Bull Reds

Bull Reds in the fall, must be the Texas Coastal Bend –

Went down to fish, since we got rained out the other weekend. I like my unemployed friends, middle of the week is no problem.

big red one

We were on the water about 7:30 and my first fish in the boat at by 8:15. Remember, now, Mercury is Retrograde – so the “bite” was off and on, mostly off, but then on, all day long.

Boated maybe 5 or 6 “Bull Reds,” giant, over-sized Redfish, or as one my buddies, Bubba, calls them, “Spot Tail Bass.”

It was just good fun. Me and a buddy, fresh sea air, hot autumn sun, gentle coastal zephyrs, and did I mention Mercury is Retrograde? Yeah, that, too.

The tide, currents, winds, all kept shifting, and this was just off the Inter-Coastal Waterway, so a few empty tankers rolled in, and a few full barges plied their way along the watery lanes, commerce, and in a big way. The marine traffic affected the water’s push and pull, like mini-tides, with baits, flotsam and jetsam and occasional tangled lines, but none of it serious.

A good time was had by all, that’s for sure.

Tagged

One of the most fun, I got a “tagger” Bull Red, the tag clearly visible in one shot, and I was using a special technique, Ron’s unique way to treat a pin fish, and that yielded up that one big feller. Had to keep one of them. Just had to. That one came in the middle of the afternoon.

The bay is full of dolphins, not a new concept – I once thought I was grabbing video of dolphins doing an intimate mating ritual, or playing grab-ass in the water. I was going to call it “dolphin porn,” but that was the one time the video didn’t work. One of the big critters adopted us, or rather, hung around the boat, begging for food. Wound up feeding the feller about a half-dozen lady-fish (Skipjack). There was a tiny notch in its dorsal fin, how I knew it was the same dolphin, over and over.

The skipjack were almost boiling in the water, at times, big balls of bait, best guess, being chased by the Bull Reds and that dolphin. Dolphin might be highly intelligent, might be an advanced species, but that one, it seemed to chase the game fish away, and then? It would just loll there, blowing bubbles, and clowning around for a handout.

Flipper

It was well after 5 when we got back to the marina, and the Port Aransas Ferry had a line that snaked passed the cleaning station. I almost felt bad for my buddy towing his boat back to Rockport. Almost. Took a while to clean the fish and by the time we were done? Line for the ferry had gone down.

September, October, really, some of the best times to hit the Texas Coastal Bend bend.

Fishing is always good, even if Mercury is in Retrograde.

Lady fish

 Birthday fishing trips, really, it’s a good deal.

That last big fish? Both the Sun and the Moon were high in the sky. My Solar-Lunar Bass Fishing Guide? “The best time to fish is when both the Sun and the Moon are visible in the sky.” In other words? Three-quarter Moon.

I had to explain, really, like oysters and months with R? The best days to fish are days that end in Y. Only then. Bull Reds for Virgo birthdays, works.

It was this big!

“Thank you Port A and goodnight!”