Report submitted by 'Oz'

Hell Freezes Over Kayaking Report Laguna Madre, TX December 5th, 2009 Tweet

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Sooooooo.... Wake up and at the boat with Clark and Kelly and are on the water by 6:30am. Temp 33 deg, hatches on the boat have 1/2" ice. We kick some major but in the morning with Reds and get a 28" Trout. Bang out a few more fish covering a lot of area until we found them again. Both the guys had to be back by noon. Bummer. Well I have a plan.

Get back to the house and drag the kayak out and continue to hunt down the Reds (hopefully).

It is about 2pm when I get back out on the water. After several minutes (weather warmed up a bit and sky's were clear, kinda worrying me) I finally get to the area of where we left off. The fish are moving but I know I have a good chance to intercept them.

Right off the bat I get a decent Snake Trout, then a slot Red. Then a few min later I get an upper slot Red. Few minutes later I get a Drum. I fish for a while and things slowed down a bit. I then change my strategy to try to target a Flounder for the Texas Grand Slam from the yak. I work soft plastics slow on the bottom.. gets hit a few times, then BAMMMMNNNNN!

It is like a Tarpon had hit my lure. Fairly close to the yak it smokes line for a sec, then turns and comes straight at me. When it gets just a few feet from the yak, it turns again to tease me. After just 5 sec of hitting the bait, I get my first glimpse of it. Megaladonkey-Trout. Its a Robot. MUST...GET...HER...IN! The fish continues to smoke line for real this time and the fight is on. I play the fish backing on and off the drag. After 2-3 more minutes I get her back to the yak again. She runs...again. Another minute or two pass and I get her back, this time I have the net. I try to pull the fish close enough to the yak to get her in the net. It doesn't work. The bltch just has trouble getting in the damn thing she is so big! After about 4 unsuccessful attempts at trying to net her then running, I get her back for one last time. I get her close enough, with one hand I grab the fluoro, the other I have the net. I pull the fish towards me and about 3' from the kayak the hook pulls free... and a last ditch effort I try to lean and net her, and she by some miracle swims in (partially). I heave the fish in the yak and jump on it like a linebacker recovering a fumble.

This fish is huge. Having caught two 28" already this week, this fish was BIGGER, WAY BIGGER. I pin the fish in the yak with the net. I don't know the size for sure. I call Scott and say "I think I just did it, I think I just got my 30!". Told him I am going to measure her and call him back. If she isn't 30, then I am going to release, otherwise she is being sacrificed, and will be mounted. I look and decide to kayak to the shore. The fish was still very much alive but didn't want to risk her flopping out on me... kinda bad about that. Anyhow, I get to the shore and dig out the ruler. Is it... Is it? I measure... thirty... thirty... THIRTY ONE and a HALF INCHES! HOLY CRAP. After years of the magical pursuit, perseverance has finally paid off. I've had many upper 20's Trout, but none have surpassed the magic 3-0. After measuring her I look at the massive head, and decide to look in the mouth. What do I see... a friggin Trout tail sticking out of the throat!!! This Trout had picked off another Trout not too long ago, and was still hungry enough to suck down my lure. W O W.

First and foremost I do not consider myself a Trout fisherman. Hell, I don't even like bay fishing. I think it is boring. But when you hook into a large Trout... it is different. I don't know why, it just is. Like Scott, I have caught hundreds, maybe thousands of Trout over the years. Our continuing quest has always been that numeric milestone. And now I can finally say I've done it, and from a Kayak in December to boot. It took me less time to catch 3 Tiger Sharks from the surf, than to hit the 30" mark for Spotted Sea Trout. And due to those 5 or more minutes battling the sea creature, it imprinted a new outlook on bayfishing. Do I still think it generally is boring and blows? Pretty much. However, now I can say I possess a little more optimistic attitude towards it because I now know that if you duke it out long enough over and over, those trophy fish really do exists and will eventually cross paths with you. Absolutely Wild.

Final specs of the fish (no pun intended)... 31.5" 9.7lbs 16" girth.

Here are a few pics from the afternoon.

From on the Plastic Battlewagon...
- Oz

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