Oops - No camera again

I did remember to take all the ice from my freezer, a couple bottles of tap water (to rinse my feet and hands), the new tube of sunscreen (should have used more on my now sunburned toes), my nail clippers (to cut the excess line from my knots) and some Gatorade but, had forgotten to put the camera near those other things the night before (while I had been thinking to do so).  Therefore, I don't have a picture of this beautiful twenty-nine inch Redfish that I caught and released out on the same point I caught those other Redfish last year.

I didn't fish at all on Tuesday since it was cloudy all day and light rain fell off and on all day long too.  Yesterday had plenty of sunshine (as my toes will attest) and the winds were light out of the north or northeast so I headed out just before midday to fish the outgoing tide at the point I had such good luck last year.  Still none of those monster Flounder but, I did catch another 17-inch spotted Sea Trout as the first fish of the day -- just about when I began to think the day wouldn't produce a single bite (after two hours of fishing).  It was a treat just to be out there and I even netted three large mullet -- one about 14 inches and two others a little smaller -- released them, of course.

After catching the Sea Trout and a small Blue (on the small pole again), I did get a bite (I thought) on the bigger rod and grabbed the pole to feel for another bite -- and moved the pole support out of the rising tide to drier sand.  As I wriggled the support back and forth into the sand and just got it deep enough to insert the rod, I noticed a bigger bite on the small rod again and grabbed onto a really nice tugging fish just before it pulled the rod and support over into the water.  Memories of last year's fights with Redfish flashed through my mind as the fish splashed around near the surface but, I had thoughts of it being just a bigger shark than the one I caught on Monday -- couldn't see clearly that it was a Red Drum until I got it into shallower water (where I saw the telltale spot on the tail).  I had loosened the drag setting and thought it best to play him out a little because each time he got near the sand bar he would go on a little tear toward deeper water.

As I got the fish nearer to the beach too, he got the other line crossed and it ended up in the water with its support tube as I stepped across and got the lines untangled (thankfully).  Finally got him beached after a few runs left and a couple onto the sand bar -- pulled out the tape measure after giving out a good little yell of joy.  The fisherman next to me came over to see what I had caught -- and what had made me yell.

Fishing forecast is supposed to be best for this Friday and Saturday -- we'll see.  Just put the camera next to my wallet and car keys so, hopefully there will be a picture or two next time (even if it's only pictures of the beach).