Colburn's Sabine Connection

wind no problem

We fished the south end of Calcasieu in winds that made the return trrip a memorable one. West Cove and the old jetties were still fishable and the fish, as well as the birds, were there. Small flocks of gulls worked over shrimp and small ribbon fish all day long.
The water was in great shape from mid-lake on south. We had no trouble catching limits of trout up to four pounds fishing morning glory and glow-chartreuse Assassins over the shell in 2 to 3 1/2 feet of water. The birds held over the fish as well as I have seen them hold since last fall. We also caught several redfish in the 22 to 25 inch class that hit bone-chartreuse She Dogs.
It was easily the best trip we've had this spring and I hope it is a sign that the fish are ready to do their thing even in the wind. We had been catching a few bragging size trout on the east side of the lake, but there was no way we could fish it today.

calcasieu ahead of Sabine

Apologize for getting lazy and not posting most recent reports. We finally got a little break in the wind the middle of last week and had some decent days on Big lake. The water is in great condition. We caught trout up to three pounds fishing morning glory and glow-chartreuse Assassins over the shell in four feet of water.
During the mid-day hours we caught some solid trout working over ribbonfish under the birds in the midlake area. The water was blown out so badly by the north wind that we were unable to fish West Cove any at all. The following day we were pinned up against the southeast bank all morning, but saw some huge trout crusising the shallow shell. they wouldn't hit anything, but the redfish running the same water hit both She Dogs and Assassins.
Yesterday afternoon we battled a twenty mile per hour wind, but still found trout and reds hustling mullet up against the southeast bank of West Cove. We didn't keep any fish, but caught probably fifteen trout up to five pounds and at least that many reds. We caught every fish on either a black-chartreuse She Dog or a black-chartreuse Catch 2000. We also missed two big trout that we just mishandled at the boat. They were over 27 inches long, but any guess beyond that is wishful speculation!

flounder...only game in town

With the salinity level exceptionally low and the water clarity very poor, it has been difficult locating any trout at all. Surprisngly enough, from time to time we have stumbled up on trout chaing small shrimp in the open lake, but there has been no consistent bite.
Yesterday we returned to the feeder bayous and backwater on the Louisiana side and worked our way through a number of small flounder. Keepers were scarce. There were some small redfish running the banks as well, but there were none holding in the backwater ponds. The most consistent trout bite has been south of the Causeway when you can get favorable weather. Spanish Mackleral and an occasional bull red has filled the gap between isolated trout bites.
I know we have lots of antsy clients at this point, but until we can put something solid together there is no sense in wasting your money. Burning gas hunting fish on this end is no fun either!

specks slow..stripers a go!

We probably had the most accommodating weather we have had this spring over the weekend, but solid specks were still hard to come by. We caught a handfull of decent trout dirifting plastics over the deep shell on the south end, but the bite was far from consisitent.
The flounder running the shoreline are on the small side, but at least they are biting. You have to go through a lot of fish to keep any numbers.
The good bite turned out to stripers in the river. We caught fish up to eleven pounds working the deep drops along the main channel with Assassins. It was a morning bite both Friday and Saturday on an incoming tide. I don't know at this point if we are just getting that many stripers down here or if its just an extended bite, but this is unusually late in the year for a striper bite for us.