As the Fall hunting season nears I decieded to put in on last fishing trip to the coast before getting the old shotgun out for Dove season.  I know most of my time, energy and financial resources will be focused on the upcoming hunting season, so one last trip to Padre Island would be great.  The trip down to Corpus Christi from San Antonio are always special events, this particular weekend we would be celebrating the night before our fishing trip for my sister in law's birthday and it would take extra motivation to wake up at 5:30am to hit the fishing hole.  As luck would have it we had a great night of celebrating and just as soon as we went to bed it was time to get up and hit the road to go fishing.  Like the hardcore wade fisherman we are we splashed some water on our faces and headed out only to find all the live shrimp was gone at the bait stands due to the fishing tournanment taking place on Padre Island.  This meant we had to drive all the way to Port A to purchase live shrimp, so the day all ready got off on a bad note.

    After filling our bait buckets with plenty of nice sized live shrimp we made it to the southern end of Shamrock Cove and began our wade around 9am.  There were already several other people out there in full swing and a couple of boats parked nearby trying their luck on some game fish.  The bite was slow and only two fat trout had given us any action, so we decided to move slightly north to a nice shallow sand flat with isolated pockets of grass.  The water was ankle deep and very clear, in fact I was getting worried that we would not see any fish at all.  I know from past experiences that others have caught Reds and Specks in this exact location and I knew we could run into some fish.

    After about an hour of hard fishing our patience paid off, just as my other two fishing partners were about to give up, my rod bent hard and the drag began to sing, it was a nice red and he put up a magnificant fight.  I could see other fish running with the fish I ahd hooked and told my other two fishing partners to get on the.  But, they had no luck.  I quickly admired the beautiful Red and released him to fight another day.  I was looking for an upper end slot Red or even an oversized Red and was interested in taking home anything under 25 inches.  Once again I rebaited casted out and within 30 minutes another hard strike and hook up, with another incredible shallow water battle.  I could not believe that I was standing in ankle deep water hooking up with Reds, 200 yards from shore on a magnificant shallow ater sandbar flat.  The whole memory was totally surreal like a fishing trip to the Bahamas.  Before the day was over I had landed my 3 limit of Reds and had 3 tremendous fights.

    The best part of the whole episode was that I got to enjoy 3 of the best redfish fights I have ever heard all in the company of my brother in law and son.  I jsut wanted to stay on that flat and continue to catch fish all day, but the scorthing South Texas heat changed my mind quickly.  I am very fortunate and appreciative of the opportunity I have to hit the water and catch some great shallow water Reds in pristine water.  Now I will focus my attention to putting some Doves in the freezer and worry about chasing Reds later in the Fall just before deer season.  I hope your outdoor sporting adventures become as memorable as mine and good luck to all you sportsmen this fall season!!!

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