10/4 flood tide

We had a big tide this evening with the approaching full moon, and I slipped the boat in the water for a quick after work trip. Met my friend Dave Dalu at the ramp and made a short run to some nearby flats, only having about an hour before it would be too dark to fish. The water was calm and way up in the grass, thanks to the 6.4 ft tide. It didnt take long before we were on fish, and I was on deck with my 6 wt rod. I picked up the first fish of the evening as we were poling down to the flat to another fish tailing hard about 50 yds away. This fish popped up high in the water, with its back and tail exposed as it cruised into the grass. I put the fly right in front of the fish and stripped it in front of him to get the eat. Good fight on the 6 wt, fish taped out around 24 inches.

After a quick photo and release, it was Dave's turn on the front, and the fish that we had been originally headed towards was still tailing now about 25 yds ahead of us. That fish, and a few others managed to tip up and then scoot on out before we could stick a fly in their mouths. It was getting dark fast and we had worked our way to the end of the flat. I turned the boat around and began to pole back over the same water, and we were able to find a few more fish tailing. The sun had long set by now, and we could only see the silhouettes of the redfish's tails, but they stood out nicely against the moonlit surface. It was almost too dark to see, but we found one more lone fish that was working very actively on the grass line, and Dave stuck it after a cast or two. Turned out to be a nice 26"-27" red, tagged by the DNR.