Colburn's Sabine Connection

Fishing in the fog.

We squeezed in a couple of trips following the TPWD meeting in Pt.Arthur last week and caught all the redfish we wanted to catch.  The weather was foggy and wet, but we ran south anyway to check out a trout report.  We did catch more trout than I have caught in a while drifting the south revetment wall, but very few of them would have been keeper fish.  We  also saw the bank fishermen catch a couple of fish in the three pound class fishing shrimp under a cork.

The water clarity wasn't any better down there than it is on the north end.  We caught all of our redfish on the Louisiana side of the lake on spinnerbaits and square bill crankbaits.  It was a mixed bag size wise with only two oversize fish.  We had no problem limiting on 20 to 24 inch fish.

The turnout at the meeting was thin and the majority of those in attendance did not approve of the proposal to cut the trout limit from ten to 5 fish.  I personally feel like something has to be done, but the two most voiced opinions had merit.  They felt, based on past experiences, that anything the TPWD took away they never gave back in spite of how well the plan worked.  Secondly, they felt that any concessions they made would be erased by the fact that Louisiana would not make the same changes.

I do not believe that any regulation changes will ever work until both states play by the same rules.  Not much chance of that happening in the near future.

Trout not all over the lake!

Working on trim unit or I would be on the water today.  I need to keep a couple of reds for visitors that have never eaten court boullion, but they have been pretty easy to catch.

We took advantage of two perfect weather days at the end of last week and I now feel no better about the trout population than I did.  After catching two solid trout very quickly wading, we decided to run as many spots as possible that have been good to us this  time of the year. There is no doubt that I don't fish as well as I once did, but my partner for those two days still has both age and lots of hours fishing Sabine on his side.

We started on the north end (La, side) and waded our first three stops on our way to Blue Buck.  Fished about an hour at each stop and caught seven redfish.  We also caught three bass at the mouth of the Gator Hole.  We drifted the Causeway reefs a while just to see and caught one small trout in 12 feet of water.  On the way back we never got out of the boat, but checked every drain on a good outgoing tide and two small shell piles in the middle of the lake that have always been money in the bank. Seven or eight small reds-0 trout.

We finished the day wading where we first started and caught and released three more 16 to 18 inch trout on Softdine XL's.  The following day we stayed in the boat and fished Hickory Cove, Old River Cove, Stewts and Sidney Island.  Missed one solid trout, kept none and released a lot of 18 to 26-inch redfish.  Pink floating Fat Boy and Space Guppy Usual Suspect worked the best for us.  The water in Hickory had very little visibility at all, but it improved in the back of Old River Cove.  Coffee Ground still has the best looking water, but dirty water is not a show stopper here on Sabine..

The bottom line is that we covered a lot of miles, fished some traditionally good areas and still caught only a few trout in the one small area where we have found any numbers over the past two months.  Even more concerning to me is that I am still marking no fish on deep spots in the river that have provided a great Plan B when not wading.  Even scarier is the fact that we recently fished a drop shot over a school of bait in 22 feet of water near the Port and caught two drum and at least a dozen bass.  Apparently not much salt at that depth anymore!

While I am convinced our trout population has greatly decreased, I am wondering if salinity levels can be higher in pockets of water as well as different depths.  There is no other explanation for what has been our most consistent area to consistently hold at least a few trout. I am growing tired of doing way more thinking than catching lately!

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Cooler weather could slow down a semi-decent trout bite.

I haven't seen the weather report yet, but it got chilly quickly today.  We were down to t-shirts and waders yesterday so cooler weather and a north wind should have been expected.  In spite of the great conditions the bite was just about the same for us as it has been over the past several weeks.  We had about an hour and a half of decent catching and couldn't draw a strike the rest of the time.

We didn't catch a trout over three pounds nor did the two other boats sharing the same stretch of shoreline.  We weren't keeping fish, but I would guess that we released 8 to 10 trout and two reds.  Most of them would have been small keepers. One of the groups said they had nine keepers and their friends had seven.  We caught most of our fish on Catch V's and a pink Maniac Mullet.  They were catching their fish on jointed Corkies and Down South tails rigged on 1/16th ounce heads.

I know one of those fishermen and he said that he hadn't caught an honest six pound trout in the last two years on Sabine.  That is saying something as I know of no one else that has caught more trout over seven pounds on Sabine since the early 2000's than he and his brother-in-law. They only wade and spend all of their time between here and Trinity Bay.  Trinity isn't doing anyone any favors either.

The water was a little dirtier than it has been in the area we homesteaded, but it didn't change the bite.  Even when we are catching a few fish we are seeing very little bait on the surface.  That could well be due to the low salinity level that just keeps getting lower.  I talked with Steve over at Outcast Tackle last week and he said that Roger had caught a new record bass for Sabine Lake.  That is a good thing for Roger, but not for the trout fishermen.  He caught it on the north revetment wall!

Most every time the water has been clear enough in Black's to provide a color change on the tide line we have been able to catch a few slot reds.  They weren't there yesterday, but we didn't hunt too hard.

Bite O.K. all things considered

Prior to the wind witching around to the north, we were catching some decent trout fishing only the major feed at night.  The bite seemed to be the best at the very end of the major.  We didn't do nearly as well fishing the major during the day, but we didn't stay with it long.  We knew we could catch a few redfish and gave up on the trout early.

It is hard to tell how dirty the water is at the time when wading in the dark, but we had about ten inches of visibility in the area we were fishing.  We fished much clearer water in Coffee Ground and Game Warden Cove, but could only catch reds.  We didn't wade Coffee Ground at night, but I feel like the same bite is going on there.  We have been fishing a Catch V almost exclusively in water between 3 and 5 feet deep.

We have been catching our reds on that same Catch V and a quarter ounce spinnerbait.  The spinnerbait has easily worked the best, but i feel like I am totally giving up on the trout when I tie one on and that has been the case thus far.  Of interest for those of you that choose to fish the spinnerbait.....we have done much better with a # 3 Colorado blade than a Willow blade and that is a little unusual for us.  Morning Glory and red shad have been the two best colors for us.  They have worked even better than a Gulp trailer this week.

You have to really want to fish to go right now.......it is already cold and the north wind is howling. 

Even more fresh water!

Wind or no wind, we couldn't stand it any longer and made a short trip yesterday hoping to catch just enough redfish for supper.  As it turned out, we were hard pressed to do that and finally resorted to cut mullet to box five slot fish.  We caught several undersized fish on everything from a Corky to a swim bait, but nothing over 20  inches.

The water clarity, even in Coffee Ground has taken a hit since the Corps of Engineers were forced to pull the level on Rayburn.  I have never seen it as high as it is right now and all of that water will eventually run downhill.  Combined with the water exiting T-Bend right now (both generators 24/7 and the gates open to 1 foot) the lake continues to get even fresher.  I think we just had one of those tough trips as far as the reds are concerned, but the trout are another story.

We took advantage of a small window of opportunity last month and caught a few nice trout wading.  The bulk of those fish were caught wading after dark and none were caught drifting in the boat.  We were seeing a few mullet at that time, but the latest glut of fresh water has apparently moved them as well. As you would expect, the clarity is 6 to 10 inches at best, but muddy water had little or no effect on the trout bite a month ago.

The points at East Pass and the south tip of Stewts were the most consistent areas on the north end and I think that is because they are so close to much deeper water.  If we lose the salinity in the rivers and the ICW, however, we are screwed again as the remaining trout will be forced to move south to survive.  For those of you that have fished with me for years.....yes I check my deep holes in the river at the end of every trip and I am not even marking fish right now.

There may well be a few trout being caught in the ship channel south of the Causeway thanks to the salinity provided by incoming tides, but the folks I am talking with are not among those finding them right now.  Looking forward to the day I can post something good....especially on the north end!

COOLER AND DIRTIER WATER FOR THE SHORT TERM

The weather was much more favorable than the water clarity yesterday and I don't look for it to get much better this week.  They finally started releasing water at Rayburn and combined with the release on the Sabine, even the redfish bite could get S-L-O-W-E-R!  We caught zero trout which came as no surprise, but did catch enough redfish to keep us from getting home on time..

We found our reds in a muddy drain just off the ICW.  Most were smaller slot fish, but we had several undersized reds as well.  A crawfish half ounce Trap and a black-chartreuse Usual Suspect Swim Bait worked about the same.  We tried crankbaits and spinner baits as well, but they wouldn't hit them.  The water in the drain may have had 4 to 6 inches of visibility at best.  The water in Coffee Ground was clearer, but we just couldn't find any fish.

The fish may be biting much better with a more favorable tide in the morning, but it has been too cold for me to give it a shot the past few days.  I received an email asking about the deep bite in the river around the Port area and I have tried it a couple of times, but caught no fish.  I am not even marking fish in my most reliable spots.

Couldn't leave the slot reds alone!

We messed around and apparently got on the water just a little too late Wednesday.  We caught the tail end of an outgoing tide and for the first half hour it was redfish nirvana.  We limited with ease before the tide stopped and then caught only one more fish.  Every fish was in the 21 to 23 inch class which was just the perfect size for us.  While they were biting you couldn't throw the wrong lure.  My grandson wasn't taking any chances, however, and stuck with a 4-inch space guppy Usual Suspect.

Yesterday, we started a little earlier with the intention of him catching a big trout.  We caught only two trout in the three pound class fishing pink Fat Boys in 3 to 5 feet of water before he decided that we should go fish the faster redfish bite again.  They were there and while we easily caught 10 to 15 slot reds we released every fish.  We caught those fish in eight feet of water on purple demon Lil' Johns.  Once again, when the tide ended...the bite ended for us, but we weren't that mad at the fish anyway.

The water in the back of Coffee Ground and a little further south along the Louisiana shoreline has cleared up a little more each day.  We had about a foot of visibility yesterday. I think I will clean up lures and change hooks this weekend rather than endure the cold to catch and release a few more redfish.  Hopefully the water will continue to clear as it sure helps the confidence level.  The water in the Intracoastal all the way through Middle and East Pass is still pretty dirty!  Water temperature was 54 degrees.  

 

Slow but not dead!

While there is still a lot of dirty water yet to reach the lake, we are seeing some pockets of clearer water on the east side of the lake.  Not that it seems to matter as long as the salinity level is adequate, but clearer water does a lot for your confidence.  We have actually had more trouble with wind direction and velocity than clarity. When it blows right in your face on the one shoreline you wanted to fish it makes catching even tougher.

The last two outings produced a total of seven trout that we released (two were undersized fish) and three limits of reds that we kept.  The reds were all caught drifting 4 to 6 feet of water and the trout were caught wading.  We caught the reds on  several different lures, but the easiest way to catch them was to fish a five inch chartreuse Gulp tail under a popping cork.

We caught our trout on a Texas chicken Catch V and a dayglow Corky.  They have just been loading up on the bait rather than striking it so paying attention helps.  I find myself thinking about everything but fish at times and invariably miss out on a shot at one more fish!

Hope she wasn't the last big one!

We were going to fish this morning come hell or high water and both arrived at about the same time.  For the first time in a long time I could not wait to get back on the water after catching and releasing a very nice trout on New Years eve.  She was, in fact, the first eight pound class fish that I have caught in a long time and may well be the last if I do as poorly as I have the past two years.  Not unlike a lot of other folks, I just haven't had many shots at any big trout.

I don't know how much she weighed because I never lifted her above the water to remove my Catch V.  I have, however, been fortunate enough to land a few trout that size over the years and I truly believe my estimate to be a little conservative.  As she idled away I couldn't help but think, "If she is my last good trout she was indeed the one to end it on!"

The water was so dirty that there was zero clarity, (not one inch) but the fish were still trying to hunt down mullet so we weren't worried about runoff being a factor this quickly.  If it keeps raining at this rate and they have to continue generating 24/7 on Toledo Bend this bite will definitely take at least a temporary hit.

Aaron caught three more trout in the four pound class on a jointed Corky before we had to call it quits.  I talked with another local angler that said he caught a trout over seven pounds on a chicken on a chain Assassin last Wednesday.  He had a picture on his phone and it looked that big to me.

We haven't kept a single trout over the past six months in hopes of helping our trout population rebound.  I am not the only one and it has to be helping at least a little.  We have been eating a lot of redfish, however, and I cannot get enough fried white perch!

Looked more like a pasture than a lake!

Larry Welch and I stuck his Pathfinder on the flat between Pleasure Island and Stewt's several winters back and spent a long cold afternoon getting unstuck, but I have never seen the water as low as it was this past week.  We had no intention of even getting out of the ICW, but it was amazing how many anchors we could see scattered across the flat.

We made a short run yesterday evening after most of the water had returned and it was as dirty as expected.  We did catch and release two trout in the five pound class and that was encouraging.  Both of the better fish were on the ICW side of Pleasure Island in 6 to 8 feet of water.  The fish we caught all ate red shad Corky Devils.

I have done worse this time of the year and was especially happy to see some better trout.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

More fresh water on the way!

I was truly surprised by the number of folks that have continued to frequent this blog in spite of the fact that there was nothing to read day after day. Just a crazy number of folks responded!

We tried to sneak one in yesterday in front of this front and it was a little disappointing considering the perfect conditions.  With the exception of high muddy water (what's new) we couldn't have asked for anything any better.  In five hours we probably released a dozen undersized reds and four 16 to 19 inch trout.  We kept five slot fish for a court boullon while we watch high school playoffs tonight.

All but one redfish ate a 4-inch black chartreuse Usual Suspect.  The rest of the fish ate a red shad original Corky.  It wasn't like we didn't try anything else, but for some reason red shad was the magic color and that was the only style Corky I had in the box in that color.

I really don't know what to expect over the next few days.  We ran up to Tyler last Thursday and there was standing water in every ditch and pasture.  It continued to rain the entire time we were there and both Rayburn and Toledo Bend were full and continuing to rise.  I heard last night that they were going to have to open the gates on T-Bend again to stay ahead of the flooding, but that hasn't happened as of this morning.

 

I am back.....maybe!

It has been so long since I posted anything that I am not sure if anyone continues to check us out.  The gap was partially due to "no available computer" but more so a case of the frustration of having nothing of any value to report!

Over the past few weeks while my catching has been anything but user friendly, we have been catching some pretty decent trout wading.  It has taken a bunch of cast to catch a few trout, but they have been solid fish.  In spite of all of the runoff and dirtier water, we are still finding fish on the north end of the lake swimming 5-inch Assassins and cranking Corkies and Softdines.  The last few days we have done better with darker colors, but first choices are still day glow or pink.  The two best dark colors have been morning glory and red shad, especially in the tails.

Easily my two best trips were evening trips on an incoming tide.  We didn't limit on either trip, but we did have several fish in the four to five pound range.  I have no idea how many fish we catch (unless its zero) as we are releasing every trout in an effort to help them rebound.  The numbers are no longer there!

The redfish bite remains strong most days.  We have caught a few wading and drifting the revetment wall, but our most consistent bite is still taking place in deeper water bouncing tails or a hoginar off the bottom.  The Lil John has also been a very good bait as has the Down South tail in bone diamond.

My guiding has slowed down drastically, but I will continue posting as it doesn't mean that I will quit fishing.  If you still occasionally check this site out let me know.  Not posting requires very little effort!  Feel free to text or call should the expected response not warrant continuing.

I hope you enjoy the best Christmas of your life!

Lower water helped our bite.

The purge that we got this weekend helped the cause.  We made a quick trip yesterday evening and while we saw very few gulls working, we did catch eight nice trout.  We even had one a tad over the five pound mark and it had been quite a while since I have caught a trout that size.  The water didn't look that good, but it didn't seem to bother the fish.

We also had five nice reds that all hit the same electric chicken Catch V that the trout ate.  We caught the first three fish on a Softdine XL, but they were hitting the Catch V much better.  The fish wanted a much faster retrieve  than I usually fish in cooler water. They wouldn't take it off the surface, but they were definitely in that top foot or so of water.

I have no doubt the lake will see a lot more pressure this weekend with the great weather forecast, but at the very least we should get a better feel for waht is going on all over the lake.

More crabs than trout today!

I "really" thought today might be the day, but we were still unable to find the trout.  We found some gulls and we found some redfish, but only small trout.  We finished the morning with 6 reds, 2 flounder and 9 crabs.  I promised a gumbo for tomorrow so we caught our crabs before we even started fishing.  We worked out butts off to catch 9 crabs, but we only had two lines.  Thought it would be easy!

We found clearer water in several different places, but that apparently made no difference to the trout.  We caught most of our reds and both flounder on black-chartreuse 3-inch Usual Suspects.  I probably should have fished this evening, but Friday night football takes precedence over riding around looking for trout.

***Just talked with a friend that had nine trout up to three pounds wading somewhere on the La. shoreline.  He said they caught every trout and three reds on Fat Boys in 3 to 4 feet of water.  There's hope!

Few reds....no trout for us.

After a wasted day of trying to put something together in a stiff NW wind and a dirty lake Friday, we found some decent reds in the clearer drains on the river the following afternoon.  It wasn't lights out good, but we kept six solid slot fish in three hours of fishing. A shallow running crankbait and a black-chartreuse Usual Suspect Swim Bait fooled most of the fish.

We just cannot put together a productive trout pattern.  The trout we have caught have been small as have the numbers.  I have no doubt someone has it figured out, but I haven't talked to them.  The big outgoing tide and more north wind should push even more shrimp into the lake and the trout will hopefully start doing there thing on a more frequent basis.  We'll see!