There is no doubt that I get far more e-mails when I don't post than when I do. The bottom line was that I have done far more fishing than catching over the past week or so and I didn't think most of you would be in any hurry to waste gas with the wind howling every day. Not surprisingly, I picked the two days of the week when the wind was manageable to squeeze in "must do to stay married" chores.
The only two productive things I did from a fishing standpoint was locate some pretty decent redfish and find Keith Daley's new Fish 'N'Hunt store on Hwy. 365 and Jade roaad. Everywhere is a little out of the way if you live in Orange, but the business is actually no more than 5 minutes west of Central Mall.
They opened two days ahead of schedule and lots of local fishermen somehow got advanced notice. The front doors were getting a workout while I was there as they were selling "hard to get" lures as fast as they could unpack them. It is a big building with a lot of room dedicated to catering to fishermen and hunters.
"We listen to our customers and If it will catch a fish in fresh or saltwater, I can and will get it for them," said Keith. Judging solely by what was already available, that was no idle boast. Eric and Megan answered questions while we toured the aisles and I was unable to come up with a single hard or soft plastic lure that they didn't already have on a shelf or rack.
"We may already be missing a specific color, weight, or size because someone bought all of them, " said Eric, "but we haven't had anyone ask for anything that we don't already have in house so far." Hunters can also find everything from mud boats to ammo and Terry's will handle all of their rod, reel and troll motor repair. It is truly a one stop deal.
The doors open from 10 til 8 Tues. thru Thur. and open an hour earlier Fri. and Sat. They are closed Sunday and Monday. I know Megan will enjoy sleeping in a little later, but Keith and Eric plan on using that time for a quick duck hunt or daylight fishing trips to the Revetment wall!
We have found a few solid redfish even in all of this wind, but fighting the wind has been a pain in the rear. If I am not enjoying it I cannot expect clients to enjoy it so I have continued to move trips backhoping for better conditions. We have been catching decent numbers of smaller redfish in the marsh on high tides, but our larger reds have been deep.
The trout are on the Causeway Reef and chasing shrimp as far north as Green's, but it is tough hanging in there in the wind. Some of the folks with lighted piers have reported catching decent numbers at night and they have seen a few huge trout cruising under the lights. We had a poor day on the river yesterday following the rain and hail and I am giving it a rest today.
Depending on the wishes of tomorrow's group, we may or may not fish, but a trip with me over the past week would have been little more than a donation. I still have a few clients that have fished with me in April, May and June for years that have not yet booked a date and a number of days have already been taken by folks forced to postpone in February and March.
My wife has to remind me about this same time every year that from '71 to '86 I guided on Toledo Bend January through April rather than fight the wind down here. My logs bear that out, but time becomes more of an issue with age. You can only wait so long!
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