Redfish Adventure-Pederson's Style

Report Date: March 24, 2005

With an overcast sky, we left the dock at MacRae?s and The RedfishHunter 24? Carolina Skiff headed down the Homosassa River to the Gulf in search of big fish. The Pederson family from Minnesota, Al and Diana and their 3 teenage sons, Haakon, Luke and Levi were down on spring break and excited about fishing. We decided we would fish for trout on the outgoing tide and later in the afternoon try for redfish as the tide turned back in.

On our first drift, we picked up several trout and Diana caught the first keeper. We tried several other spots on the flats of Homosassa Bay and everyone caught trout, although many were under the legal limit of
15 inches. Everyone was enjoying the 75 degree weather, especially when they told me it was 30 back home and all the lakes still frozen over.
As a native Floridian, it?s hard for me to fathom shoveling snow, frozen lakes and below 0 temps.

As the clouds disappeared, the guys shirts came off, the sunscreen came out and what more could you ask for?sunshine, gentle breezes, fish on the line and smiles from ear to ear. It?s days like this that remind me why I enjoy being a guide.

It was about lunch time, so we headed for one of the islands. We got the chairs out and kicked back for a while. The kids had a ball exploring the island, looking for shells, catching fiddler crabs and just taking in the beautiful backcountry Gulf coast scenery.

After lunch, we boarded The RedfishHunter in search of what else?.Redfish. The tide had turned in and as the waters started to rise, covering the rocky points and flooding into the mangroves, we headed to one of my ?Redfish Hotels?. We carefully eased into place, being careful not to make a sound so we wouldn?t scare off the reds. The water at the edge of the mangroves was about 18 inches to two feet so these fish were awfully spooky. As Haakon eased the rear anchor out, we positioned the boat in place just within casting distance of our fish.

Levi Pederson's first Big Redfish

The first cast was made up current of where the Redfish were. We let the Cajun Thunder cork with a 1/8 oz Cotee jig tied on to 20 pound flouracarbon leader with a big jumbo live shrimp, drift down to the fish. Then, Bam! The first cork disappeared with a big redfish on the other end of the line. The drag of the Daiwa BG13 began to scream as the big red pulled yard after yard of line off the spool. The Daiwa Coastal Inshore 7 foot rod bent almost double as Levi fought his fish. He did a masterful job of fighting? the bull dog of the flats? and after about a 7 minute battle, brought the beautiful copper colored red to the boat. Once boated, he measured
26 ? inches and weighed about 8 pounds! A Bubba red, for sure..

Then it was Haakon?s turn.

Haakon Pederson's Bubba Redfish

Then Al, then Diana and Lukes. One redfish after another they fought to the boat. Two were kept for dinner and the rest were released unharmed to fight again another day.

After catching the biggest fish, Levi declared himself ?The Redfish King? and no one argued the fact. Today was his day in the sun.

The Pederson Family of Minnesota

As the tide began to fall the redfish turned off and we decided to call it a day. And a great day it had been, new friends, big smiles, a little sunburn and big fish. What more could you ask for.
Thanks Pedersons, you are a neat All American family and made this guide?s day, one to remember.

If you would like to experience a fishing adventure like this, just give me a call or drop me an email and we will make it happen for you?

Until next time??

Captain Ed Lewis

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