The lake is getting muddier and fresher by the minute. The Sabine is roaring down hill and the river won't crest until tomorrow night. A strong current was noticeable well out into the lake. For the first time in the past week or so, there were more boats on the lake than birds, but we knew it was coming.
Suzanne had bragging right for about ten minutes with her 8 pound red, but...
I fished the Langs this morning and we did catch a few nice trout under the 2 or 3 flocks we worked, but they drew lots of attention very quickly. The good news in spite of all of that was that the redfish are still on a tear and we were still able to catch trout and reds the old fashioned way.....chunking and winding over structure.
.....Wayne won his tug of war with this 31-inch bully before we could even get hers on ice!
Most of the north end of the lake has not only the same color, but the same texture as chocolate pudding. The fish are still there and feeding on mullet and small shrimp, but you have to fish for them to find them. We drifted some of the same areas where the gulls had been working the hardest this week and the fish were still holding tight. Texas Roach and Mardi Gras were our two best colors and we did far better with a lighter jig head.
You could completely miss what is still a pretty good bite by running around looking for the birds. At least for us, and we have been doing this even when the birds were everywhere, the more consistent approach for keeper fish has been drifting 4 to 6 foot flats, birds or no birds. The fish are not moving great distances, they just can't keep the shrimp on the surface very long.
I know tomorrow is going to look like the Indy 500 when folks start racing to the few birds that do show and it is going to make it even harder for those willing to stay put. I seldom fish weekends, but I will be on hand to see it tomorrow. Slow down, don't panic when you realize the water is ugly and the birds aren't going to help you....and just go back to fishing like you were a month ago!
I visited with Mike Morgan while cleaning fish and he had two very nice flounder up to 22-inches (that's a limit in Novemver) that he caught in one of the bayous. You can only keep two right now, but that program is yet another option. He said the farther he ran up the bayou the better the water looked.
WATCH OUT for the floating debris in the river and the lake, especially if you are running at first light. There are some huge floaters in the river!
Comments