Brian Iannacchione had us booked for a full fishing day with Jako Lucas today down here in Texas. Our final day this week. But both Brian and I fly home tonight and there’s all kind of news talk that TSA lines are four hours long due to the government shutdown. I watch very little news and am often mostly unaffected by these things but this one cost us two hours of fishing. With a three hour drive back to Austin and a 6 pm flight, we cut our guided day in half and were in the rental car by noon. It turns out there were no long lines at the TSA after all. I’m not sure which is more frustrating, the government or the exaggerated news!
But life is too short to stress. The three of us enjoyed a fantastic morning on the water. Our fishing was quite difficult again because like yesterday it was dead calm. But the sereness of watching the sunrise from the flats was hard to beat. As usual the birds were incredible. This is the most intriguing bird to watch, the Reddish Egret (he’s worth the read). And we caught one redfish. That’s easily enough to call it a fantastic day.
There was only one thing missing this week, the sheepshead. The goal this week was for Brian and me to add the sheepshead to our species list. But it didn’t happen. I have no regrets, however. We gave it our all. That’s all you can do. And there will actually be a little more excitement if we come back in 2027. If you win all the time, it gets kind of boring.
I’m on my flight from Austin to Minneapolis as I write. I’ll follow this with the late flight to Duluth followed by my deer dodging drive for Hayward. I’ll take my time and hopefully be home before 1 am. Then its ten days to focus 100% on fishing. Possibly fishing around Hayward and perhaps an ice fishing day on Lake Superior. But there’s also preparation for an epic expedition. I’m heading for St. Brandon’s Atoll on April 3rd. Show season is over and the fish games have begun!