Last week I found out that legendary saltwater guide Bill Sheka Jr. passed away back in June. I first learned of Bill back in the early 1990s through a VHS tape that showcased various fishing locales on the Central Texas Coast. It was in this documentary that I witnessed one of the most stunning pieces of Speckled Trout fishing ever burned into film. The footage showcased Bill and his client, Wayne Brown catching not one but two trout well over 30". Most fisherman never see one of those in their lifetime, but on this day they landed two on almost back to back casts.
A few years later my dad and I had the opportunity to fish with Bill in the same place where that video footage was taken...the legendary Baffin Bay. Although we didn't catch any 30' Trout, we did have the opportunity to get to know one another, and it was during this trip that Bill shared what anyone would consider to be an almost mythical week of fly fishing for Redfish. A week which included one day where he landed 41 Redfish on fly. Bill and I lost touch for nearly two decades, until I, on a whim, I decided to reach out to him through Facebook in 2018. We picked up where we left off like two long lost friends.
During one of our conversations, I asked Bill if he would tell me that story again about that week of mythical fishing. After he recounted that story in great detail, he asked me if I would help him document that story, so that it wouldn't be lost after he was gone....which I gladly did.
For the last 10 or 15 years of his life, Bill had struggled with some major health issues, including cancer, which was the result of exposure to chemical weapons during his time in the United States Army. Sadly he passed away on June 7th, 2024. Bill was not only one of, if not THE BEST trophy trout guide on the Central Texas coast. He was an outstanding fly fisherman, with at least one pattern named after him. He was also a very accomplished Whitetail Deer Hunter, and an expert in excavating and collecting Native American artifacts.
Below you will find that story that Bill shared with me on Aug 5th, 2018, and whch we subsequently put into a proper narrative essay...hope you enjoy it.
RIP Capt. Sheka...you were one of a kind!
Andy
The month of July 1995 was a very special time in my angling career. On July 7th, 1995 I had located a massive school of Redfish in an estuary on the lower end of the Upper Laguna Madre known as 9-mile hole. Some folks call it The Graveyard because prior to the channels leading into the Intercoastal Waterway being built, large schools of redfish would get trapped in 9-mile hole and die. I first fished the graveyard way back in 1967, when Hurricane Beulah had dumped thousands of fish into the Graveyard leaving them landlocked when the storm surge receded. This 1995 schoolhowever, was one of the largest I have ever witnessed. I estimated it to be roughly 200 yards long and 75-100 yards wide. We estimated it to contain somewhere between six and eight thousand fish. Most were Redfish, but there were a significant amount of Black Drum and some sizeable Trout mixed in as well. It was a very unique situation in that a period of unusually low tides had forced these fish into a knee-deep section of the estuary. The fish were partially blocked to the north by a very thick layer of Sargassum weeds. The remainder of the area was surrounded by flats to shallow for the fish to escape. The school simply had no choice but to swim in a big circle until the tide rose again. I fished this large school on the first day I located them with Jim Pool and his son Jarrod. In addition to bringing 31 reds to hand with a flyrod, I also landed a very large 38 ½" bull on the Sheka Shrimp fly. Between the three of us, we landed a total 121 Redfish.
I had several other very successful days fishing this school that week. However, with high-pressure building and the winds calming, I knew the conditions would be right for an extraordinary day. Several days later on Thursday, July 13th, I had four clients in the boat with me; Tommy Gouger, Mike Mount, Craig Sawtell and John Graham. We left Clem's Marina about 5:30 am so we could arrive at "The Hole" early. I had marked the school the day before using my GPS. Luck was with us, as the fish had not moved at all. We shut the boat down about 200 yards from where they were last located and used the trolling motor to approach them so as not to disturb the school. Now only about 50 yards from the school, we slipped quietly into the water and began to make our way towards the massive group of fish. All four of us started out using Flyrods and my Sheka Shrimp pattern or Clouser Minnows that morning. Later in the day a couple of the guys decided to fish the school with baitcasting rods and soft plastics. I stuck with the flyrod, because my plan was to beat my personal best record set of 31 set just a few days before from the same school. That day I was armed with my favorite setup which consisted of SAGE 9 wt. with a Lamson reel and a Cortland 444 floating line. In my vest, I had an ample supply of Clouser Minnows, as well as a fly of my own design known as the Sheka Shrimp. The 4 of us spread ourselves about 20 yards apart from one another and began to make our way towards the school. As we approached, large Redfish began to swim between our legs knocking us off balance as we waded towards the eastern shoreline. Once the 5 of us started fishing, there wasn’t a time for the remainder of the day when at least 4 of us had a fish on at the same time, and at no time was someone not fighting or releasing a fish.
Once I started landing fish, I began to call out verbally to the other anglers the official count of what number fish I was fighting. I had also instructed each angler to keep an accurate count of their redfish, so we could total the number at the end of the day. Hours went by as I would hook one, fight it as aggressively as possible and land it. Many times I only had to make a simple roll cast again right back into the school to start the process all over. Tommy Gouger recalls so many fish being in that school that he hooked 10 black Drum on the Sheka Shrimp as his fly dangled in the water while he was releasing a redfish. For the record, these were not small redfish. Average length was around 28" with several pushing the mid 30" mark. As most experienced fly fishermen know, it takes an average of 9-12 minutes to land a redfish in the 27-30 inch class on a 9wt. flyrod. As I was striving to tack up the numbers, I was literally horsing them in!
Trapped in with this school of Redfish were huge schools of mullet and shrimp. At times the school was so aggressive that mullet and shrimp were flying through the air, desperately trying to escape the predators below. This school was one giant well-oiled eating machine. I vividly remember several times during the day when the NAVAL T4 Trainer planes from Corpus would fly over our heads. The noise from the props and the shadow from the plane would spook the entire school, and water would shoot up in the air as high as 8 feet. The roar from the excitement of many thousand fish “firing up” sounded like a jet engine!
As the sun climbed and the temperature rose I began to become envious that my clients were wading back to the boat to replenish themselves with food and drink. I had only two bottles of water and a few candy bars to hold me over. Each time I felt compelled to wade back to the boat, I reminded myself of the personal best I was chasing. In spite of the severe fatigue, borderline heat exhaustion, muscle cramping I decided to push ahead. My fingers were now blistered and bloody from the line racing through my fingertips from each run. At approximately 5:15 pm I landed the final redfish of the day and called out to the other anglers "Number 41". As we waded back to the boat, large Redfish continued to ram into us as they swam between our legs and through the lineup of anglers. My 4 companions had been beaten and battered as well. Between the 5 of us, we landed 126 Redfish. This number does not include the “accidental” black drum or Trout we caught. Nor does it count the dozens of fish we lost and broke off.
I knew that at some point soon the fish would be gone, so on July 17th, 1995 I headed back to 9-mile hole again with Mark and Danny Middlebrooks. While not quite as epic as the day of 41, I landed 33 Redfish on the fly that day. Combined, Mark and I and Danny landed a total of 62 Redfish with Mark taking 10 on the fly and Danny taking 12 on the fly. Danny and Mark also caught many redfish on baitcasting gear later in the day.
On Friday, July 21st, 1995 the tide came up just enough to allow the big school to move north and out of the hole. Despite my effort to keep the existence and location of the school under wraps, word eventually spread and the greed of other anglers spooked and separated the school. From July 7th to July 21st I fished that school every day except July 11th as well as both Sundays during that stretch. Between myself and my clients during that magical period, we landed a total of 687 Redfish, with myself taking a total 181 Redfish on a Flyrod.