Dustin Jones grew up skating and playing hockey on a frozen lake behind his central Ohio home. During the summer, he’d while away the hours drowning worms in front of big bluegill and twirling cast nets to see what he could dredge up. Now that he’s grown, he loves to cast jigs to smallmouth bass that crowd a small river near his condo.

But nothing in Jones’ previous fishing experience could prepare him for the unrivaled power and fury of a just-hooked Gulf Coast redfish. Back in the winter, I took Jones out in search of a marsh red, and he caught largemouth bass all day. Unfortunately, it seemed redfish would remain on his bucket list — until the last five minutes of the trip, when Jones connected with his first ever spotttail.

That fish ignited a raging inferno in Jones’ heart. Like an addict who craves the next hit, he thought constantly about replicating the experience, and finally got the opportunity to do so last week.

He and his fiancé came down to finalize plans for their December wedding, and Jones left a day open to hop on board with me and explore the marshes in search of more line-stripping redfish. The day started rather slowly, but it certainly didn’t end that way.

Despite scorching temperatures and brisk southeast winds, we caught plenty of fish using a variety of lures, including Matrix Craws, H&H gold spinners and Zoom Z-Craws.

To see all the details of the trip, check out the video below.

Like the video? Please give it a thumbs-up, and subscribe to the Marsh Man Masson channel on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below. Do you have a story about taking out-of-towners fishing? What was the experience like? Were they instantly hooked?