Back on the Water!

I have great expectations for these Tsunami hard baits. The K9 Walker caught a bunch of schoolie trout on my first trip back on the water!

I’m happy to say the doctor released me for work duties this past Wednesday. My knee injury has healed and I wasted no time in getting back on the water. I invited a couple of friends to join me on the Mosquito Lagoon for a bit of scouting and testing.

The scouting was quick as we located a massive school of fingerling mullet a few minutes from the ramp. I started with a Tsunami K9 Walker; a “walk the dog” surface plug. It’s seductive back and forth wiggle enticed quite a few spotted seatrout. As I’m currently out of inline hooks, I’ve pinched the barbs down on the factory installed trebles. While nothing of size came to the boat, the action was steady, though not fast.

Ray decided to throw a BTB Swimmerz jig by Z-Man and the trout eating this lure were a bit larger than what John and I were attracting on top-water plugs. John was experimenting with a newly designed plug the trout “kind of” liked. They slapped at it frequently, but seldom got hooked!

As the sun made its way upward and the light and heat intensified we left the trout and moved to a favorite shoreline. Redfish were crawling up shallow and tailing whenever they found something interesting. I enjoyed some quality bow time with these freaked-out reds. John kept me in range and helped direct my attention to the fish I couldn’t easily make out on my own. My Z-Man TRD Crawz and four inch Jerk Shadz were both repeatedly ignored. Still, I had a ball making the attempt even though the fish often freaked before the lure made its entry…

I’m pleased so far with the Tsunami Shield reel I used for the first time on this trip. It easily casted the K9 Walker a great distance and still allowed good casting distance while tossing tiny soft plastics to weary reds in the shallows. I’ll report more on this water resistant reel as it gets more use.