Sore hands and tired bodies, the GOOD LIFE!!

Spent the weekend chasing Redfish in Grand Isle, LA with my brother-n-law.  Drove all night Friday and fished all day Saturday and Sunday.  Traveled over 800 miles and went 37 hours w/o sleep.  This is my favorite fish and I love SELA....worth every sleepless minute. Spent the night under the stars on the beach at GI state park and can't wait to do it again.  My BnL has never been redfishing so I spent the better part of the morning explaining everything I had learned over the last yr.  Focusing on finding and stalking reds.  The morning started slow for him but after about an hour he had his first 19" hard fighting red and I left him to go test my luck.  Picked up a few keepers and a 29" that I released.  The day really picked up at about 11am as the tide started to fall and the reds came out of the canes and even had a visit from a shark.

He's on the hunt also.

 Around lunch time I came across a school of reds and called my BnL.  He arrived and his day changed for the better.  Again, I left him catching small slot reds and went on the hunt.  That's when my day changed.  Fish were everywhere and the bite was furious.  That was the moment I had been waiting for and I broke out the new 8wt I had purchased in March specifically for targeting reds.  Crept up on a large red feeding and made a 15ft cast, then it happened....head turned and a vicious take.  I don't remember the details of the fight but he made several runs, turned, circled the yak and head shook...not in that order.  It was a battle that lasted several minutes.  He was a 26" brute that made me appreciate all the carp I had been practicing on the last month.  However nothing prepares you for the fight of a redfish.  After a few quick photos, I spent a few minutes reviving him and watched him swim away.  Ended up catching 8 over the next 2 hours on a clouser minnow.  Most were 20-22"s but this 32 or 33, I didn't look closely b/c I was concerned for his survival (he had been on the reel a long time) was the highlight of my trip.

1st red on the fly.  26" beauty

Largest on the fly 32-34 see below.  Too much fun!

Fun on the fly.  Around 32 or 33. Who care's really.

Quick photo and spent a few minutes reviving him.  He regained his strength and pulled free of my grasp. Good day got better watching him swim away.  That's pretty much how the weekend went.  Lot's of catching, 2 limits each day (only lower slots kept) and probably another 30 released each day.  We both arrived back home with sore hands and tired bodies.  Another life changed for the better as my BnL has confirmed he's ruined, fresh water fishing just won't due.  I tried to warn him.  Next adventure is in the works.    

BnL just before he caught a 28, his biggest fish ever.

Most fish caught on spoons and shad baits, various colors.  Sight fished just about everything. Not much blind casting.

2nd fish caught Sat morning. Dark line is at 27".  Still swimming.