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"Look
there. See it?" says our guide Kevin Shaw from high atop his
poling platform. My fishing partner,
 John
Wilson, and I squint through our polarized glasses - scanning
the dappled water that spreads broad across a shallow water land
cut in the gut of Redfish Bay near Aransas Pass.
I turn
and look at Shaw. "Where do you see it?" I quiz. "About 30
feet out at 10 o'clock," Shaw whispers.
Cocking his rod back and then delivering it forward in one smooth
motion, Wilson puts his artificial bait as close as he can to
the lone tail that kept breaking the surface. Jerking the bait
through the water, Shaw and I watch the scene unfold. A second
later, with a splash that sounds like a toilet flushing, the big
red, whose tail is the only thing that alerts us to his
presence, takes the bait and immediately begins to run headlong
across the shallow, open water of the bay.
When
big redfish run, you can't horse them too much. Instead, on
ultralight tackle, you have to finesse them to the boat. A
stout body made for the shallow water flats in this part of
Texas puts all of the odds in the favor of the big fish. As it
stands, redfish won't let you be greedy - they don't want to be
caught and they will stretch line and fight for as long as it
takes to escape. Therefore, finesse is a fitting term for the
crank-play-and-reel style of fishing.
While
only about ten minutes has passed, it seems like an eternity.
As the retrieved line fills up Wilson's reel, I lean over the
boat to cradle the fish from its brackish home. At first, I am
not sure how to grab the red. Being new to the coast, I almost
make the mistake of lipping a speckled trout earlier in the day.
A lifetime spent on the inland lakes and stock ponds of Texas
lead me to believe that the only way to lift a fish is by the
bottom lip. That kind of conventional wisdom in freshwater is
too unconventional inside the Texas barrier islands. Many of the
coastal fish, like speckled trout, have sharp teeth that quickly
educates amateurs like
me. As the red sidled alongside the skiff, I reach with one
hand, clamp down on the thick flesh between the dorsal fin and
the gills, and heave him into the boat.
Shaw climbs down from the poling platform and quickly takes the
fish from me and hands it to Wilson. Grabbing my camera, I
shoot a quick grip-and-grin of Wilson and the first redfish he
has caught in a slew of years. "That's a nice red," muses Shaw.
"Let's put him on the board and see how long he is.'
Lining
up the fish on the measuring stick, the tail stretches to the
28-inch mark. Nowhere near a record but a nice fish
nonetheless. Especially considering how far Wilson and I
traveled outside of our familiar Panhandle element. After the
600-mile trip, we don't care how little we know, we are happy
just to be here fishing.
Two
days before, we drifted south from Childress looking for
adventure: not on the high seas, but on the placid inland bays
that line the Texas coast from Brownsville to Beaumont. After a
long drive and a couple of wrong turns, we arrived at the Shoal
Grass Lodge - Texas' only fly lodge endorsed by the legendary
outdoor clothier and equipment manufacturer Orvis.
The
Shoal Grass Lodge is what I always imagined great fish camps to
be spacious, comfortable and food beyond compare. Upon our
arrival public relations manager Terry Koehler and lodge manager
Terry Upton, who is carrying a plate of grilled blackfin tuna
wrapped in bacon, greets us. I think the tuna is dinner but
Upton assures me that they are only appetizers meant to give two
weary travelers a taste of meals to come.
Unloading our luggage, Wilson and I joke about "the two Terry's"
and how we won't forget anyone's name on this trip. Once inside
the lodge we are escorted to our rooms but I can't help but
notice the huge redfish hanging above the fireplace in the main
room of the lodge. Filled with other mounted sportfish
from the coast, the great room is furnished with modern
amenities, a giant screen television, and a huge series of
windows that gives a panoramic view of redfish bay to the east.
Built
high on a berm on top of a thick carpet of St. Augustine grass,
the lodge is protected from inland storm surges from the
occasional rogue gulf hurricane. The building proper stretches
across the top of the berm with the great room and guest rooms
on one end and a spacious corporate conference center on the
other. Wrapping around much of the building is a covered porch
that we spent a bunch of time setting and staring across the
gulf as the salty wind may the palms stray in syncopation.
Sitting there, I realize why Jimmy Buffet gets his inspiration.
Making
the way to our room, I am glad feel a cool, air-conditioned
breeze coming from the room. Although much of my time is spent
outdoors, it takes some time for me to adjust to the ultra-humid
Gulf Coast. More like a five star hotel than a fishing lodge,
the room I stayed in was spacious, cool, and comfortable.
After supper, Wilson and I spent some time on the dock where the
Shoal Grass Lodge guides launch their skiffs. Using spinning
tackle, we toss silver spoons into the illuminated spots that
floodlights make on the water. After a few minutes of fishing,
we pulled in a number of speckled trout that we admire and
release.
 For the
next three days, we fish the flats and live an adventure. We
wade through oyster reefs; watch a school of cownose rays hunt
for food in the shallows; and saw the sun rise and bathe the
historic Port Aransas lighthouse in pink light as she stands
sentinel alongside the Lydia Ann Channel. We paddle through
cuts and fish super skinny water in kayaks, and hunt for reds
from the bow of a shallow water skiff for hours.
We fish hard but the time seems to skip by. Wilson and I were
on the bay during low tide, which made the fishing a little
tough. However, a lifetime on the water made Kevin Shaw the
perfect guide for helping us find some nice reds.
Before
I went fishing at the coast, I would have argued that I was not
missing anything. After I went fishing at the on redfish bay, I
wondered what took me so long to go there.
 For
more information about fishing, corporate retreats and duck
hunting at Shoal Grass Lodge, check out
their website at
www.shoalgrasslodge.com.
To visit
Russell's website, click here. |
