Redfish Lodge, Texas - Day One

Wetting a line in the Gulf of Mexico in the name of conservation was reason enough to change this blog's name temporarily to Laguna Outdoors!!! This was my first trip to Corpus Cristie and I was glad to see the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, No. 16, in port - and there was no denying that she was the sistership to our own USS Yorktown, The Fighting Lady, No. 10. Traveling through scrub country to Rockport, Texas and the the final destination of The Redfish Lodge put the CCA anglers closer to making some casts for trout. The Lodge rests on a peninsula called Rattlesnake Point just south of Copano Bay and specializes in fishing year round and duck hunting in season. The acomodations are comfortable and the views are awesome, while the kitchen staff dotes on the anglers assembled in the dining hall during supper time. Incredibly, the lodge has some excellent trout fishing on its private beach underneath some special lights that they run at night in order to attract bait. Brad Gentner, a fisheries economist from Maryland, and I worked on those trout while others enjoyed libations after dinner. Gentner used a flyrod while I used a spinning outfit and when shrimp became attracted to the lights, they attracted a pod of gulls diving and flapping in our area. An exploratory casts revealed what we thought, that the trout were hanging out under those shrimp, and we went on to experience something akin to fishing anarchy, since we caught 50 trout in short order and were able to practice our catch and release methods through sheer repetition. What a great fishery!

PhotosByJeffDennis: Brad Gentner with a night-time trout caught at the Redfish Lodge beach; Surf and turf anyone?! ; Plenty of bird life was spotted like this great blue heron and even a roseate spoonbill !!