Beachfront 'Spin Doctors' are discovering the advantages of heavyweight spinning gear.
 
By Larry Bozka

EAST MATAGORDA BEACH, 11:00 P.M.-The moon is full tonight, the breeze light, out of the southeast and heavily laced with sand and salt. Four heavy-duty spinning rigs rest at the water's edge, supported by deeply-rooted sections of PVC pipe.

We've had a few runs. All, apparently, have been sharks-and big ones at that. Finally, in desperation, Mark Davis and I switch to 6-foot-long steel shock leaders.

I don't like using steel when fishing the beachfront for bull reds; the stuff is so horribly visible. But tonight the water is sandy, the full moon has yet to rise and the relative lack of clarity-we hope-will compensate for the none-too-transparent 150-pound-test coated steel.

Bull redfish- early-fall spawners that instinctually converge on coastal beachfront passes every year to offload huge cargoes of eggs from massive and bulging ivory-white bellies-are fortunately not deterred by off-colored water. It's the scent that counts, so the 12/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks are baited with fresh chunks of cut mullet that Davis captured earlier this evening in a fast-sinking 6-foot Fitec Pro Series "Super Spreader" 3/8-inch monofilament cast net.

We sit in rusty lawn chairs, the truck stereo kicking out Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Steve Earle and Tom Petty. The beat of the music gently melds with the incessant lapping of the waves and the crackling of a driftwood fire that warms the spirits and helps dry out surf-saturated 10X pants.

Halfway into the telling of a good fish story, Davis-chief PR man for Shakespeare Fishing Tackle-bolts from his chair as the big surfcasting rod on the far right assumes a forceful bend and the 3800 Intrepid SS spinning reel begins to dole out line.

Five minutes pass, and the fish is still on. It's not a shark; at least we don't think it is. Typical of large surf-run reds, it's running parallel with the third sand bar some 100 yards offshore, leading the body-builder down the beach.

We are, quite literally, happy campers. The tide has turned, and the redfish, it appears, are starting to feed.

The surf has been choked with mullet since we arrived. However, without at least some degree of tidal flow, all the baitfish in the Gulf of Mexico usually won't trigger the bite. Now we have not only abundant bait but also enough current to suction the sand out from beneath our feet with frightening velocity. The undertow is in high gear. Were it not for the wire-pronged, 6-ounce "surf spider" weights, the fresh chunks of cut mullet would have rolled back to the beach in a matter of minutes.

Davis is a big, muscular guy, but this particular fish has him sweating like a man locked in a sauna. The stout, 11-foot 2-piece surf rod-a BWS 1100 Ugly Stik-is exacting a heavy toll on the running red, which is now well inside the second sand bar. The reel, meanwhile, is slowly gaining line. Davis pumps in a few cranks; the fish takes a few back. But despite its strength and tenacity, the redfish is tiring.

The annual "bull redfish run" usually kicks off in mid-August. After Labor Day, it outright ignites. The holiday weekend was just over a week ago and we are, time-wise, in the right place at the right time.

The "right place" part of the equation is considerably more difficult to ascertain than the right time. I invariably arrive at the beach at least a few hours before sunset-partly because there's always the chance that I might find a sizable school of surf-run speckled trout under working birds or popping slicks and get the opportunity to toss hardware at what are usually bigger-than-average specks, and partly because I need to visually inspect and evaluate the terrain before setting up camp.

Peering through the amber lenses of a new pair of Costa Del Mar wrap-around "Hammerheads," I clearly saw the break as we were 4-wheeling our way down the beach about six hours ago. In the surf, on the flats or far offshore, quality polarized fishing glasses are imperative accessories. I'm not talking fashion here; I'm talking function.

What to look for? Foremost, a "cut" in the bars-a discernible break in the humped-up nearshore sand ridges that allows both forage and game species to "cross the bar." Such cuts provide baitfish a slight break from the intense currents, and are sometimes-but not always-fairly easy to see. Where the water color changes even slightly and the curl of the waves becomes irregular, it's a fair bet that you've located such a spot.

Secondly, you seek out patches of shell well beyond the high-tide waterline, it's likely out on the sand bars as well. Broken shell-innocuous as it seems-is to redfish and other saltwater gamefish what hydrilla and peppergrass are to largemouth bass.

Lastly-and it bears repeating-you find baitfish. Not just a random jumping mullet, mind you, but a concentrated pod of active forage fish.