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.
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.
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