Some days the weather and the fishing gods conspire to give anglers a tough day on the water.
There is nothing you can do about it except step up, head out and make the best of whatever is thrown at you.
That is exactly what LSON Founder David J. Sams and well-respected South Padre Island fly-fishing Capt. Eric Glass did this week on the flats north of the island in the Lower Laguna Madre.
On Thursday, the pair was greeted by foggy, overcast conditions and a strong inshore wind that turned the water muddy and made sight-casting to big redfish nearly impossible.
“It was one of the worst days you could have for sight fishing,” David said. “We had a 15 to 20 mph wind and overcast conditions that never burned off.”
The pair got to their first spot and decided to wade in the 4-inch deep water after the poling skiff stopped dead on the hard sand flat.
“I don’t normally do this with clients but if we are going to catch any fish today we have to wade,” Glass said.
But another problem arose — No wading boots. Glass assured David he would be fine wading barefoot, but within 100 yards of leaving the boat, he had been within fly rod distance of nine stingrays.
“I was thinking this was a bad idea after seeing the first ray,” he said. “Eight rays and a hundred yards later, and I was really thinking this was a bad idea, but I was in the reds and having a blast watching Eric outcatch me.”
Rays aside, David spent the day casting to redfish that were tough to see and even tougher to hook with a tan, crab-patterned fly.
“The fish were very picky,” he said. “All you could see was a little part of the fish or a little ripple where one was feeding. I wouldn’t even call it a wake. There were also a lot of sheepshead and hardhead catfish on the flat. You had to put the fly right in front of (the redfish’s) face for them to eat it.”
Even that didn’t work all of the time.
“I had really good shots on three different fish and they wouldn’t eat,” he said.
Although conditions were tough, the two fly anglers managed to put four nice redfish in the boat before calling it quits.
“We did great for the kind of day we had,” he said.
To contact Capt. Eric Glass, call (956) 434-1422.
