Colburn's Sabine Connection

Stickin' it out paid off!

What a difference a day makes...today it was what a difference a few hours make.  We fished Monday because that was the only opportunity my client would have for quite a while.  He is a great guy to fish with or I would never have let him talk me into fishing in that howling north wind.  We wound up catching a few flounder and reds in the bayou, but there were not many places to fish.

The competition was stiff all day long between the Aggies and  the Horns and it started with the color of the sun at day break!

Today was drop dead gorgeous.  When we hit the water at daylight the lake was dead calm.  We drove straight to the south end to fish the shell and only scratched out two or three small trout by noon.  The water was dirtier than it has been, but it was not too dirty to catch fish.  Shortly after noon, we were the only boat still in the area.

Even a good incoming tide failed to clear up the water very much, but when the trout turned on it was on!  The largest trout we kept was only 22 inches, but I jumped a big fish off and had two more very good trout pull off in mid-fight.  We finished with a solid box of 2 to 4 pound trout, a slot red, and two nice flounder.

We easily missed far more than we caught for some reason.  We would reel fish  half way back to the boat only to have them pull off. Many of the fish that we boated still spit the hook as soon as they were netted.

As well as the fish bit for about three hours (and we left them biting) we still had to really slow down to keep the plastics in front of them.   Prior to today, we had been catching most of our larger fish with a very quick retrieve regardless of the speed of the tide.  We also caught some of our fish on light colored tasils for the first time in a while.

How can anyone eat crawfish and corn on the cob and stay that clean? 

Thanks to the folks at the Northeast Houston CCA banquet for taking very good care of us Saturday night.  We just spent the night mixing and mingling and talking about fishing and it was a ball. My eight year old grandson, Andrew, put on a crawfish eating clinic while giving tips on "speed peeling".  He paid for his over indulgence later that night!   They had a good crowd and as usual, raised a significant amount of money.

The Beaumont chapter will host their banquet at the Ford Center Thursday night.  Kim Brown will be at that one also as she is a road warrior this time of year for CCA.  She told me Saturday night that while money has been tight for lots of folks, the fishermen have still supported the chapter banquets.  In some cases the attendance has been down a little, but the dollars generated are still very good.

The S.T.A.R. tournament is just around the corner.  If you haven't already signed up.... get a move on.  One fish could put a new truck and boat in your driveway or earn one of your kids a college tuition for four years.  Even if you don't win a thing, your entry fee will help improve the fishing!   

Northeast Houston Crawfish Boil tonight!

I passed on a half day trip today due to having to make an early decision as the arrival of the predicted front.  It is overcast and blowing a little, but nothing serious so far.  We have a 7-8 year old ball game at 1 p.m. and I will head to Humble as soon as it is over. 

The Northeast Houston CCA will be hosting their annual crawfish boil and banquet at the Humble Civic Center and I look forward to visiting with Ron, Rusty, Larry, Brett, Kyle, and all of the guys that work so hard in that chapter.  I won't have a booth this year, but I do plan on doing lots of visiting and talking fishing.  If you live in the area and like to eat crawfish come join us.  Gates open at 6 pm.

It is good and getting better!

I was going to scout again today with the fishing on Sabine improving each day, but I found out last night that I had a birthday party to attend.  Turned out...it was mine.  You have obviously had a bunch of them when you forget your own!

Now that I am eligible for social security I can hang up my guide license and turn off the computer.  If you believe that will happen any time soon, then there is no reason to read any further.  I couldn't pay my gas bill with my social security check!

Rick holds up two nice trout that were pretty much the norm for the day.  We caught very few small trout and the average fish was easily three pounds.

We had another very good day on Sabine yesterday.  Rick Czepinski bought a trip I donated to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo and he and Drew Donalson could not have asked for better conditions.  We not only caught a lot of fish, but most of the trout were in the 3-4 pound class.  I gave them the option early on of working cuts and marsh for reds and flounder or drifting the shell for trout and they chose the latter.  It turned out to be a good decision!

We caught all of our trout on soft plastics.  We did much better on the shorter plastics in darker colors like Texas Roach and Morning Glory.  It has been a long time since I fished without a depthfinder, still moving into my new boat, but most of our fish were in 6-12 feet of water.  We hit a short stretch of shore on the way back in and quickly caught three reds...one in the slot.

I still have not looked at the west side of the lake, but the entire eastern shoreline is in very good shape.  The middle of the lake looked pretty bad, but there isn't anything going on in that area anyway.   

 

New boat may have a nose for flounder!

We had an unexpectedly good day on Sabine fishing water that I did not intend on fishing.  I had planned on making another long run to the south end, but the water clarity had improved so much in the mid-lake area that we decided to check out the flounder bite.

Part of the reason for the planned long ride was that I had never even started the engine on my new Pure Bay before we left the dock this morning and I needed some break-in time.  As a matter of fact, I would have lost today had the guys at Texas Marine not busted their tails yesterday getting my boat ready.  Johnathan, Adam, Dennis, and Brian all stopped what they were doing to get me on the water.

The ultimate service effort occurred when I got my boat home and was frantically trying to find a place for everything.  At that point I discovered that the storage box under the leaning post was missing and called Johnathan to see if he could order another one.  Forty-five minutes later, Brian was at my home installing a new one while I continued stowing away tackle.  That is definitely over the top!

Back to the fish.  I put the troll motor down just south of Johnson's and never picked it up prior to an unexpected call that terminated the trip.  When we stopped we had 26 keeper flounder and 2 slot reds.  We probably released half that number of flounder that were 12 to 13 inches long.  We fished Sea Shads on 1/4 ounce heads and did not tip with shrimp.

After cleaning their fish, I ran back out in the lake to put some time on the engine and stopped long enough to check a stretch of shore south of The Gator Hole.  I caught and released nine more 14-17 inch flounder before noon.  I also got two reports from the Causeway reef today...one very good and one not so good.  The group that caught a lot of fish worked the birds early and shallow shell the rest of the day with glow-chartreuse Assassins.  Their best fish was a little over five pounds.

 

Cross your fingers...its getting better!

We were supposed to have another tough wind today, but we could not have asked for better conditions.  I very seldom fish on Sunday, but I have backed a lot of folks up due to the wind this spring and we just did what we had to do!

It may all come to a screeching halt tomorrow, but we had yet another good day today on Sabine and the water is continuing to clear a little farther north each day.  I had the privilege of fishing with three generations of the Wade French family today and there is no doubt that there will be a French fishing somewhere for many years to come!

Christopher French was pleased to add this red to the box!

We found trout north of Pleasure Island for the first time in a while, but the majority of the fish that we kept came off the south end of the lake.  We also found our fish a little shallower this morning. We caught most of our trout drifting plastics, but we also caught some of our better fish under the birds.

Our largest trout may have weighed four pounds at best, but we went through a lot of quality fish.  The trout working the mouths of the bayous were small, but the trout chasing ribbon fish and shrimp in the open lake are the real deal.  We only cleaned 16 trout and a nice slot red, but we were in fish all day long.

The flounder bite is also improving daily on the La. shoreline.  There are still a lot of small fish, but there are enough 15-17 inch fish in the flooded grass to keep you interested.  I am sure they are hitting whatever you have the most confidence in, but pumpkin-chartreuse and Texas Roach Sea Shads have been good to us.

Finally...a good trip on Sabine!

You will have to bear with me if I get a little long-winded, but I can finally post a good report off Sabine Lake.  It is pouring down, the wind is blowing, and I postponed yet another party for today, but we had a good time yesterday!

The wind was a little tough in spots!

I was going to scout Big Lake yesterday, but Johnny made a run on Sabine Wednesday in his undercover boat and had just enough good news to change my plans.  He fought a tough wind and muddy water, but he had a chance to talk with some wildlife agents while they were checking net samples.

He said they caught a lot of redfish and several big trout as well.  More importantly, he said the water cleared up just a little with the incoming tide and that he caught some fish under slicks.  When Gene and I cleared East Pass yesterday morning, I almost changed my plan again.  The river and Black's were as clear as I have seen them in a while. but muddy whitecaps were already rolling across the lake.

We stuck with it and caught a few flounder and small reds in Johnson's while hoping the tide would clear up the lake a little one more time.  By the time we fished our way just south of The Gator Hole, the water was already looking better.  The shoreline offered a little protection, but we found the fish too far off the bank to avoid the waves.  The farther south we fished, the higher the waves, but the trout could have cared less.

I was afraid the first trout might be the only trout we caught.....

The most productive program was casting as far as you could and trying to outreel the wind.  If you could keep your plastic in the top 2-3 feet you were going to get bit.  We eventually wore down and surfed across the flats dragging our jigs, but we caught less fish.  We never caught the first 5-7 pound trout, but we caught more 2-3 pound fish than I have caught in a long time and everyone of them went airborne during the fight!

We ate fish last night for the first time in a while!

We certainly cannot blame the Sabine River for any off-colored water nor possibly the Neches, but we were unable to even think about checking out that side of the lake.  I was also surprised by the pattern of clearer water in the lake.  After the incoming tide, the water had cleared some between the Dredge Hole and the Gator Hole.  It also looked better between Willow and Bridge Bayou.  Everything else in between was still dirty and getting dirtier.

Only time will tell, but it was nice to catch quality trout in our own backyard.  If you run out of the north end of the lake, watch out for the floating pipe in front of Coffee Ground and pay attention to the marked areas for crossing the pipeline! 

   

   

Wind blew up a short program.

We made a short run yesterday on Sabine to see if we could locate some slicks on the flats, but by the time we got there the wind was blowing right in on the shoreline.  We did manage to catch four slot reds drifting a red shad Assassin in 8-19 feet of water.

We talked with some folks that caught eight trout that morning drifting finger mullet on a Carolina rig, but they never caught another fish after lunch.  Their biggest looked to be 23-24 inches and all of their fish were good solid trout.

It is just unreal how dirty the water is, even on an incoming tide.  We marked a lot of fish and bait, but could not find a color that they wanted.  We are going back to Calcasieu for the next couple of days.

Door wide open for second Texas Marine Big Trout Tournament!

 Bobby Welborn with one of only six trout over three pounds weighed in!

A tough north wind, hard outgoing tide, and muddy lake made sure the door remained open for the second of Texas Marine's Big Trout series.  The one person that hopes that prediction is wrong is Mike Zumwalt from Rose City.  Mike won $1100 by placing in two different hours, but more importantly, his 4.39 pound trout is in the lead for the title to the loaded Ranger Flats rig still up for grabs.

The conditions could not have been much tougher.  As a matter of fact, there was not a single speck weighed in during the 8-9 hour.  I wish Mike the best of luck, but I can't see his trout holding up through the Galveston event.  I talked with a number of super good trout fishermen including visiting guides and pros after the final weigh-in and the majority of them never caught a fish big enough to weigh.

Johnny Cormier live releases another hourly winner

A number of the folks that scouted the day before, however, felt very good about their chances on Saturday.  Several of them left fish biting the afternoon before and at least two of the anglers willing to share information said they had trout over six pounds!

The better bite in the lake came out of slicks near the shoreline.  The larger fish caught out of the ship channel Friday were also located under slicks.  At least two of the trout that were weighed in late were taken out of the ship channel after the water started clearing with the incoming tide.  As expected, the lion's share of the winning trout were caught in the Keith Lake chain.    

No place to hide from this wind!

We waited until the last minute this morning before scratching yet another trip.  The group had only one day they could all get together over the next couple of months, but when the wind blows your thermos bottle across the parking lot it is time to pick it up and go back home!

We tried to fish yesterday on Big lake and the wind wiped us out by mid-morning.  The water still looked good, especially on the south end and in West Cove.  We did catch a few fish right up against the bank, but it was tough holding the boat in tight and every cast was dead into the wind.  We hung in as long as we could before making a long rough ride back.

The incoming tide, boosted by gale force winds, has just poured in the past three days.  It was running through the weirs so hard yesterday that it was white capping on the marsh side.  Hopefully the wind will lay down enough by the weekend to give the folks fishing the Texas Marine Tournament on Sabine a viable shot at winning that Ranger flats boat, motor and trailer.  They got it done in a tough wind last year.

Gene fished Sabine yesterday and called while we were still on Big Lake.  He said they managed to get out of the wind in Willow, but the water was dirty all the way to the back and they caught only a couple of flounder.  The wind is supposed to switch to the north prior to the tournament.  If it blows less than 15 mph, the ship channel south of the Causeway, Keith Lake, or possibly one of the canals around Bessie Heights may produce the winning fish.   

Sabine still muddy, but we did catch a few fish today.

We did just well enough on Sabine today to lure me into tring it again tomorrow.  The water still looks terrible, but we literally stumbled up on some trout under two separate groups of terns.  The first group was working over decent trout and we caught seven solid keepers before they disappeared forever.  The next group was mixed in with small redfish and we caught 10-15 fish, but they were all small.

We also caught one slot red and nine keeper flounder out of two different drains on the Louisiana shoreline.  We caught every flounder and every redfish on a pumpkin-chartreuse Sea Shad. The water was only slightly clearer in the drain than it was in the rest of the lake.  I had gotten a good report out of Johnson's, but we only managed a few small flounder.