Defining Success Outdoors MONSTER TROUT? MONSTER REDFISH?

This morning was a slow start to my Monday.  Cole and I just returned home from our semi-annual Port Mansfield fishing trip.  We did well, but the drive home started off a little dicey.  After a couple hours worth of delays for some truck repairs, we made it home by 12:30 am.  Needless to say, I'm tired!

When I did finally roll out of bed this morning, I fed the youngest kid some Fruit Loops and took him to summer camp and came back home to cook breakfast.  The wife/mom headed off to work because the bills just won't go away and the (almost) teenager (11 days to go) was less than thrilled at the prospect that her brother was home. I sent Cole to knock on her door and let her know that I was cooking and he was forced to make a hasty retreat.  So, it was just me and Cole sitting down to breakfast, still half asleep and trying to wake up.  Cole asked "Dad, what was your favorite part of the trip?" to which I responded "I don't know, I'd have to think about that."

As I sat there pondering what the best moment of the trip may have been, I realized that he was probably wanting me to ask him the same question, so I asked.  He said "Probably when I caught that MONSTER TROUT!" I kind of chuckled a bit and asked "Why?"  He said "I don't know probably because of the way Uncle Chuck said I was ASLEEP!  Either that or the MONSTER REDFISH!"

We laughed about it and I began thinking about my favorite moment again.  Even as I sit here thinking about it, I can't come up with a single moment that blew all the others away.  It was a great trip.  We had all sorts of fun, from checking out the deer when we first got there to sight casting reds, wading for trout, sunrises on the water, and all the moments in between where we were fishing and catching!

I can identify a few highlights and catching a 26" red ranks right up there.  Last year, it was pretty easy,  My personal best 31" red followed immediately by my new and current personal best 41" red.  I was excited this year at the possibility of adding a couple new species to my list, but that was not in the cards for me.  I was also excited about the possibility of catching while sight casting.  While I can't say this is a new technique for me, I can say that I only try it once a year or so and relatively speaking, I haven't done a whole lot of saltwater fishing.  Wade fishing is another means that until this weekend has never produced for me.

I find it interesting that success or favorites can mean so many different things to different people.  I feel like even though I wasn't successful at sight casting, I learned a few things, which is success in the making.  In my new kayak endeavor, I hope to be able to perfect these techniques. Here are a few things I learned this weekend.

• When sight casting previously, I threw at mullet jumping and things that broke the surface in the hope that whatever was chasing them would chase my lure too.  I knew in my heart that this was not the right course of action, but never really knew what else to do.
• The key is patience.  Look for dark spots.  I think I have always thought these were just rocks or grass clumps. Sometimes they appear and re-appear. 
• Don't get too distracted by movement. Look for those dark spots, then zero in on weather or not it moves or seems to float forward and back or side to side.  If the water is clear enough, you can make them out plain as day.
• Accurate casting is a must.  I am much more accurate with a baitcaster, but we were using spinning gear.  I can however usually get a better presentation out of spinning gear, but that didn't seem to make a difference.  I drug an Unfair Shrimp over the back of a +/-24" Redfish.  I was surprised I didn't foul hook it.  As soon as it flopped over, the big red swirled and headed for deeper water. 
• Even when you have a better understanding of how this works and what to look for, it's not an easy process.  The fish has to want to eat, and it has to want to eat what you throw at it.  

The first redfish I caught was a tailing red.  Chuck pointed it out and said throw your bait up in front of it.  I did and caught it.  To this day, I don't know if I hooked him or he hooked me.  It was about 10 years before I saw another tailing redfish, though there were many reds caught in between.  My brother and I found a bunch of tailing reds one morning a few years ago.  I threw everything in my tackle box at them, but not one bite.  I have come to the belief that if they have found a good food source, they aren't going to be distracted by anything else.

Most kids measure success by results and only results.  Learning through failure is a tough pill to swallow, but for a kid it seems to be even tougher.  Cole didn't have any fun while we were sight casting.  He spent most of his time trolling off the back of the boat or just sitting there watching and asking can we go somewhere else? On the other hand, I can't wait to do it again.  I can taste it, like blood in the water!  I know I'm close.

So, I guess I will continue to mull it over.  There will be more details to come on this trip later in the week in 46 Outdoors Adventure Files, like why was Cole asleep when he caught his MONSTER TROUT and for that matter, was it a MONSTER TROUT or just a trout.

For now, I guess the 26" red, breaking the ice on wading, and some lessons learned while sight casting (that brings about the feeling that I am closer to sight CATCHING) are the best parts of the trip.  Then again, maybe as a parent, the best moments for me are those spent with him living his best moments... Who knows if I will settle on a favorite? I'm okay with it if I don't!

Any tips for sight casting? Comment below or on Facebook and let us know!