Colburn's Sabine Connection

There is a lot of floating debris in the river and the north end of the lake!

*WATCH OUT FOR FLOATING DEBRIS IN THE RIVER AND ICW*

I have been fishing every day and baseballing every evening so I am behind again.  We have done well in spite of all of the runoff and we still have a lot more to go with Toledo Bend now releasing water as well.  The water clarity in the lake isn't too good and you know it is getting fresher by the day, but it hasn't bothered the trout nor the flounder thus far.

Adam, Brad and I made a run two days after the monsoon and did pretty darned good everywhere we stopped.  We found fish on the south end on the Causeway reef as well as around the mouths of the bayous on the La. side of the lake.

John and Jimmy with a pair of nice trout caught on limetreuse Assassins.

The following day we caught a lot of small trout, keepers but no six pound fish, and some really nice flounder.  We stayed on the La. shoreline fishing the grass with Gulp and spinner baits.  The next day, I think it was Friday, Steve, Jimmy and John fished with me and we spent most of the morning on the Causeway reefs.  We had two trout right at the six pound mark and several more solid fish before running back north.  Limetreuse was the best color for us followed by red shad.  We fished five inch Assassins on a 1/8th ounce head.

Lee and Joe got after the trout and reds pretty good Sunday morning.

Back on the north end we just wore the 16 to 19 inch trout out with Swim baits before calling it a day.  Sunday, yep I fished on a Sunday, Lee and Joe Anthony fished with me and we had a very good morning, but struggled for no good reason in the afternoon.  We caught trout and redfish on Swim baits and Sea Shads fished under a popping cork early.  All of those fish came off the La. shoreline out of 2 to  4 feet of water on an outgoing tide.

We ran to the west side of the lake and caught a few more solid trout, but we just couldn't get the program nailed down.  Some of the fish were right on the bank, but there were fish holding two casts off the bank as well.  It was dead calm all day long and we got to look at a lot of water.  We are going to hit it hard the next four days and hope that we don't get too much more rain Friday.

Keith Daley called today to say that they had added yet another perk for those fishing their team tournament on Saturday.  Daley's will also pony up for a free replica for the biggest trout caught in the tournament.  He said they currently had about 40 teams already signed up.  Fifty teams will assure the first place winners of a $2000 pay day.  For more information or to sign up give them a call at 409.736.3999. Friday is the deadline for signing up!

Wild Game Dinner moved....fish still biting in the lake!

I just unhooked the trailer and I am on my way to the ball park, but I wanted to get two things in before I go.  The first is, amazingly enough, we have caught a lot of fish the last two days on Sabine.  Flounder, reds, and trout up to six pounds.  I'll have the entire report later.

The second is that the WIld Game supper has been moved from MLK to the First Baptist Church gym on Green avenue. Nothing else changed.  Doors open at 3:00 with the eating part set for 5:00.  See ya there!

A ton of water in a very short time span!

Monday morning was a first for me.  I have never left the dock with a party knowing the wind was already blowing 20 mph and forecast to blow even harder.  I was still trying to cancel the trip when we exited Adams Bayou and hit the river.  Boo Schexneider had already tried to get his Pastor, Fred Sanders, and his son, Eric, out a couple of Mondays earlier and they were running out of available Mondays.

I would have never even considered attempting to cross Coffee Ground had I not had a Pastor aboard.  The wind was closer to 30 mph than 20 mph and there were some serious waves between us and the La. shoreline.  My thinking was that if we went down, because I was in such good company, the good Lord might just let me squeak in with them in some type of package deal!

It was a long slow trip, but we made it okay and drifted one stretch of shoreline over and over.  The wind sock was almost of no use once we were fifty yards off the bank.  Believe it or not, we still caught trout, redfish and flounder and missed several very nice fish that we never felt hit until it was too late.  By the time you took up the slack they were already  behind the boat and either broke a line or pulled off.  Our largest trout was a tad over 5 1/2 pounds and we had several more nice fish as well.

The Pastor and his son with some of the trout we duped in an obviously angry lake!

I don't know why, but I haven't fished limetreuse in a long time and the fish just jumped all over it Monday.  Boo and I caught a couple of good fish on a swim bait, but a limetreuse Assassin was the ticket.  I am saving the best part of the trip for my column next week, but I have proof that Pastor Sanders is indeed connected.  The fact that we made it out and back safely is probably proof enough!

It is going to be a whole new game following our Tuesday night monsoon.  We got 10 to 12 inches of rain in a four hour period and I have never seen the water any higher where we live or rise any faster.  We had Class II rapids in the middle of the street in front of our house!

I canceled tomorrow, but I will still make  the obligatory round in the morning anyway.  I tried to make a run this morning, but the boat ramp and parking lot at the Boat Club was under water and filled with everything from a refrigerator to a television set.  I didn't know a televison set would float. By the time I got most of it cleaned up, the water had dropped enough to see the cleats on the dock. We obviously had even more water than this with Ike and the fishing picked back up almost immediately.  You don't know if you don't go. 

The following are a few pictures of what Adams bayou and the boat ramp looked like this morning.  Lots of fresh water to go!

The bayou was almost back in its banks and rushing southward.

The cleats were just beginning to show above the water when I left around 1:00.

The launch was not accessible at daylight.  The mud is always the nastiest part!

 

 

More wind on tap for this week?

After a solid week of dealing with a stiff southeast wind that kept us pinned down on the La. shoreline it looks like more of the same for tomorrow morning.  For the most part we were still on some pretty good fish, but I was personally in a catching slump.  Fortunately, for the most part, my clients fished much better.

One of three nice trout Bruce Bryant caught and released Friday morning!

The early part of the week was akin to stealing before the wind took over.  We caught some nice trout and flounder off the revetment wall, on the Causeway reef and all over the La. shoreline.  While I was doing more guiding than catching, I had two clients catch personal bests and that hasn't happened in a while.  One of the trout hit a Swim Bait and the other ate a jointed Strike Pro jerk bait.

By the time Friday rolled around my catching was on life support.  We were still amongst the trout and some folks around us were doing pretty well, but I just could not get it going.  One day the fish were holding in 4 to 6 feet of water and the next day they were up shallow, but finding them and catching them is two different things.

Note the flags.  We opted for sitting on the deck eating Ancelet's addicting boiled crawfish!

I spent the afternoon Sunday eating crawfish with my grandson at Ancelets while watching the wind starch the flags on top of the marina.  It was howling and they say it will blow that hard again tomorrow.  I suggested postponing, but that didn't turn out to be an option so we will find out first hand in the morning.

Thanks again to all of the folks that turned out for the all day seminar at Daley's last Wednesday.  I really had a good time and enjoyed swapping information with some darn good fishermen.  We knew Wednesday wasn't the best of days, but Keith wanted to get something in for his customers before the end of March and we were running out of time.  Do not forget about his big tournament on the last Saturday of the month.  The entry fee is only $100 per team and first place will pay at least $2000 based on a 50 team field.  For more information or an entry form just call the store.

 

Some nice trout still hanging around in "Muddy" water!

The good news is that I don't think the lake or the river can get much muddier than it is right now.  The better news is that we caught a good mess of trout up to 5 1/2 pounds and one big flounder this afternoon. I am booked all the way through the spring break so I can't share as much as I usually do and survive, but these fish did come off the north end of the lake.

This nice trout hit a Sea Shad in 12 feet of muddy water.  She's still out there!

It took a while to generate any confidence at all as I just cannot hang in there in really dirty water if I don't see any bait at all.  Today it finally boiled down to "slow downand fish it" or go home and we found the fish with red shad Sea Shads and Swim baits in 8 to 12 feet of water.  Three of our trout were very nice fish and they all came out of 12 feet of water.  The other fish were hanging right on the break.

We caught several small flounder and a couple of small trout, but we never caught the first redfish.  I am going to fish in the rain again tomorrow, but I'll be dry all day Wednesday.  If you are really bored and want to talk fishing drive over to Daley's Hunt n Fish any time of the day on Wednesday.  I will host three different sessions, but we are going to answer questions and share information all day long.  Keith said everything in the store is marked down 15 percent all day and there will be door prizes as well.

 

 

Okay...so much for the drought!

I vowed that I wasn't going to buckle under to the wind this year, but I lied. Lately, it hasn't been so much the wind as the combination of wind and rain. The problem with the rain is that the runoff has really dirtied up some of the better Plan B spots that would get us out of the wind.

The last three days were not user-friendly and this morning was the worst. We tried for a little while, but a few redfish and a couple of flounder were not enough to compensate for the miserable weather. The water temperature was still in the low 60's, but we were forced to fish the bayous so I don't know what the temperature was in the lake. It has been a couple of degrees higher on average.

I think we minimized our chances of even catching a trout by sticking with crankbaits and spinnerbaits all morning. They definitely worked better in the dirty water. We fished a Strike Pro Bubba crankbait and a quarter ounce spinnerbait with a chartreuse Gulp Mullet body. Both of Lucien's reds were 29-inch fish so he at least got us pulled around a little!

I talked with Keith and Eric over at Daley's Hunt N Fish today and we decided that next Wednesday, 3/14, would be a good day to host an all day in house "question and answer" session. I will host three specific talks on tackle, techniques and seasonal patterns, but I will be talking fishing in general all day long. It is probably going to be raining anyway so this isn't a bad Plan B.

I have already received a lot of e-mails as to what most folks wanted help with, but we will also cover everything from tying on a hook to looking for another fishing partner!

So much for the honey-dos!

Saturday's good intentions went awry when Eric Ronning talked me into riding back over to the Houston Fishing Show with him.  It was a good decision.  It was packed and several friends in the guiding profession that were not there earlier in the week were on hand as well.

Following an unexpected visit with Bruce Baugh I found myself in the middle of what looked to be a TSFM staff meeting.  Mike McBride, Ernest Cisneros and I were comparing lower coast to upper coast fishing right now while Pam visited with Capts. Gary and Shellie Gray. Scott Murray was also in the mix with his new Trophy Trout book and Everett was proudly introducing his new "youth fishing" column writer, Jake Haddock, to everyone close enough to shake hands.  Nice young man!

I had already spent much of my earlier visit talking with Billy Pustejovsky, Charlie Paradoski and Tommy Countz so I got pretty caught up on Matagorda as well.  Jimmy West said that he had it going on for him in East bay as well. The biggest surpise was when Jim Wallace showed up to visit at Sarge Upchurch's request at the Laguna Rod booth.  We recalled past trips on Sabine and Calcasieu and discussed the recovery of a mutual friend, Johnie Cormier, between brief interruptions by folks just wanting him to tell about catching the state record trout one more time. As expected, his face lights up every time does so.

As you can probably tell, while I dread fishing and boat shows, for one day I had as much fun as anyone there.  I don't think Eric had as much fun, however, as he stated while leaving, "I don't know how you ever see everything. You stop and have another mini-seminar every ten feet!

We fished yesterday and I was a little surprised that the water clarity wasn't too good all over the lake.  It cleared up a little on the south end with the incoming tide, but 10 inches of visibility was about max for most of the lake. The water temperature was 70 degrees by mid-afternoon!

We caught trout up to 22-inches on Swim baits, 5-inch Sea Shads and 4-inch tails under a cork.  We caught our redfish and one big flounder on the smaller tails and Swim baits.  I heard that some nice trout were taken off the revetment walls, but we never got the first strike.  With the exception of a couple of fish that we caught in East Pass on the way back in, all of our fish came south of Garrisons in less than 4 feet of water.

 

Even "not catching" would have been preferrable!

I lost some very decent weather days this week due to funerals and the Houston Fishing Show, but I did get to fish enough to find out that the trout have adjusted to all of the fresh water.  We still caught more reds and flounder than trout, but the trout that we caught were solid fish and, more importantly, they were back up on the shallow flats in 4 to 6 feet of water.

I never got to fish past noon and just made do with whatever tide we had, but I never found much muillet activity.  They must have been there as we did find some fish under the pelicans.  We caught most everything, flounder and reds included, on 5-inch Assassin Shads and Trout Killers.  Morning Glory, red shad, and Geaux Gleaux were the best colors for us.

I was going to make a quick run this morning, but the wind changed my mind.  I don't have many open dates the remainder of the month so it's best that I take care of a few honey do's.

I talked with Robert Sloan a little while at the show and he said they had done very well with Egret's new Kick A..Mullet.  Ken originally sent me a few prototypes and they didn't work at all for me.  He said the finished product is improved and lethal so I will give them another shot this week.  The prototypes looked great in my hand, but they didn't retrieve well.

 

More casts than bites!

We postponed yet another trip last night due to the promise of more rain today and the fact that I wouldn't pay to fish with me right now anyway.  I have been fishing almost every day, more days alone than with clients lately, and it has been a tough bite at best.

Don't let Evan's shorts fool you....it was cold all day long!

I fished a couple of Dads and their sons on Saturday only because it was so tough for them to all get off at the same time and we scratched out a few slot reds and small flounder, but it was a grind on a raw day.  A northeast wind kept us pinned down in East Pass and Blacks and the water continued to get muddier on a slow tide change.  The two youngsters, Jonathan and Evan, caught most of the fish on Gulp and Trigger X.

We did sneak out into the lake very briefly and I was surprised to find Coffee Ground pretty silted up for the first time.  It wasn't so bad that you couldn't catch fish, but you would have to have been driven and pretty skilled to make it happen in the wind and Doug, Charles and the boys were more into just getting bit!

I am not going to scout in the rain today as I have only one trip scheduled late in the week and I have done far more fishing than catching of late.  I will be at the Houston Fishing Show for a couple of days as well.

 Keith Daley asked me about the possibility of hosting a seminar at Daley's Hunt N Fish in the very near future.  It would be actually be more of a question and answer session on everything from techniques and tackle to dissecting seasonal patterns on Sabine and the rivers.  I like the idea that his place is much closer to home and the topics would be more specific to our area.  If that interests you, let Keith know or e-mail me as soon as possible.  He is open to suggestions for a day and start time that would best fit fishermen that still have to fit in a job, Little league baseball, softball, etc.

The fish will eventually adapt to all this fresh water and we will find them, but it is a challenge right now. I've got reels to clean and it is time to turn my braid around on a couple of them. Its still drizzling rain right now, but if that wind doesn't pick up I just may have to make a quick trip after all.  I am truly addicted to the anticipation of the next bite!

New moon week yields big trout!

I wound up fishing alone Tuesday following a last minute cancellation due to a traffic mishap.  While it doesn't pay the bills, I needed a solo trip anyway as it gave me a chance to check out some new water and different  patterns.  The water clarity in the lake was not as clear as I hoped for, but still a little better than I expected.

It was a different place today, but this is what you missed if you had to work Tuesday!

If you were unable to get out Tuesday you missed the best weather day in two months.  You were not alone as I saw only three other boats the entire day.  Rising gas prices may continue to minimize fishing pressure.

I initially found the reds piled up between "The Pines" and the first rig and caught them for about an hour before running further south.  Surprisingly, the further south I ran, the dirtier the water got, but the trout were doing their thing when I arrived.  They were punctual as the crazy bite took place almost to the minute that the major was scheduled to take place.

I saw the fish blowing up on schools of tiny shad hugging the bank and felt pretty sure that they were either reds or flounder.  I got overly excited when the first cast with a MirrOdine XL produced a 26-inch trout.  In the process of taking her off the hook to release her, I broke my line.  Hoping that I had found a bunch of trout I just grabbed a Wader II with a Geaux Daley She Dog tied on and threw it in their general direction.

I was looking for my remote to bury my Talon when the bait disappeared.  For the next thirty minutes it was as crazy as it can get.  I  caught and released four more trout over 25-inches before catching three redfish in a row.  I haven't caught five trout that size in the past five weeks must less thirty minutes!

When things finally slowed down I realized that I had a couple in a Gulf Coast watching the show from a short cast away.  The man asked if his wife could try to catch one of the big trout as she had never caught anything over four pounds.  I backed out and watched as she caught a couple of reds before sticking a very nice trout on a chrome-black back Spook.

Invariably my first thought is always, "Man, I wish I had clients today", but the truth is that I wouldn't have found those fish had I been with clients.  I enjoyed the bite, but the more important find were the schools of small shad parading down the bank.  Its a little early for that, but we haven't had much winter.

With the wind forecast to blow a gale today, I switched gears and Lamar Belcher and I met Eric Ronning to fish the ship channel on his one day off.  It was colder than predicted and a thick fog didn't burn off until noon so I was glad that we trailered around to the south end.

We fished Die Dappers and Assassins in 12 to 18 feet of water and while we didn't get many bites, we all got a swing or two at a big trout.  I pulled off three in a row and lamar missed one before Eric put a 27 1/2 inch trout in the boat that weighed 7-pounds.  Not known for being overly humble, he immediately sent a picture of the fish back to Keith and Aaron who were dutifully holding down the fort at Daley's.  That may be his last day off for a while!

You would not believe how beat up the big trout was.  She had a wide notch in her back, scars on both sides and her gill covers were in terrible shape.  Had she been in good shape she could have easily weighed over eight pounds, but it was a very nice fish nonetheless. I got some good pictures of her, but I am holding them for next month's TSFM column unless we catch something even better this week.

The water clarity in the channel was no better than it is in the lake.  When we left. the surface temperature was 61 degrees. Based on past logs, I felt like we would see some good trout this week in spite of all the fresh water.  I don't know about the rain chances for the next couple of days, but the wind is going to be tough to deal with.  At this point it looks like we may get a little break Saturday.