area I'd give Tim a call. He and Wilderness Systems Team member Michael Ortiz can be booked at:   www.airborne-angler-adventures.com

Tourney Troubles

 

 

I will admit to you right now, I am depressed and a bit embarrassed but let me introduce the situation first. I recently fished the IFA Redfish Kayak Tourney in Charleston. I was pretty excited about the opportunity to fish against some of the region’s best tournament kayak anglers. I specifically specify tournament anglers because these guys consistently place or win tourneys. I went down to Chucktown on the weekend prior. I found a school of reds, although easily spooked and tight lipped but plenty of trout. Trout up to 18” were pretty easy to come by. During the week the area received a tropical storm, several inches of rain and sustained winds over 40 mph.

The next Sat, the day before the tourney, I landed a nice 19” Speck, so I was pretty confident when it came to trout. I knew reds would be tough but decided to fish the area because I knew it and could easily get a scoreable trout larger than 14” then concentrate on reds. The day came and I was up at 0400, ready to launch by 0510. I had a baby gator watching me prepare for the day. It was just me and him in the early morning light.

 

 

Can you see my buddy in this pic? He kept a close eye on me for 30 min.

 

 

On the way out I had to stop and snap a shot, sometimes no matter the fishing I can appreciate how beautiful mother nature can be.

 

 I went straight to the trout spot three miles away and began casting, nothing. I changed from a popping cork to a paddle tail, nothing. I knew they would be there and caught them on the incoming but they weren’t on the feed. I waited for the tide change burning precious hours. In the meantime I realized the trail mix I picked up had banana chips in it (google bad luck fishing bannanas if you don't know why its bad. I have never caught a fish after eating a banana or having one on board), I pour my breakfast into the water hoping my luck will change. The tide slacked and I began getting bit. I caught 5 trout before 1000, but the largest was  under 13”. The current started to rip and time didn’t stop. I looked at the clock, addressed my attitude, thought about my 5 hour trip back home and called it a day.

 

 

 

I am embarrassed because for the foreseeable future if you look up the results you’ll see:

Jay Brooks           Red: 0”                 Trout: 0”              Total: 0”

 

I am better than that, I know it. Did this knock me down a notch, yeah for sure. Am I having a pitty party, probably. Will I become a better angler or tourney fisherman, we will see! Do I have excuses, of course I am a fisherman but in the words of my buddy Justin Mayer, that's loser talk. I either caught what I needed to or I didn't, its that simple.