he was rudely interrupted. A fish viciously crashed his bait like it was personal and the small explosion it made was spectacular. “Now that’s a redfish,” he said. “I
think the rattling got this one’s attention.” The redfish ran toward the rocks
and piling — as any red drum afi- cionado knows these fish are master escape artists. But dad was able to lead the big red away and glide it into the net. “I love fighting and catching these
redfish,” Rogers said. “But that strike. That’s what I’m going to remember.” Dad has forgotten more epic battles
and big fish than most anglers will live to see. But he’ll remember strikes like that one forever.
RESURRECTION OF A SPECIES The question why do we fish is a lot
easier asked than answered. And the truth may be that every angler has their own answers. I suspect I do it for the adventure. Or, more specifically, the chance to see and experience some- thing very cool. Sights that leave you
It was not that long
ago when vast herds of redfish like that may have been
completely wiped out by the single pass of a giant net
called a purse seine. Its deadly efficiency was used in south
Louisiana for years, which nearly
drove the species into oblivion.
awestruck. The kinds of things that leave indelible memories and spawn epic tales. “Discovery Channel stuff,” as my
son often refers to them. My dad recalled one such memory
that was created at this exact spot three years ago. I remember that we had idled a short distance to inspect a dis- turbance in the water, and suddenly the surface literally changed colors. A brilliant golden color lit up a half-acre of Four Bayou Pass. We witnessed a cool-weather phe-
nomenon that I had only heard about until then. Hundreds, perhaps thou- sands of tightly-stacked redfish were moving slowly through pristine waters. A massive school of adult redfish swept the seafloor, devouring every- thing it crossed. Neither the gulls nor the redfish were deterred by our presence. “All of those fish were in the 30- to
35-pound range,” Dad recalled. “I’m not sure if it’s migratory or a spawning ritual, but it’s a rare thing here.” It was also a beautiful thing. It was not that long ago when vast herds of
WILL DROST 44
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