I was on the road heading to the Delacroix area by 1:30 am. I arrived a full hour before launch time which allowed me to take some time to get my Hobie Outback loaded and go through a final gear check.
5 am
came quickly and I quietly slipped into the darkness heading to my spot which I
knew held some good fish. I had already mentally prepared myself for the long
paddle ahead as the area was thick with grass which quickly took away the advantage
of a peddle kayak. About a mile in, I
realize my forward progress had stopped even though my paddling had not. It
took me a few minutes in the darkness to realize my rudder at snagged an old
crap trap line and had me pinched. As I
freed myself, I could already hear the Reds crashing all around me. I resisted
the urge to start casting and instead kept to my original game plan to reach my
area at daylight. As the early morning glow reflected on the water I arrived at
my destination and was immediately rewarded with ripples on the water and the
sounds of feeding Reds in every direction. 
It
was game time. I immediately began throwing a weedless Ribbit frog and a huge
swell came up behind it and I tensed up in preparation for the hook set. After
following it for 10 feet he peeled off and lost interest. A few casts later a
large red inhaled my lure and had my drag screaming. A short fight later I
landed a nice 24.5" slot red. My tournament day was off to a good start.
After several more minutes and a number of fish following but losing interest in
my saltwater frog, I switched over to a Gulp
Jerk bait rigged weedless.The water all around me was still in frenzy with
Reds feeding and chasing baitfish.
For
the next 30 minutes I landed 3 more fat Reds ranging in size from 23-25"
and released two smaller 16" candidates because I just knew that magical
26-7/8" was just waiting to find a home in my Hobie. Well, Murphy's Law reared
it ugly face and I proceeded to break my leader on what had to easily be my
biggest hook up of the day. I then had
two more very large Reds spit the hook and leave me questioning my decision to
release the smaller fish. I had four
fish in the bag by 7:30 and was feeling very confident.
Then
like a light switch the bite was off. I actually believe my once deadly Gulp
Jerk Shad began to spook everything in its path. Activity was still high and I
saw quite a few tailing Reds but they wanted absolutely no part in what I had
to offer. For the next few hours I moved around working the grass mat edges and
the clean channels running through them. I missed a few more hook sets
including what I am convinced was a small Bass. I was determined to bring in a
full limit and was not going to accept anything less. By 11:30 the bite picked
back up and I began seeing more and more tailing reds in the shallower ponds. A
particular large tail and dorsal fin was aggressively working the edge of the
broken marsh grass and I made a B-line to intercept him. My first throw was a
little behind and didn't get his attention. My second cast was dead on and as I
dragged my Jerk Shad across his nose he destroyed it and the fight was on. After a few minutes and beaching himself on a mud flat I managed to get him in the boat and complete my limit of Reds.
I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and
thought I had an outside chance at a possible top 10-12 tournament finish with
the weight in my bag even without picking up a Bass. Knowing it was getting
late and I had a long paddle in front of me I headed back to the launch.
I arrived at the weigh-in tired but optimistic
and began recounting the days experiences with everyone else. I truly enjoy sharing stories and listening about the day’s adventures
with everyone. My final weigh-in was exactly 22.0 lbs. putting me in a
respectable 8th place overall. Considering the number of phenomenal Anglers we
have in BCKFC It was a good finish. Of course the hard core competitor in me kicks
myself knowing I missed several opportunities that could have produced much
better results. Overall, I had a
fantastic time on the water with good friends and at the end of the day I believe
that is what it’s truly about. Congratulation to all the winners as it is well deserved. Thanks to all the
BCKFC directors for putting on another awesome tournament. 