Colburn's Sabine Connection

Friday was a hot windy struggle for most.

We spent a long hot day on the water Friday.  It did not help that the wind blew twice as hard as predicted, but outside of altering the game plan, that was nothing new.  We had to leave a little early and the trout reportedly bit better in the evening, just as they had the day before.

The Causeway reef and the jetties were tough on us all morning. The water on the east side of the jetties was beautiful and the bait was there, but the fish were not doing their thing.  The water was very dirty on the reef all morning, but cleared up around noon and we finally caught a few fish.

There was a small company tournament in full swing and I had an opportunity to talk with a number of very good local fishermen at their weigh-in that fished every thing from the game reserve to the jetties.  Most of them were beaten down at the end of the day and struggled to find fish.  The two best reports included a trout bite on soft plastics in the ship channel south of the Causeway and some solid bird action just before dark east of Blue Buck.

Capt. Adam Jaynes worked a group for me and they struggled all morning as well, but did manage to find a few trout under the birds late.  An incoming tide that just ripped in all morning long really hurt the reef fishermen.   Any time we were able to slow our drift enough with drift socks, troll motor, and half ounce jig heads we got bit, but that is a tough gig with three fishermen.

The best news is that for the first time in a long time, the water is starting to clear in more extended areas along the La. shoreline and the south revetment wall.  We also ran back in through an isolated stretch of clear water in mid-lake that was so dark that it appeared to be shadows off a cloud from a distance.  There was at least a foot and a half of visibility and that is great for right now.

Water prettier... a little gull activity.

Johnny and I worked a big group today and it looked better at the cleaning table than it really was.  We flat out struggled much of the day with the wind and off-colored water on the south end of the lake.  We were able to fish the east side of the jetties, but everything else was blown out.  The water looked pretty bad in both the ship channel and the gulf side.

We came back into the lake and drifted the reef and caught a few keeper trout and one slot red, but the water had cleared up pretty good by then.  We saved our day hustling 16 to 18 inch trout under a handful of gulls  in the open lake.  Color of plastic did not seem to matter if you could keep up with the schools.

We did not count the fish we cleaned, but it was somewhere between 20 and 25 total for both boats.  I have not seen the south end of the lake as clear as it was late today.  We are supposed to have a much more favorable wind day tomorrow so maybe the fishing will be a little easier.

We'll get serious again Thursday!

I haven't posted of late because we had been dodging weather and our little 7-8 year old team just keeps squeaking out tournament wins every night.  Not doing too good on the fishing end was not something new for me, but I just looked up tonight and realized I had not posted in a while.

We made a big tour of the marshes in the wind and rain yesterday scouting out redfish and it was tough.  I did enjoy running one of the new 24-foot Blue Wave Pure Bays rigged with a 250 Yamaha for the first time.  We never had to pass on any shallow water and had no trouble getting on top with trim tabs and a jack plate.  I think it is just as quick as my 22-footer and it owns rough water!

We caught six reds and only three were bottom-end slot fish.  The water clarity in the river and the bayous was good, but the north end had dirtied up pretty badly again.  The water on the flats on the west side of the Intracoastal was in terrible shape.

We caught five very solid reds on a three hour run last week in one of the same lakes we checked out yesterday, but they had moved again.  The water was much clearer and the grass is already starting to be a problem.  The bite on the reef has been getting much tougher as well, but there are a few big trout still feeding on mullet on the La. shoreline.

I talked with a Jacksonville fisherman that caught a fish just shy of ten pounds on a morning glory Assassin Sunday and there was another nine-pound fish caught today.  The water on the Causeway reef was dirty early, but cleared up in the afternoon.  The flounder bite is still going on, but very few people are taking advantage of it.    The rain has not hurt us much so far, but we cannot stand too much more on the north end of the lake.

Another big game tomorrow night, but we will be back on the lake Thursday morning!

Stickin' it out paid off!

What a difference a day makes...today it was what a difference a few hours make.  We fished Monday because that was the only opportunity my client would have for quite a while.  He is a great guy to fish with or I would never have let him talk me into fishing in that howling north wind.  We wound up catching a few flounder and reds in the bayou, but there were not many places to fish.

The competition was stiff all day long between the Aggies and  the Horns and it started with the color of the sun at day break!

Today was drop dead gorgeous.  When we hit the water at daylight the lake was dead calm.  We drove straight to the south end to fish the shell and only scratched out two or three small trout by noon.  The water was dirtier than it has been, but it was not too dirty to catch fish.  Shortly after noon, we were the only boat still in the area.

Even a good incoming tide failed to clear up the water very much, but when the trout turned on it was on!  The largest trout we kept was only 22 inches, but I jumped a big fish off and had two more very good trout pull off in mid-fight.  We finished with a solid box of 2 to 4 pound trout, a slot red, and two nice flounder.

We easily missed far more than we caught for some reason.  We would reel fish  half way back to the boat only to have them pull off. Many of the fish that we boated still spit the hook as soon as they were netted.

As well as the fish bit for about three hours (and we left them biting) we still had to really slow down to keep the plastics in front of them.   Prior to today, we had been catching most of our larger fish with a very quick retrieve regardless of the speed of the tide.  We also caught some of our fish on light colored tasils for the first time in a while.

How can anyone eat crawfish and corn on the cob and stay that clean? 

Thanks to the folks at the Northeast Houston CCA banquet for taking very good care of us Saturday night.  We just spent the night mixing and mingling and talking about fishing and it was a ball. My eight year old grandson, Andrew, put on a crawfish eating clinic while giving tips on "speed peeling".  He paid for his over indulgence later that night!   They had a good crowd and as usual, raised a significant amount of money.

The Beaumont chapter will host their banquet at the Ford Center Thursday night.  Kim Brown will be at that one also as she is a road warrior this time of year for CCA.  She told me Saturday night that while money has been tight for lots of folks, the fishermen have still supported the chapter banquets.  In some cases the attendance has been down a little, but the dollars generated are still very good.

The S.T.A.R. tournament is just around the corner.  If you haven't already signed up.... get a move on.  One fish could put a new truck and boat in your driveway or earn one of your kids a college tuition for four years.  Even if you don't win a thing, your entry fee will help improve the fishing!   

Northeast Houston Crawfish Boil tonight!

I passed on a half day trip today due to having to make an early decision as the arrival of the predicted front.  It is overcast and blowing a little, but nothing serious so far.  We have a 7-8 year old ball game at 1 p.m. and I will head to Humble as soon as it is over. 

The Northeast Houston CCA will be hosting their annual crawfish boil and banquet at the Humble Civic Center and I look forward to visiting with Ron, Rusty, Larry, Brett, Kyle, and all of the guys that work so hard in that chapter.  I won't have a booth this year, but I do plan on doing lots of visiting and talking fishing.  If you live in the area and like to eat crawfish come join us.  Gates open at 6 pm.

It is good and getting better!

I was going to scout again today with the fishing on Sabine improving each day, but I found out last night that I had a birthday party to attend.  Turned out...it was mine.  You have obviously had a bunch of them when you forget your own!

Now that I am eligible for social security I can hang up my guide license and turn off the computer.  If you believe that will happen any time soon, then there is no reason to read any further.  I couldn't pay my gas bill with my social security check!

Rick holds up two nice trout that were pretty much the norm for the day.  We caught very few small trout and the average fish was easily three pounds.

We had another very good day on Sabine yesterday.  Rick Czepinski bought a trip I donated to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo and he and Drew Donalson could not have asked for better conditions.  We not only caught a lot of fish, but most of the trout were in the 3-4 pound class.  I gave them the option early on of working cuts and marsh for reds and flounder or drifting the shell for trout and they chose the latter.  It turned out to be a good decision!

We caught all of our trout on soft plastics.  We did much better on the shorter plastics in darker colors like Texas Roach and Morning Glory.  It has been a long time since I fished without a depthfinder, still moving into my new boat, but most of our fish were in 6-12 feet of water.  We hit a short stretch of shore on the way back in and quickly caught three reds...one in the slot.

I still have not looked at the west side of the lake, but the entire eastern shoreline is in very good shape.  The middle of the lake looked pretty bad, but there isn't anything going on in that area anyway.   

 

New boat may have a nose for flounder!

We had an unexpectedly good day on Sabine fishing water that I did not intend on fishing.  I had planned on making another long run to the south end, but the water clarity had improved so much in the mid-lake area that we decided to check out the flounder bite.

Part of the reason for the planned long ride was that I had never even started the engine on my new Pure Bay before we left the dock this morning and I needed some break-in time.  As a matter of fact, I would have lost today had the guys at Texas Marine not busted their tails yesterday getting my boat ready.  Johnathan, Adam, Dennis, and Brian all stopped what they were doing to get me on the water.

The ultimate service effort occurred when I got my boat home and was frantically trying to find a place for everything.  At that point I discovered that the storage box under the leaning post was missing and called Johnathan to see if he could order another one.  Forty-five minutes later, Brian was at my home installing a new one while I continued stowing away tackle.  That is definitely over the top!

Back to the fish.  I put the troll motor down just south of Johnson's and never picked it up prior to an unexpected call that terminated the trip.  When we stopped we had 26 keeper flounder and 2 slot reds.  We probably released half that number of flounder that were 12 to 13 inches long.  We fished Sea Shads on 1/4 ounce heads and did not tip with shrimp.

After cleaning their fish, I ran back out in the lake to put some time on the engine and stopped long enough to check a stretch of shore south of The Gator Hole.  I caught and released nine more 14-17 inch flounder before noon.  I also got two reports from the Causeway reef today...one very good and one not so good.  The group that caught a lot of fish worked the birds early and shallow shell the rest of the day with glow-chartreuse Assassins.  Their best fish was a little over five pounds.

 

Cross your fingers...its getting better!

We were supposed to have another tough wind today, but we could not have asked for better conditions.  I very seldom fish on Sunday, but I have backed a lot of folks up due to the wind this spring and we just did what we had to do!

It may all come to a screeching halt tomorrow, but we had yet another good day today on Sabine and the water is continuing to clear a little farther north each day.  I had the privilege of fishing with three generations of the Wade French family today and there is no doubt that there will be a French fishing somewhere for many years to come!

Christopher French was pleased to add this red to the box!

We found trout north of Pleasure Island for the first time in a while, but the majority of the fish that we kept came off the south end of the lake.  We also found our fish a little shallower this morning. We caught most of our trout drifting plastics, but we also caught some of our better fish under the birds.

Our largest trout may have weighed four pounds at best, but we went through a lot of quality fish.  The trout working the mouths of the bayous were small, but the trout chasing ribbon fish and shrimp in the open lake are the real deal.  We only cleaned 16 trout and a nice slot red, but we were in fish all day long.

The flounder bite is also improving daily on the La. shoreline.  There are still a lot of small fish, but there are enough 15-17 inch fish in the flooded grass to keep you interested.  I am sure they are hitting whatever you have the most confidence in, but pumpkin-chartreuse and Texas Roach Sea Shads have been good to us.

Finally...a good trip on Sabine!

You will have to bear with me if I get a little long-winded, but I can finally post a good report off Sabine Lake.  It is pouring down, the wind is blowing, and I postponed yet another party for today, but we had a good time yesterday!

The wind was a little tough in spots!

I was going to scout Big Lake yesterday, but Johnny made a run on Sabine Wednesday in his undercover boat and had just enough good news to change my plans.  He fought a tough wind and muddy water, but he had a chance to talk with some wildlife agents while they were checking net samples.

He said they caught a lot of redfish and several big trout as well.  More importantly, he said the water cleared up just a little with the incoming tide and that he caught some fish under slicks.  When Gene and I cleared East Pass yesterday morning, I almost changed my plan again.  The river and Black's were as clear as I have seen them in a while. but muddy whitecaps were already rolling across the lake.

We stuck with it and caught a few flounder and small reds in Johnson's while hoping the tide would clear up the lake a little one more time.  By the time we fished our way just south of The Gator Hole, the water was already looking better.  The shoreline offered a little protection, but we found the fish too far off the bank to avoid the waves.  The farther south we fished, the higher the waves, but the trout could have cared less.

I was afraid the first trout might be the only trout we caught.....

The most productive program was casting as far as you could and trying to outreel the wind.  If you could keep your plastic in the top 2-3 feet you were going to get bit.  We eventually wore down and surfed across the flats dragging our jigs, but we caught less fish.  We never caught the first 5-7 pound trout, but we caught more 2-3 pound fish than I have caught in a long time and everyone of them went airborne during the fight!

We ate fish last night for the first time in a while!

We certainly cannot blame the Sabine River for any off-colored water nor possibly the Neches, but we were unable to even think about checking out that side of the lake.  I was also surprised by the pattern of clearer water in the lake.  After the incoming tide, the water had cleared some between the Dredge Hole and the Gator Hole.  It also looked better between Willow and Bridge Bayou.  Everything else in between was still dirty and getting dirtier.

Only time will tell, but it was nice to catch quality trout in our own backyard.  If you run out of the north end of the lake, watch out for the floating pipe in front of Coffee Ground and pay attention to the marked areas for crossing the pipeline! 

   

   

Wind blew up a short program.

We made a short run yesterday on Sabine to see if we could locate some slicks on the flats, but by the time we got there the wind was blowing right in on the shoreline.  We did manage to catch four slot reds drifting a red shad Assassin in 8-19 feet of water.

We talked with some folks that caught eight trout that morning drifting finger mullet on a Carolina rig, but they never caught another fish after lunch.  Their biggest looked to be 23-24 inches and all of their fish were good solid trout.

It is just unreal how dirty the water is, even on an incoming tide.  We marked a lot of fish and bait, but could not find a color that they wanted.  We are going back to Calcasieu for the next couple of days.