I’TS HUMID HERE. AND WARM. HOURS WALKING the soothing saline water and soft sand is a striking contrast to a full summer and fall season of pursuing trout in cold water on bouldery streams. It’s easier on the body. It’s a nice change. As I cross the tidal flats in the morning light to the Laguna/ Bay, Harper chases rabbits through the sand dune vegetation growing on the nearby mounds, hills and ridges. There are spiny Cacti out there but she always seems to avoid them. No yelps; no injuries so far. There are also island deer and coyote around. I often see their tracks. Occasionally I see them. I keep alert for the coyotes, especially if a few of them are scavenging the bay area together, in case they try to target Harper. It’s wild out here. I rarely see another angler or anyone else. I have the place to myself. I’m on a long thin windswept barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico.

I’m sight-fishing the ultra-shallow Laguna/Bay on the west side of the island. It’s my fourth trip and I’ve now spent a cumulative three and one half months walking the bay’s clear sand flats searching for Redfish. The angling is always challenging in the fall and winter months. On many days I have to deal with high wind, sometimes cloud cover and the glare that goes along with it. And there are no obvious clues on how to fish the bay as it is relatively uniform with little bottom structure, or change in depth, and no obvious channels/ fish corridors at least on the side of the bay that I’m on. However, there are subtleties to the fishery that I’ve learnt which improve my chances of finding fish. Understanding the tides help, even though they are minimal, and paying attention to parts of the flats that have small patchy areas of sparse sea grass that poke through the sand and feel spongy (biomass) under foot. These patches hold more crustaceans than the barren sand.

Generally the Redfish either show up on the flats to feed, or they don’t. My best opportunity to spot one is when the light is right. Full sun is always best, no or few clouds, and low wind. When the light is right I have a good chance to make a connection(s).

The bay holds Redfish in the 20 to 30 inch range. Cautiously pursing them in clear knee deep water or less with light tackle and on foot is always engaging and thrilling. Concentration is imperative and speed when one is spotted as they are often on the move. I cast a 7wt on blustery days and a 5wt trout rod when it’s calm. My shrimp and small crab fly patterns are tied with little or no weight as I’m fishing just inches of water. They cast easily… like dry flies.

When the light begins to wane and sight-fishing becomes impossible I leave the sand flat and make the long trek eastward across the tidal flats back to my car. Harper revs up as we’re are on the move again. She taunts the large blue crabs holding in the tidal pools along the way. Then it’s sprints into the dune vegetation and shadows in the late afternoon light in search of rabbits. We’ve come full circle…

Some images…..