A Christmas 'Red'

Every Christmas, Ben True visits his daughter, Andrea, here on Daniel Island. Many years ago, we began fishing together and it has become one of my favorite holiday traditions. This year, Ben’s grandson, Ethan, joined us.

We launched the skiff into the last of the falling tide. Our plan was to catch a few Trout before the tide went slack and then target Redfish as the tide came back in. Idling away from the dock, I felt pretty good about catching Trout. However, a strong (and cold) northeasterly wind had me worried about the Redfish part of our plan. Things started out well and we caught several Trout on Z-Man StreakZ 3.75 and TRD Ned rig lures. Ethan did a great job of reeling them in. While we were catching Trout, Ethan told me he had never caught a Redfish. So we left biting fish (I never learn) to seek out Ethan’s first Red. On the ride to the Redfish flat, I told Ethan that conditions were against us. He smiled and said he was happy to be fishing with his grandfather.

Conditions on the Wando were a bit sporty as the strong wind was blowing against the tide (increasing the size of the waves). The constant wave action stirs up bottom sediment and drops water clarity to nearly zero (making it difficult for Redfish to see a lure). Thankfully, I had a few mud minnows in the baitwell. So we removed the lures from our jigs and replaced them with frisky mud minnows. We cast the minnow tipped jigs to a slight channel in the flat. Ethan immediately caught and released his first Red. While we were waiting for Ethan’s second Redfish to bite, the wind picked up. Even though Ethan was bundled up, I could tell he was getting cold. So we moved to a more wind sheltered location. Good thing we moved. The new spot was a bit more comfortable and full of hungry Redfish. Ethan caught several over-slot size fish. As I took a picture of Ethan and Ben holding one, I hoped this was the beginning of a new tradition.

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.