# New Year Day 2014 Wade was something!!!!



## speckcaster (May 5, 2012)

My New Years Day wade was an different one! Hit the marsh and waded the mud & shell looking for some redfish action.....

the temp was mild for this time of year, overcast and the wind was real light....water was clear and the tide low....but on a slow rise..

Was throwing a 1/8oz jig with a spicy cajun chickenboy in 2.5 - 3' of water over a good mix of mud & shell ...on about my 4th or 5th cast I hooked up with a 14" rat red ..... looking for bigger..... then on my 10th cast I hooked a just legal 20 1/4" red which I went ahead and strung up.....

the slow drizzle rain started falling and I was about to call it a one keeper afternoon....but decided to move down 20-30 yards to a shallow mid cove shell & mud "hump" and fish the backside of the shell "hump" a little longer....got a good thump on my 2nd cast but failed to hookup.....so I continued to work the area with fan casts for the next 5-10 minutes. went ahead and shot a final cast back to the spot where I'd gotten that solid thump and this time I hooked up!!!

and it was BIG.....REAL BIG!!!! I was sure I'd hooked up with a big girl redfish for sure ....... It was one heck of a fight on my 7' Fenwick HMX ML and 14lb P-Line for sure...after about 4-5 minutes I was able to keep her head up enough to stay out of the shell and get her close enough to get a good look @ my big ole redfish.....NO WAY!!

I'd hooked up with a big Black Drum!!!!

Slowly brought her along side me and was just barely able to get her head only into my wade net ...... I knew I was going to release her right away but I had to get a pic of this monster I'd just tackled with!

I knew my buddies wouldn't believe it! So I was able to run a stringer thru her lower jaw and went ahead and tied her off to an old piling closer to the bank along with my now real small looking 20" redfish....so I waded back to my start point and headed to the truck to return with my cell to get some proof!

CPR'd her and that big ole ugly girl swam away to live another day!

I'm estimating here and you can judge for yourself but I swear she went 25-35lbs easy!!! It was almost impossible to pick her up with one arm and snap a photo with my cell phone in the other....but I'd did my best thru the drizzle and low light!

Wow.....nice way to start the New Year.....just wish she'd been a Red!!

tight lines (mine was!)
speckcaster


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## speckcaster (May 5, 2012)

*another few pics.....*

sorry the lens was wet from the rain........

speck


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