From Ron Brooks,
Your Guide to Saltwater Fishing.
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I fished this week off the coast of Georgia for an upcoming magazine article. The targets were basically any fish we could find this time of year. We did find a variety of fish, including seatrout, redfish and sheepshead. But, it was the reds that really gave us a thrill.

We had caught a number of trout on jigs with grubs as the tide dropped from high to half way down to low. The trout quit us at that point, as I had suspected they would. As the tide dropped, we could see the oyster bars lining the marsh island around which we had been fishing. These were good, pristine, healthy oyster bars, and they were sure to hold some fish when the tide came back.

When the tide did change and start back in, we began easing along the edge of the oyster bars. Actually we were looking for a flounder or two for some pictures. It’s early yet for flounder, but we thought we might run into one lying in the mud next to the oysters. What we found made our hearts pound!

Moving back and forth along the edge of the oyster bars were several schools of redfish. These were full grown fish, all of them over the 23 inch upper limit in Georgia. Their beautiful blue hued tails were coming up out of the water as they fed along the bottom and the edge of the oysters.

The wind was blowing in from the sea – a stiff afternoon sea breeze, and our trolling motor battery was reaching its limit. We had very light tackle with us, and although we figured it would be no match for these reds, we pitched some jigs ahead of them anyway, and worked them back. It took no time at all to get hooked up, and after a big boil of water and a screaming run, we were either cut off on the oysters or broken off by their kicking tails!

No matter, we moved as fast as we could with the now dying trolling motor to get back up to the oysters. Another school showed, and we pitched jigs once again. Once again, we were hit and once again we were broken off after a short battle.

I think that if we had taken the time to tie a longer heavier leader, we could have boated some of these fish. But, in the excitement and with the knowledge that these fish could disappear as fast as they appeared, we went after them with what we had.

The angle of the sun kept me from getting any pictures of the tailing fish, but I did finally get one of the oyster bars we were on.

Once again I have learned a lesson – one I have relearned many times in my life. I call it my “going off half-cocked” lesson. Always, always, always be prepared for the unexpected. We knew we were going to run into some reds. We knew we were fishing oyster bars. Why we didn’t already have those leaders in place makes me wonder about my decision making!