Colburn's Sabine Connection

Cooler weather and a pretty decent bite

The catching on Sabine has been a little easier the past two days.  We have had our way with the redfish and solid numbers of 16 to 19-inch trout.  We haven't caught any big trout, but we have been spending a lot of time fishing under the birds and drifting through schools of shad.

Yesterday was the second of two cooler and more pleasant weather days and the birds worked all morning long on the north end.  We caught most of our reds on Hoginars and our trout on Assassins and Trout Killer II's in east beast and glow chartreuse.  We fished a strong outgoing tide all morning and the light east wind was just perfect.

Today I fished with Fred and David Bessell and we finished with a good box of both trout and reds, but also caught a ton of 13 to 14-inch trout in the process.  We quit running the birds pretty early and just started drifting in 5 to 7 feet of water.   A Flats Minnow under a Kwik Cork was almost a guaranteed bite, but once again the longer Assassin fished on a 1/8th ounce head seemed to catch more quality fish.

The day before we found birds all the way to Johnson's Bayou, but today most of the activity was north of Three Bayous.  The wind blew harder today and it really picked up in front of a storm around noon.  The water clarity is still very good.  I didn't check out the Causeway Reef today simply because I hate having to race the Armada to the schooling redfish.  There is no guarantee that they will even show from day to day, but when they do it is total chaos!

Never make schooling fish your Plan A!

At least from a guiding stand point, I would rather leave the dock worried about running out of gas than counting on schooling redfish or a great bite under the birds.  Both of them are akin to fool's gold.  They are the ultimate bonus for any guide, but they can also be your worst nightmare.  Because both bites are so user-friendly, I have a tendency to not work to establish more consistent patterns.

In a three day period we watched a phenomenal schooling redfish and trout bite slowly dry up which resulted in a long run each day for nothing until I realized it might be wise to go back to basics.  Wednesday was commited to fishing more reliable programs and I felt more comfortable at the end of the day.

We caught a few very nice trout on She Dogs and Spooks fishing the flats early.  The fish were slicking on an incoming tide and we didn't just wreck them, but the trout we caught were 3 to 5 pound fish.  When that ended we drifted through schools of shad rafted up on the surface about mid-lake and caught far more redfish than trout.  The reds were just perfect 22 to 26-inch fish and the trout were mixed from a little too short to 3 pounds.

The best bait was pretty much a toss up.  We probably caught more fish drifting an East Beast Flats MInnow under a Kwik Cork, but the reds were all over the slow sinking Maniac Mullet.  Yesterday, Max and Johnny fished with me and Max caught our only keeper trout out of the slicks on a Swim Bait.  I never got the first blow up on a topwater.

We ran out to try Plan B and the shad were there again.  Johnny and Max immediately started catching trout, most of them small, but the bite was still there.  We hadn't drifted more than twenty minutes when the redfish and the gulls showed up.  We never saw the redfish school on top, but we saw a number of single fish come all the way out of the water chasing big white shrimp.  That usually occured when your bait was still in mid-air headed in another direction!

There was no doubt the schools were there because we almost always had at least two hook ups if you could get another lure in the area fast enough. And, at least twice, there were 3 or 4 more fish swimming with the fish that was hooked.  Easily the largest red of the day tore John's Paradise Popping Cork completely apart right at the boat.  All he had left was the titanium wire.

Daily west-southwest winds have silted up the east side of the lake pretty badly and the fish are probably there, but its hard to fish it with any confidence.  The water clarity is great in the rest of the lake.  We also caught some nice reds fishing crankbaits in the bayou Wednesday after a fast moving storm ran us off the lake.

I have had an unusually large number of calls lately from folks looking to go fishing that had a full voice mail box or whatever happens with a cell phone when you can't leave a message.  A couple of them just said that the number was no longer a working number and I had already figured that out by the end of the recording.  In any event, do not think that I just ignored your phone call.  Please just email me and my wife will figure out a way to get back with you.  September through November could easily finish filling up in a single night so don't wait if you still want to go fishing with us!

 

Wind making it a little tougher.

We were fortunate enough to get in a few hours yesterday morning before the wind got up.  It was apparently too early for the reds to start doing their schooling thing, but we did catch some nice fish under slicks.  If they missed a topwater we would follow up with a Maniac Mullet or a needlefish Assassin rigged on a 1/8th ounce head and catch at least one or two fish out of each slick.

I got several lures cut off by what I thought might be Spanish Mackerel until I had a ladyfish on steroids tail walk across the surface.  I cannot believe how strong these mega-ladyfish are and once you land one it is easy to see why they cut off lures!

I got two reports last night from some folks that did very well yesterday fishing Swim Baits down at the jetties.  They limited on trout up to five pounds, but never caught the first redfish.  After they limited they tried everything from tails to topwaters, but just couldn't find the redfish.

Maybe the wind will give us a break tomorrow!

 

 

Christmas in August with the Crismans!

Every once in a while, but not very often, you find yourself in the right place at the right time.  Regardless of how many more trips I pull this year, I doubt very seriously that we will top yesterday's trip for not only numbers, but size as well.  It started out all redfish, but some very large trout and 3 to 4 pound lady fish joined in the free-for-all and it was as crazy as I have ever seen it.

I truly wish that anyone that ever fished Sabine and had a troll motor could have shared the experience with us.  I also truly wish that the folks without one would get one rather than try and guestimate how far they are going to glide after they finally shut down the big engine!    

Because the bite didn't start for me until around 10 the day before, I had other plans for the first three hours.  When I cut through Middle Pass and saw the tide already moving out, however, I never stopped until we saw the first small flock of gulls just north of Garrison's.

This is every guide's dream!

Jack Kirksey was hooked up before I put the troll motor down and his Grandparents, Gene and Judette Crisman, followed suit.  For the first thirty minutes, Gene graciously spent much of his time netting fish and replacing torn up tails, while I culled the larger reds in hopes of keeping much smaller fish.  When all was said and done, however, out of their nine fish limit we only had three fish under 25 inches.

We tried to cull down to smaller fish, but there weren't many small ones around.

I didn't even see a number of the reds Gene netted and released, but the first three I weighed and measured out of curiosity were all Texas legal and each weighed 8 pounds are a little over on the Boga. A tournament fisherman would have been shaking and done in fifteen minutes!

That bite was exciting to be in the middle of, but the bonus was that the trout and ladyfish mixed in the schools were big and just as aggressive.  We caught the reds on anything and everything, but the trout and ladyfish were especially fond of a Geaux Gleaux Flats Minnow fished under a cork or a Needlefish Assassin rigged on a 1/8th ounce head. After the first 45 minutes we were already in the catch and release mode.

This trip is a Christmas present that the Crismans give one another and I look forward to it each August as we have really had some great trips.  We fished a trip earlier this year without Judette and did poorly so Gene assured me that she will be a permanent fixture on any future trips.

It wasn't a good day to be a shad or needlefish in Sabine Lake!

We found the redfish a little further north today which was a good thing and the big trout were still running with them.  Three of the trout we released were over six pounds and I can only assume that they were eating the same thing the smaller trout we kept were eating which was 4 to 6 inch shad and needlefish. We threw nothing but Topwaters and needlefish Assassins until we ran out of them and the rain put the schools down.  I had all but written the north end of the lake off, but for some reason, and it isn't the tide, the fish are apparently doing their thing up there later in the day.

It definitely isn't this good all over the lake right now, but when you do find them it is as good as I have ever seen it.  I included a couple of pictures tonight from the past douple of days that don't do the madness justice, but they are still good enough to make you want to call in sick tomorrow!      

 

The bite was worth waiting on!

It is darker than the inside of a cow right now and pouring, but we really had a good one today.  It didn't start out that way as the combination of no tide and a brisk north wind put my great bite to sleep most of the morning.  Once the tide started rolling, however, it was a different story!

We had one small trout in the box over the first three hours only to catch a limit of trout and a pile of redfish in the next hour and a half.  It was just as crazy as it can get.  There were very few birds in the area, but the ones that were there were serious.  Several of the schools we worked had some big trout mixed in with the redfish.  The fish never slowed down, but one of my clients got a little too warm and we had to shut it down.

Today was the first time this summer that I have found the big schools staying on the surface for any extended period of time.  It was also the first time that I have found trout that large mixing with the redfish.  You could catch the reds on anything, but almost every trout hit a geaux gleaux Flats Minnow or red Tidal Surge Split Tail fished under a cork

If this rain will quit, the Crismans and grandson Jack and I will be back on the water again tomorrow!

Change of scenery made a difference

I didn't post prior to the weekend simply because of the two tournaments that were fished Saturday.  I had a world of friends fishing in them and I wasn't going to get into who you tell what and who you don't.  I was excited that I even had some information worth sharing!

After struggling for three days as bad as I had struggled in a long time, James, Matt, and Norman would not hear of canceling Friday and as it turned out...I am glad that they were so persistent.  I felt like we were on a roll when we caught the first sand trout, but it got decidedly better over the course of the day.

We sucked it up and made a long bumpy ride south right out of the box as a southwest wind was howling at daylight and the north end of the lake had been tough on me all week anyway.  The wind only got stronger thorughout the day so that was reason enough for the run.  We started on Garrisons and fished all the way to the Causeway through out the morning.

Norman caught the first slot red on a red shad Sea Shad, but they liked Morning Glory even better!

It took us a while to figure out the specks as I was excited just to be catching a mixed bag of trout, reds, b-i-g drum and sand trout bouncing a tail off the bottom in water from 7 to 18 feet deep.  The bite was consistent on the slow incoming tide, but it got stupid good when the tide started going out just before noon.

James got in on the act on his first cast with a morning glory Sea Shad!

The redfish started doing their thing first and they were all solid slot fish.  Shortly thereafter, we discovered that the trout were in the top column of water chasing needle gar and small shad.  They liked a morning glory Sea Shad or a strawberry-white Tidal Surge Split Tail as well.  Matt beat us all up pretty good on the trout using the red Split Tail!

Matt figured the suspended trout out with a strawberry white Split Tail!

I think a lighter head also made a big difference, especially with the trout, but there was no doubt that adding a scent to the tails made a difference.  We were using one of Pro Cure's scents which seems to stay on the bait a little longer and there was no doubt when it had worn off.

Yesterday the wind laid down a little later in the mid-morning and I talked with two different groups that fished the OCARC tournament that caught fish under lady fish on the north end of the lake.  I haven't seen that in a week or two and I hope that we see more of the same tomorrow as I don't really like having to run to the south end of the lake.  I'll do what I have to do and I know the south end can be incredibly good, but I'd still rather fish on the north end when I can catch fish! 

Before I shut this down I want to congratulate Tony Viator and all of the folks that busted their tails to host the Cops Helping Kids tournament this weekend.  The only minor blip was inadvertently scheduling it on the same date as the OCARC tournament in Orange.  Both events are badly needed fund raisers and a lot of fishermen and sponsors in this area will support both causes.

The Cops Helping Kids event has a totally different format in that it is a team tournament that appeals to the more serious fishemen.  The entry fee is significantly higher, but so is the prize money.  Having said that, the Captain's meeting Friday night was darn near worth the entry fee alone.  They drew a huge crowd, auctioned off and raffled off some terrific trips and prizes, served everyone there ice cold drinks and a mountain of steaks and still finished up in time for the teams to get some sleep.  It was as impressive and well organized as any CCA fund raising banquet that I have ever attended!

I talked with John Thomas, director of the OCARC, Saturday evening and he said that he felt like they lost 30 to 40 mid county anglers due to the conflict, but they still had a successful tournament as well.  His is very much a family oriented event and a lot of the folks that fish it have been doing so on the same weekend for the past 25 years.  That is a pretty good track record for any organization.

If we can stay out of the way of tropical depressions and hurricanes we are looking at one heck of a fall.  Adam has done a good job of growing his own business so for the most part I only have Johnny and Chuck on occasion to help me out.  If I haven't called you or you haven'talready booked a trip it is time to make plans.  We can always cancel the date, but at least you are on the calendar!      

 

Tough bite on the north end of the pond!

I can only hope that something good happened on the south end of the lake, because it was s-l-o-w on the north end.  A pretty strong west-southwest wind didn't help matters, but it wasn't enough to blame the tough bite on.  A decent flounder bite in the bayous was the only thing on the positive side.

I talked with two groups that tried to make it happen on the north revetment wall with everything from topwaters to Corkies and they had one five pound trout between the two boats.  The water still looks good, but the mullet and shad were not as thick as they have been.

The flounder ate tube jigs and Sea Shads better than they did a GULP mullet, but I think that had more to do with the Indian than the arrow.  I also talked with some folks that spent the morning in Bessie Heights looking for redfish and they caught a bunch of rat reds, but only two small slot fish.  They were fishing spinnerbaits and spoons.

It may well be that live bait fished along the breaks on the ICW is the ticket, but we haven't given that a shot yet.  I canceled tomorrow's trip to scout again so I might just give that a try if all else fails. Fishing is supposed to be fun and it isn't fun right now!