Fished two hours after high down to low today with my son and Dad. Picked up a few dozen shrimp in some holes 12-16 feet of water by looking for fuzzy bottom on the fishfinder. Also pulled in a 7" flounder with the shrimp. Started at a dock and got one slot red before heading to where we found a school earlier in the week. Pulled up early on the shoreline and started down the bank. We could see the school from several hundred yards away and as we got closer we could see them milling about with their back out of the water happy as pigs in you know what. It was on as soon a we started casting to them with Z-man products in Houdini. We landed seven before they got wise and started to break up and move. We moved over to another bank to let them settle down. I had caught some nice trout before at this next spot, but was surprised when what I thought was a slot reds came in as a 19.5" trout which was released. After about 30 mins we went back to the school. The tide was really low and still pushing strong, but clear. The school had broken up in 2-3 fish groups and were hanging in the pockets and eddies of the shoreline. Picked up two more with 2 thrown hooks. Total of 9 reds; 7 were over slot. 4 were 29 to 30.5" All, but two got tags as I ran out of the larger dart style.
Five minutes before this picture he was steaming mad. He had not caught one yet so I had him drifting a live shimp as we moved down the shoreline. The fish were there and biting, but this is how it went. First the cork goes down and the fish immediately comes off and he is a little perturbed. Second fish holds on for about 5 seconds and pulls free; he is mumbling something under his breath. Third fish came just after my Dad lands one and stays on the line for about 15 seconds before breaking off on some structure. At this point he has gone Chernobyl…total meltdown of frustration. There was no way I could take him home like that so my dad and I convinced him to do one more drift of the shoreline. What you see was the result.
