Colburn's Sabine Connection

Good news....Bad news

The good news is that we found the trout in 2-3 feet of water Friday evening and beat up on them until dark.  The wind was blowing out of the southeast at fifteen plus and the water was 55 degrees with very good clarity. Our best fish was maybe 3 1/2 pounds, but they were all solid trout.  I was surprised and excited to find that many fish that shallow, but  I just knew that program would be blown out today.

With a 90 percent chance of thunder storms and 20 mile per hour winds forecast for today, I called last night and tried to talk my party into rescheduling.  I was certain that program would not hold up under those conditions. They were determined to fish, however, and as it turned out I am glad they were so persistent.

The fish were still up on that flat when we arrived this morning and we caught them all day long.  The forecast was right on the money as the wind howled out of the south and it rained about every half hour, but it didn't bother the fish.  The day before they would eat glow-char. or pumpkin-char. in both the Assassin and the Tidal Surge Split Tail, but today they preferred the glow chartreuse. 

I have no idea why so many fish this size are all over one flat in late January.  They were chasing shrimp like it was mid-November and I thought shrimp were off the menu by now.  Surprisingly, we never caught the first trout on a Corky, Catch 2000 or Crazy Croaker and those have been our "go to" lures for the past two months. I don't know if those big fish moved on us, but no one was complaining!

When we left it was still raining and the fish were still biting.  The bad news affected only me as it was "my" lower unit that hit a submerged pipe just south of Rabbit Island that we were unable to mark.  It ate a prop and a prop shaft.  We saw two other floaters as well, one was an entire skid about six inches under the water behind Stewts.

We were running in four feet of water when we hit the pipe.  My biggest concern is that I could hit it again tomorrow, next week or whenever since we couldn't mark it.  It won't be tomorrow I am reminded as I now have to make a trip to the shop.  You can't avoid hitting objects you can't see so this won't help you a great deal, but I would keep an eye out and slow down when cruising the North end.

  Rita litered the bottom on the north end of the lake with some unforgiving structure and we are finding it one piece at a time!

Fishing was more fun today!

We just had perfect early morning conditions prior to the sun breaking through.  A light north wind eventually got much stiffer, but it had no effect on the fishing.  We ran into a school of redfish while running south along the La. Shoreline and stayed with them until everyone had at least caught or broken off a fish or two.

  We would have never seen them had a client's hat not blown off. The terns were working over those fish less than a hundred yards off the shoreline and we ran right past them.  We never found the hat, but the timing was good!

We found the trout in 4 to 6 feet of water with Assassins rigged on light heads, but eventually caught our larger trout on Crazy Croakers and Catch 2000's.  We only had one trout that may have pushed 5 pounds, but most of the fish were in the 16 to 20 inch class.  We found a pretty good school of trout over a shallow reef just north of Garrison's, but we still can't get a bite going on the flats just south of Madam Johnson's.

We never saw a lot of bait, but the trout were holding tight to the reefs like they were on something good.  Every time we found any trout in bunches, 3-5 fish constituted a bunch, they were holding between the shell and the shoreline right on the edge of the shell.  We still are not getting good tide changes, but the surface temperature continues to climb.  We may pay for that warmer water again this summer.

I won't be back on the water again until Friday, but I would reccomend you getting out if you can.  You could miss the whole show waiting on better tides and lighter winds!

Reef action may be getting close!

We didn't break the bank by any means, but we did find a few solid fish today on the south end of the lake.  The water looked surprisingly good and warmed up to 54 degrees by the time we called it quits.

We wore out a lot of soft plastic drifting the reef anywhere from 10 to 17 feet deep and caught only 2 small trout.  We eventually moved a little farther north and found a few fish hanging over shell in 2-5 feet of water.  We caught two specks in the 3-4 pound class on pumpkin-chartreuse Crazy Croakers before switching to pumpkin-chartreuse Assassins.  We didn't have much tide movement.  A lighter head (16th ounce) was the key to catching fish on the Assassin.

We wound up catching several throwbacks and four more keepers.  Small fish have not been a problem on the north end, but it has been blown out the last few days.  I talked with Albert Bates and he said they struggled on the Louisiana shoreline.  I don't know if you have waded that area this year, but that bottom has really changed since Rita.  The bottom is much tougher to deal with now!

We never marked the first fish while drifting the reefs.  That, too, can change in the time that it takes to motor back and start again, but I really expected to find some trout deep.  It was a treat just having enough water to launch today!

Wind won't give us a break...

We have gone to the water like we were going to fish two days in a row and haven't made it to the lake yet.  Yesterday the wind blew the water out all the way down to the mud.  Today it blew some of it back in just as hard.  It could take a day or two to get right with the bayous and the river extremely silted up right now.

We'll try again tomorrow and see if we can get to the lake.  I got a late report this afternoon from a friend that tried to get on the reefs on the south end yesterday and he said the water looked terrible.  A tide change or two can fix that in a hurry.  If you are headed this way and the wind will give you a break, you will probably find the best looking water on the La. shoreline.

Tough weekend on Sabine

Even with the wind finally giving them a break on Saturday, the folks I talked with struggled on Sabine.  The Boat Show is in the books and we will be back on the water tomorrow.  The tide was so low that it really messed up the river and probably hurt the folks on the north end a little in the process.

Right before dark, there were a few solid trout up to four pounds caught by fishermen drifting the Garrison's Ridge area.  The red fish were mixed in with them and the bite did not last long.  They caught their fish on a chrome He Dog and a pearl-chartreuse Skitterbug. 

That was by far the best report that I got.  We are getting a little rain right now and it can only help.  I can't believe that I would ever want rain in January, but a little would really help the cause.

We will be fishing between fronts this week which will have only a minimal effect on the water temperature.  If you find a few trout, I would fish the area long and hard prior to looking for more fish.  Don't be surprised if the reefs on the south end of the lake get hot much earlier than usual.

I will always believe that someone right now is saying, "Man, you should have been with us!"  Pay your dues, keep on crankin', and it will happen for you when everyone else is struggling.

More fishijng than catching

The fish won again today and I don't know why.  We had fantastic conditions all day long and wound up with three fish.  I did see some trout caught by folks that were just fishing better than I was.  The pattern was the same, but the fish were much more scattered than they have been.

Gene Locke released a fish between five and six pounds and Albert Bates caught at least four or five good solid trout drifting the same flats.  Most of the fish were caught on a Catch V in bone or electric chicken and I fished it very little.  I was determined to make them eat a 2000 or Corky Devil and they wanted something that sunk just a little faster in the choppy water. There was no gull activity at all today.

I will be back at the Houston Boat Show tomorrow afternoon.  If you're in the house drop by the CastAway booth and let's talk fishing!

Gulls just won't give it up!

The wind blew equally hard today, but out of the opposite direction.  We got on the water late again, but the trout were much more cooperative.  We only kept six trout to eat, but probably caught 15 to 20 fish with the largest pushing the 26 inch mark.  The fish moved back up into 2-3 feet of water, but still would not eat a top water lure for us.

We started out catching fish on an electric chicken Catch 2000, but eventually caught most of our fish on bone with a silver side.  Even with a stiff north wind blowing much of the day, the water temperature was 61 degrees.  We saw several huge flocks of gulls working late, but never even checked them out.  I have already had two calls from local fishermen that limited on redfish working those same birds.

They caught very few trout under the gulls, but the trout they did catch were solid keepers.  Most of the redfish were in the slot and they caught all of their fish on red 3/4 ounce Traps and Hoginars.  We are supposed to have perfect conditions tomorrow so we will be on the water early before the wind has a chance to switch again. 

One of those days......

I am going to blame it on the wind, but we just had one of those days that you have to have every once in a while.  We either started too late or quit too early, but we struggled either way.  By the time we got on the lake the wind was already howling out of the southeast.

Our biggest mistake was catching a striper in the river only minutes after launching.  We immediately left and ran to the lake to try and beat the wind thinking we could always come back.  We never did and it was a bad decision.  We caught only three trout in four hours of hard fishing.  The water was in great shape and we found mullet running the shoreline in several spots, but we never figured out what the trout were eating.

If you were planning a trip of your own, don't change your mind based on our water haul.  The wind is supposed to be a little more in our favor the next couple of days and that will help.  I would continue to start my day out in 2-4 feet of water with a suspending type bait.  All of our fish (3), bit black-chartreuse Catch 2000's.

I hate writing bad reports!

See ya at the Boat Show!

The wind was just too much to deal with today, but the trout bite has remained steady most of the week.  The exceptionally clear water has made it a little difficult during the middle of the day, but low light hours are still productive.  The fish are backing off the flats into 4-6 feet of water in the middle of the day and are a little harder to pattern, but will still hit a slow moving bait.

A good trip this week was somewhere between eight to twelve fish.  Those aren't great numbers, but the trout are averaging well over the three pound mark with an occasional shot at a fish over six pounds.  The Catch 2000, Corky, and Crazy Croaker are still our most productive lures.  When the smaller Crazy Croaker got so hot at the first of the week, some folks downsized with the smaller 2000 and did just as well.

Gene Locke and his son, Larry, shared the fact that they were catching those trout in deeper water and it really helped bridge a dry spell for us.  They worked those fish fish all week long and the bite never played out .  Folks swimming an Assassin on a 1/16th ounce head are also managing a few trout.  They are retrieving it fast enough to keep it in that top column of water.

I will be at the Houston Boat Show at the CastAway Booth Saturday afternoon and again the following Thursday.  I would rather be on the water, but I do look forward to visiting with lots of old fishing friends.  Drop by, bring your map, and we will talk about rods and mark good spots!