Colburn's Sabine Connection

Lake and marshes okay so far!

I have received numerous phone calls and emails in regards to the oil spill in the channel.  We were very fortunate that it occurred where it did as it was much easier to quickly contain than it would have been had it taken place at the mouth of the Neches.  The response was super quick and efficient.  Brad said that he spoke with some of the recovery team at Pt. Neches Park this morning and they said that they had every launch in Jefferson County closed with plans of moving both the tanker and the barge today.

The lake and surrounding marshes are totally unaffected as of this evening.  I feel certain that it has been an economic disaster, however, as you would not believe how many barges are temporarily moored and waiting in line along the ICW all the way back to the Sabine River.

We made a quick trip yesterday evening, but the wind cut things short.  I really just wanted to see how dirty the east side of the lake was after all the wind the day before and it was even a little worse than I expected.  Six inches visibility was about max from Coffee Ground to the Dredge Hole.  It cleared a little at that point and there was a lot of bait activity, but we never got anything going the short time we were there.

It appears that the latter part of the week and weekend will get blown out by another front, but it should warm up pretty quickly the following week.  You have to take the bad with the good in February and have a little luck on your side as well!

More pressure, but plenty of fish to go around!

Somehow I knew that we would be back on the water Friday and this time we weren't alone.  There was a lot of fishing pressure and most folks obviously thought the fish were only in a very small area.To say the least, skipping around and fishing anywhere you wanted was not an option.  If you were standing in the water and catching fish you had better not move.

Johnny admires another solid trout that ate his Corky!

 I fished with Johnny and Gene together for the first time in a long time and we had a heck of a day.  We never caught a giant trout, missed one very good fish and caught reds of every size and trout up to 6 pounds all day.  Gene basically hung in one small area and wore the fish out while Johnny and I covered as much real estate as the drift fishermen in the area would allow.

Gene sends an oversized red on her way. 

I don't think we caught a fish on anything other than a Corky.  We did see some of the drift fishermen catch redfish on soft plastics.  Much of the day there was a lot of mullet present and the water was up in the mid-60's.  Even with the added pressure the bite was consistent.

Johnny and I have noted several times over the past year as to how courteous folks have been towards each other, even throughout the bird chasing madness in the fall, but a few of them left their manners at the dock yesterday.  I know there are some folks that don't have a clue and that is just a part of fishing, but that was not the case with a couple of inconsiderate fishermen including one that was wading this lake long before it was even popular to do so.

I am still a little conflicted as to what is ethical when it comes to wade fishing on Sabine or Big Lake.  I love to do it during the winter and early spring, but I do not think it is fair for one boat with four waders to lay claim to a half a mile of shoreline.  At that ratio, two boats could eliminate all of Sidney or Stewt's Island, an expanse that could easily support 10 to 15 courteous drift fishermen.  Now on the other hand, if those 3 or 4 waders are fishing shoulder to shoulder in close proximity to their boat, they deserve the same respect you would give another boater.

In relationship to the overall size of both lakes the most productive wading areas are very limited and shrink even more depending on wind direction.  This is really the only time of the year that sharing those area gets a little testy and the only positive solution is simply a matter of both groups cutting each other a little slack.

I know of no official ground rules, but  I would frown on the wader that observes a drift fisherman a reasonable distance away  catching fish on repeated drifts and elects to pick up and relocate in his drift pattern.  By the same token, I consider it to be a little ugly when a drift fisherman observes a wader catching fish and drifts well inside the range of the wader's cast.

The latter happened to us twice yesterday and we just picked up both times and moved farther down the lake rather than take issue.  I don't know that I would have just laughed it off following the second occurrence had I been fishing with clients.  In the grand scheme of things, we all have to make our own decision as to what is right or wrong, but I would hope that no fisherman would sacrifice the blessing of a day on the water by allowing a fish to make an ass of him!  

  

Warmer weather did the trick!

I haven't typed the first sentence and I already know this report could be a little on the long side, but I haven't been able to post anything really good in a long time  That shouldn't be a problem as the fact that you are even reading this is an indication that you don't have a hell of a lot going on anyway!

The weather started warming up Monday and I caught 6 trout on Sabine which was an improvement for me.  Tuesday I missed Johnny by thirty minutes and by the time I got him, he was already over on Big Lake.  He had a very good day over there on both trout and redfish.

When I hit the lake around eleven, the wind was blowing so hard that I almost shut it down at the mouth of Middle Pass and went back home.  Everything I wanted to look at was blown out, so I ran down to the flats between Pleasure Island and Stewt's, threw out the drift sock and made long drifts without ever repeating the same one, regardless of whether I caught a fish or not.

The water was 53.5 degrees and the clarity was okay with about 8 to 10 inches of visibility.  I never drifted any water shallower than 2 feet nor deeper than 4 feet.  There had to be a lot of trout up on those flats because even in the whitecaps I caught and released in the neighborhood of fifteen fish.  While I was more than pleased with the unexpected action, I never caught a fish over four pounds.

I caught them on a little bit of everything......  pink, strawberry, and black-chartreuse Corky Devils, electric chicken Mirrodine XL's, and chartreuse Catch V's.  I saw no bait between the whitecaps the entire time I was out there.  Now comes the really good part!

Rusty couldn't get his Corky loose fast enough! 

I had plans on resting up a little Wednesday morning until Rusty Frederick called around 8:30. "Mr. Dickie.....we're in the water on the La. side and this water is really pretty.  We haven't even cast yet, but we are already seeing mullet.  The wind is blowing pretty hard, but its okay close to the bank."

"I am recuperating a little after bouncing around all day yesterday and I have plenty to do before my next trip," I answered, "but call me back if you start catching fish just in case."  I hung up and the phone rang again before I could put it in my pocket.  "I hate to bother you, but Brandon just caught a nice red and I have one on the line."  So much for recuperating!

Brandon wore them out as well on Corkies and tails!

Oral Roberts never got anyone feeling better faster than Rusty did.  Less than an hour later I was fighting a  serious s.e. wind and fog with a little rain mixed in hoping the conditions would improve by the time I reached Game Warden Cove.  They did and I saw Rusty and Brandon, but ran even farther south.  They were catching reds on tails at the time, but I quickly caught two nice trout on a Catch V and gave them a call.

They came down and met me and decided to wade that area. I ran even farther south to check out two more spots.  The water was incredibly clear, 58 degrees, and the trout were chasing mullet to the surface. I planted my Stake-out Stick, caught 2 trout in the 3 pound class, pulled off a big trout and boated one just a tad over eight pounds.  I called Rusty, but he had just landed a five pound fish and had another good one on.

 
Shaky picture, but we all three had a fish on at the same time and I had the camera!

I ran back down to where I left them hoping to get some pictures and get back home before dark.  I did get some pictures, but for the next two hours someone or everyone had a fish on and we just couldn't quit.  We were covered up with slot reds, but there were some nice specks mixed in as well.  We threw a lot of stuff, but the bait they wanted most was a pink Corky!

It was just one of those stupid good days and I truly wish that everyone that is eaten up with winter fishing could have been there.  I have had days when I caught more and bigger trout, but very few when every time your Corky sunk out of sight your drag was instantly screaming.

I now have even more stuff to do tomorrow which means I will probably be on the lake even earlier.  It might be our last-best shot prior to the little front headed our way this weekend.  I don't think you can make a bad choice between Big lake and Sabine, but I wouldn't let this window slam shut without giving it a try.

Thanks for the call...Rusty!

Bite was better on Big Lake

Gene and I decided to fish Big Lake rather than Sabine Thursday and did much better than we had in our two previous trips on Sabine.  The water was very low due to a hard outgoing tide, but the clarity was good and we found a lot of 50 degree water.

Maybe it was due to the shock factor of actually experiencing the jolt of a strike, but for whatever reason we missed a lot of fish that just came unbuttoned during the fight.  Gene got us started with a nice red that ate a chartreuse Catch V, but the most productive bait was a Corky Devil.  We found fish on both the east and west sides of the lake, but I think the water was prettier on the east side.

Johnny went back Friday while I worked the Boat Show and caught a few nice trout and redfish as well on Corkies.  He said the gale force winds that swept across the lake later in the day muddied the water and produced  some magnum waves even in semi-protected water.  As a rule, when Johnny says it was bad, the parish is already calling for a mandatory evacuation so I am glad that I was not with him!

I talked with Capt. Mark Huse and a couple more Big Lake regulars at the show yesterday and they said there was a light fish kill on the south end of the lake.  We never saw the first dead fish, but Mark said most of the dead fish were found in West Cove and behind the weirs and we did not fish that far south.  They said it was mostly redfish, but there were a few big trout mixed in as well.

If we can keep these night time lows in the 40's, we should have a much better week on the big trout on both lakes.  We also talked with some folks at Fishing Tackle Unlimited and they said it looks like we will not see Corkies on the major retailer's shelves until February.  Hang on to the ones you have right now! 

The fish on Sabine survived the freeze

The good news is that we ran most of the lake today including Hickory and Old River Cove and never found the first dead fish or even a shad for that matter.  The bad news was that we never saw the first live fish either.  I got two bites the morning before the freezing weather hit and zero bites today.  I think the fish managed to get out early as the surface temperature had been steadily easing down the week before.

We ran several of the bayous as well and there were no dead fish there either,  Black's was the coldest water holding pretty steady at 39.8 degrees.  Most of the lake was anywhere from  44 to 48 degrees during the warmest hours of the day.  We did find one patch of 50 degree water, but were still able to remain fishless.  We had a hard outgoing tide most of the day and most of the marshes were down to the mud.

From the north end all the way to Green's you could see a charteuse lure about 6 to 10 inches under the water.  The clarity was a little better than that behind Sidney following the tide change. We may have seen one mullet on the surface all day long or maybe we just thought we saw one.  I am hoping the bite will pick back up tomorrow or Thursday with the warmer nights.  One bite would be an improvement, but I am hoping for something a little better than that!

Big Lake may very well be a better option right now.  We have traditionally done better over there in January, but the big trout bite over here was so good in December that there was no reason to travel.  I hope that was our only extended stretch of freezing weather for the winter.

Hopefully, the fish are already headed for deeper water!

Aside from giving you some idea of what was going on prior to this cold snap, this report will be of very little use.  We could possibly sneak in a short trip tomorrow, but it will be a reach with even colder weather headed our way.  

I am not as concerned about losing a few days of fishing to Ice as I am about the fish.  Two of the most consistent bites right up through Sunday have been on 2 to 4 foot flats that are not very close to really deep water.  The surface temperature has been hanging in the high 40's for the past week so it can get get dangerously colder in a single night.

Brad called to say that he and a friend squeezed in an afternoon trip Sunday on Sabine and while they never actually brought the first fish to hand, they did go through 5 or 6 large trout.  Three of those fish ate a Catch V while the others hit Corkies.  He also said they had about 6-inches of water clarity and that they never saw the first mullet jump. Yes, the water was still very much on the cold side.

We fished the extreme north end of Big Lake and caught a pile of 16 to 20-inch redfish and seven trout up to 26-inches.  Most of the fish were on a shallow flat near the ship channel and there was a lot of bait in the area.  My partner caught darn near every fish while I experimented with everything but a top water.  He caught every one of his fish on a chartreuse-pearl sided 2000.

When he finally caught that big trout, I switched to the same lure and quickly caught two 4 to 5 pound trout just to be sure that I still had any feel in my hands.  I immediately went back to a Catch V in the same color and they would not hit it.  He continued catching a few fish and missing enough strikes until we quit, so there was no doubt that they were still there.  They just wanted the smallerr lure!

With the deeper bayou and the ship channel on either side of that flat there is not much danger of those fish getting bottled up due to low water and not surviving a hard freeze.  I look for Big Lake to rebound much faster than Sabine when the weather warms up a little.

I am pretty hard core about chasing big trout in the winter, but I filled a thermos with coffee and walked outside to hook up the boat only to find ice still all over everything at 9:00.  I walked right back inside and will drink the rest of this coffee while writing this report.  I may or may not go at all depending on what it looks like in a couple of hours.  I hope the fish are making a move toward the safety of deeper water right now anyway.  

What a way to close out the year!

I really do need to hurry up and learn how to fish again.  I had to pass on New Year's eve for several reasons and in hindsight, none of them were good enough.  Once again the lake was flat and the water temperature was still in the high 40's, but the fish decided they had to do their thing right ahead of the front.  At least three different groups closed out 2009 in a big way!

The one constant in all three reports was that they all caught them in the afternoon.  The redfish were doing their thing on the flats bordering the La. shoreline all the way from The Pines to Blue Buck.  The later it got..the better it got.

Dalton Keyes said they intended to wade, but really just wanted to catch something.  As it turned out they never got out of the boat.  They caught their first slot red just around 1:30 and were still catching reds at dark. They caught their fish on spinnerbaits and GULP under a Cork. Bob Hood and his crew enjoyed the same kind of redfish action in basically the same area on a variety of lures ranging from Catch V's to tails.

Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed sharing the day with either of those two, but I would rather have been with Rusty Frederick.  He boated a 7-pound trout on a tail and before they could get out of the boat to wade, the fish started blowing up on mullet all around them.  Once they all got in the water it was "game on" until darkness and the mosquitoes ended the day.  He said they could still hear the big trout slamming mullet in the dark as they were climbing back in the boat. 

They caught a couple more 7's and a pile of 5-pound plus trout.  He said the only thing that slowed the bite was when the redfish would move in and hit their Corkies before the trout could get there.  That is a nice problem to have!

It is supposed to stay cold for the next few days, but the fish have to eat. You just have to be in the right place at the right time to experience a day like that, but you  can't make it happen looking out the window waiting for more comfortable weather.