To say the weather was tough would border on an understatement... The rain conveniently spent all of Friday falling, took the night off and came back to spend all day Saturday soaking us again. Thankfully we took time a few weeks before the tournament to scout out a few places and I (Nick) was able to make sure that the fish we finished fifth on last September in the Low Country Cup tournament out of Charleston were still there and hungry! Friday was a short practice day for us, we really just wanted to get on the water, get a few gps tracks laid down and maybe find some new fish.
Fortunate or not we caught a fish that was 23" on the button and was almost 5 lbs, in a spot we had never fished before. So after getting everything we owned dried back out, rigging up for tournament day we had a decision to make... Would we run to the fish that had produced for us before or try a new spot that produced one great fish, but had a major question mark on it?
Thomas and I didn't talk much at dinner that night, I think we were still trying to warm back up and figure out what to do in the tournament at the same time.
The Captains meeting went well, all except for us drawing check out number 69 of 100, we were in the second wave of boats to get to takeoff...
I want to take a moment and give a shout out to the guys that run the Low Country Redfish Cup. They bust their tails to put on a professional, organized event! Everything they do is high quality!
After a restless nights sleep trying to figure out where we were going to fish, tournament day was upon us. After much deliberation the decision was made to go to the fish we knew, it was the safe bet. We knew the fish would be there, the only question would be if they would bite...The rain was generous in waiting until we got to the boat ramp to start.... On a side note, the weather channel reported that Charleston got between 2 and 3 inches of rain Friday and Saturday. Everything got wet.
Check-out was smooth, the run to our spot was as easy as could be expected in a steady rain storm. The best part was, we got to our spot and the fish were there. We watched a few push up and down the bank until an unexpected competitor pulled up and ruined our day! A pod of 5 or 6 dolphins came into our flat and proceeded to wreck our fish. The dolphins were able to eat several slot sized redfish right in front of us. We watched the dolphins gang up on school after school of reds and push them up against the grass and in many cases completely out of the water before they ate the fish.
We were able to manage one 24" redfish out of the school before they completely shut down. we tried several other spots, where we saw fish, but just could not get them to eat.
The day was long, wet, cold and tough. We were one of the 21 teams that were unable to weigh a fish that day. However, the tournament was not a complete loss. Every time I get on the water I learn something new and that was certainly the case with this tournament.
I learned that when dolphins crash the party you need to leave, especially if they are aggressive as the dolphins that we saw during the tournament. We also learned the value of quality rain gear.
No matter the weather there are always fish to be caught, you just have to be smart enough to figure out how to catch them.
Only a little over a month until the next Low Country Cup event out of Beaufort! We are ready to give it another go!!
- Nick
All you need is a computer and a net connection and you can start playing poker game from your home. It’s that simple and easy to play poker!
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