Colburn's Sabine Connection

The trout in Coffee Ground have been under assault!

I told my wife that I would shut it down for Christmas and take a break until after New Years.  So much for that mini-promise as I have fished clients everyday but today and aside from the cold mornings, we have really had some good trips.  We have caught a few very nice trout as well, but my last two groups had nothing but redfish on their minds when they climbed out of the truck and that made it pretty easy.

Neil's first ever redfish was a little too large!

We have limited on reds everyday by eight or eight thirty and just continued to catch and release or chase trout the remainder of the morning.  Neil and his dad, Paul, were given their trip as a present and it couldn't have turned out better.  Neil is in the Air Force and stationed in California.  We drew a cold overcast day for their trip, but the redfish warmed us up quickly.  They both wore the fish out on Swim Baits and Tails.

The following day I fished a ranching family from Wyoming that drove down to catch reds, watch Aggie women's basketball and attend the Alamo Bowl hoping to see the Longhorns beat Oregon.  For some reason I just can't imagine a Wyoming rancher working cows in minus 20 degree weather while singing "Texas Fight."  Jay said the morning before the family headed south for warmer weather, more football  and some red fishing, that he had to cut a hole in the ice on one of their stock tanks with a chain saw. The ice was 23-inches thick!

Obviously, they didn't find Saturday morning to be as cold as I did. I have no idea how many reds they caught and released, but over the course of the morning they expanded their original plan to keep a couple just to see how they tasted to keeping their limits after discussing grilling up a few on the half shell that night.

I don't know if we are simply catching the same redfish over and over, but we have just been covered up with redfish this entire month.  Most of the folks I see on the water every day are now just catching and releasing and enjoying the fight as they have no desire to keep any more.

The trout have not been that cooperative.  They have to be catching at least a few trout in Coffee Ground Cove right now, but from a distance I can't figure out how you can cast without hitting another boat with your lure.  I have never seen that many boats in that one area in all the years I've spent on Sabine.  We tried to make a short drift in there Saturday morning, but couldn't figure out how to get back there without cutting off someone's drift.  We made one short drift well outside of the armada and caught two nice trout on Corkies before moving on.

I don't know if this is just a Holiday thing or if we can just expect to see more fishing pressure throughout the winter.  Even last year, I would know the folks in eight of the ten boats I might see any given day, but that hasn't been the case recently.  Even the waders are now suffering the effects of the added boating pressure.

I still have a couple of trips next week with folks that want to experience the redfish phenomenon, but after that we are going to start hunting down the big trout.  We have sure had some user-friendly days for doing just that over the past week so it will probably snow about the time we start that program!

The vienna sausages proved to be irresistable to Gene's new friend!

I was pulling Gene Locke in last week when a pelican unexpectedly crashed the slow moving party.  He actually snuck in the boat from the back, leaned over Gene's shoulder and tried to help himself to one of Gene's vienna sausages.  Gene eventually shooed him into our boat but he didn't stay long after discovering that we had no snacks!

 

Trout more cooperative following latest warm-up!

I took today off to try and buy a thoughtful Christmas present or two in lieu of gift cards, but it certainly wasn't because the bite isn't good on Sabine right now.  We fished two days this week in fog so thick you couldn't see the front of the boat and not a ripple on the pond and two days in whitecaps and the bite never slowed down.  You just can't get away from the redfish and the trout bite finally started coming around a little again.

There is no doubt that the rapid warm-up following the last cold front got the trout moving.  The redfish seemingly could care less about surface temperature right now.  We haven't caught any trout over 26 inches, but there have been a few caught by folks that apparently fish better than I do.

A short notice trip finally paid off for Bill!

After trying to get Bill Prewitt into the redfish several times this year and failing to do so every time, I called him on short notice earlier this week. Being the trusting individual that he is, he drove in that night from Tyler and we were on the water the following morning.  It was almost too foggy to even see the screen on the GPS...especially while also looking for any wakes indicating other lost souls poking along or tugs and barges waiting it out on the side of the Intracoastal.

The few folks trying to run close enough to see the shoreline had an even tougher time spotting those barges at the last minute as well as running up on mud flats.  It was nearly ten o'clock by the time it started lifting on the north end of the lake.  By that time, however, Bill and I had easily limited on just the right size slot fish and caught and released reds until we were ready to do something else.

Just one of a bunch of redfish James caught and released.

Very much to my surprise, the trout decided to finally join the party and we limited on fish up to four pounds pretty quickly.  The following day the Quarles brothers drove in and we beat up on the redfish early again.  They enjoyed catching the redfish on a non-stop basis, but kept only a couple to half-shell as they were more interested in hustling flounder and trout.

Cory caught and released our largest red of the morning and our best trout as well!

By the time we got on the trout the wind was howling out of the southeast and while it was hard to even stand up in the boat, it didn't slow the bite down at all.  No big trout, but all solid keepers and we limited in three short drifts.  We caught most of the trout on Corkies, Maniac Mullets and DieDappers.

The water clarity in the lake is still very good and the surface temperature in the morning has climbed from the weekend morning lows in the high 40's back in to the low to mid-fifties. The appraoching front will bring another shot of cold weather which may slow the trout bite down for a day or so, but it shouldn't effect the reds at all.

Okay...gotta get on the road right now or it will be gift cards in a Merry Christmas envelope all the way around!

Redfish continue to save the day!

At this point it looks like that first boat ride of the morning is going to be a little warmer this week than it has been.  After rescheduling a group for Friday morning that decided at the last minute that they didn't want to wade if it was going to rain, I accepted an invitation to fish with Albert Bates.  He has some time off before starting a long shutdown at work and he just wanted to look at a lot of water before putting together a plan of attack.

Albert will absolutely fish in any kind of weather, but he prefers cold rainy windy days that weed out the sane fishermen and we got just that Friday morning.  He got the stiff east wind he wanted and it  misted a little, but the temperature was only in the forties. We have fished in much colder temperatures lately, but I haven't been any colder.  We stopped several times just to warm our hands up and I couldn't feel my finger tips until much later in the afternoon!

This red was happy to get back in the water where it was a heck of a lot warmer!

About the third or fourth cast I boated a trout in the four pound class that ate a Fat Boy and that proved to be the only trout we would catch.  The water looked good and we had a decent incoming tide, but we just couldn't get anything going.  Rather than continue practice casting while shivering we caved in and took it out on the redfish until we didn't care to see another redfish.  We are catching very few in the open lake, but the shoreline, bayous and river are full of them!

The unexpected flounder bite that we enjoyed the week before also went to pot, but that was to be expected.  I still don't know why they were so thick in the lake this late in the year anyway.  You can probably catch the redfish on a chartreuse stick with hooks on it, but we have been sticking with the Usual Suspect, crankbaits and four inch tails in roach and stinky pink.  The bottom fishermen are doing far better with mullet or shad than they are with shrimp right now.

Maybe we'll catch two trout tomorrow..... which is still okay if they are the right two!

Nothing like a week old report!

I can't recall even turning the computer on last week, but I don't recall a lot of stuff these days.  I fished every day of the week, but my Mother recently suffered a fall and my brother, sister and I have alternated covering caregiver duties when one or the other wasn't working.    I don't know how professional caregivers do it, but it takes a special person.  Thank God, both my brother and sister are far better at it than I am!

In spite of the challenging weather conditions, we enjoyed an unexpectedly productive week of fishing.  The temperature was unseasonably warm, the mornings were especially foggy and the southwest wind intensified every day until the arrival of the front.  The first two days of the week we struggled to find any numbers at all, but did manage to catch and release a few really big trout.

Big trout were growing more cooperative last week!

With the wind only getting stronger each day, I canceled my Wednesday party only to rebook later that same night with a group that didn't care how windy it was or how poor the bite was.  After a long slow ride in a very thick fog, we finally reached the only isolated patch of shell that I caught fish on the day before. We never got the first bite!

Its not a salmon, but a nice fish nonetheless.

For no valid reason, I then ran to a seimi-protected stretch of shoreline and stuck a nice trout on the first cast.  I think we caught only two or three more trout, but much to my surprise we caught redfish and flounder until we just got tired of catching them.  We only saw two other boats all morning long and I know why.  I caught a few fish on a Corky, but the majority of our fish ate Usual Suspects or Gulp.

Catching redfish beats the heck out of blowing out candles!

That night, Kelly Ford called to see if he could reschedule for the following day even though the wind was forecast to blow even harder and I dreaded having to tell him what he missed after I had canceled him.  That was all it took for him, his Dad and Uncle to give it a shot the next morning.  It was, in fact, even windier, but the bite was better than the day before only because the trout decided to do their things as well.

Another oversized red goes back in the lake.

Kelly, Lee and Mike stuck with Gulp and a roach colored chicken-on-a-chain Diedapper while I alternated between a Maniac Mullet and Usual Suspect and it didn't seem to matter to the fllounder, reds or trout.  Everybody in the boat, except Mike, caught at least one slam, but in spite of catching the most fish, including the largest trout, he never caught his flounder.  I have no idea how many fish we caught and released, but Mike would have settled for just one of the several flounder that Lee pulled off right at the boat!

Kelly was obviously pleased with this nice red!

Kelly said the trip was a birthday present, but I think that is just their pat excuse for another fishing trip as Lee has had at least three birthdays this year alone.  They are a blast to fish with and I am glad the front held off one more day than predicted.  After this week I may never cancel another trip due to the wind.

The weather the following morning was not as forgiving , but it came as no surprise.  The wind had already swung around to the north the night before and it was raining when I tried to reschedule the trip.  By the following morning it was getting colder by the minute and raining just hard enough to make life even more miserable.  After waiting it out for an hour or so, they decided they could handle the weather for one shot at a redfish.

Two hours later, which included the boat ride out and back, they were shaking like a 12-inch school trout and elected to call in the dogs with five reds, two flounder and four nice trout.  I didn't peel off my own jacket and rain gear until well after I got back home.

The conditions went to pot across the weekend, which in all likelihood renders this report useless, but the two most pleasant surprises were the number of flounder still on hand and the improved "big trout" bite. It looks as though it is going to be wet and cold most of this week, but at this point we are still scheduled to give it a try the next four days.  I don't expect the redfish bite to slow down much and it looks like the larger trout are spending more time on the flats closer to deeper water.

I know this was long and drawn out, but its still better than finding no report and even better if you are sitting in a warm control room just marking time!

 

  

 

Nothing like a week old report!

I can't recall even turning the computer on last week, but I don't recall a lot of stuff these days.  I fished every day of the week, but my Mother recently suffered a fall and my brother, sister and I have alternated covering caregiver duties when one or the other wasn't working.    I don't know how professional caregivers do it, but it takes a special person.  Thank God, both my brother and sister are far better at it than I am!

In spite of the challenging weather conditions, we enjoyed an unexpectedly productive week of fishing.  The temperature was unseasonably warm, the mornings were especially foggy and the southwest wind intensified every day until the arrival of the front.  The first two days of the week we struggled to find any numbers at all, but did manage to catch and release a few really big trout.

Big trout were growing more cooperative last week!

With the wind only getting stronger each day, I canceled my Wednesday party only to rebook later that same night with a group that didn't care how windy it was or how poor the bite was.  After a long slow ride in a very thick fog, we finally reached the only isolated patch of shell that I caught fish on the day before. We never got the first bite!

Its not a salmon, but a nice fish nonetheless.

For no valid reason, I then ran to a seimi-protected stretch of shoreline and stuck a nice trout on the first cast.  I think we caught only two or three more trout, but much to my surprise we caught redfish and flounder until we just got tired of catching them.  We only saw two other boats all morning long and I know why.  I caught a few fish on a Corky, but the majority of our fish ate Usual Suspects or Gulp.

Catching redfish beats the heck out of blowing out candles!

That night, Kelly Ford called to see if he could reschedule for the following day even though the wind was forecast to blow even harder and I dreaded having to tell him what he missed after I had canceled him.  That was all it took for him, his Dad and Uncle to give it a shot the next morning.  It was, in fact, even windier, but the bite was better than the day before only because the trout decided to do their things as well.

Another oversized red goes back in the lake.

Kelly, Lee and Mike stuck with Gulp and a roach colored chicken-on-a-chain Diedapper while I alternated between a Maniac Mullet and Usual Suspect and it didn't seem to matter to the fllounder, reds or trout.  Everybody in the boat, except Mike, caught at least one slam, but in spite of catching the most fish, including the largest trout, he never caught his flounder.  I have no idea how many fish we caught and released, but Mike would have settled for just one of the several flounder that Lee pulled off right at the boat!

Kelly was obviously pleased with this nice red!

Kelly said the trip was a birthday present, but I think that is just their pat excuse for another fishing trip as Lee has had at least three birthdays this year alone.  They are a blast to fish with and I am glad the front held off one more day than predicted.  After this week I may never cancel another trip due to the wind.

The weather the following morning was not as forgiving , but it came as no surprise.  The wind had already swung around to the north the night before and it was raining when I tried to reschedule the trip.  By the following morning it was getting colder by the minute and raining just hard enough to make life even more miserable.  After waiting it out for an hour or so, they decided they could handle the weather for one shot at a redfish.

Two hours later, which included the boat ride out and back, they were shaking like a 12-inch school trout and elected to call in the dogs with five reds, two flounder and four nice trout.  I didn't peel off my own jacket and rain gear until well after I got back home.

The conditions went to pot across the weekend, which in all likelihood renders this report useless, but the two most pleasant surprises were the number of flounder still on hand and the improved "big trout" bite. It looks as though it is going to be wet and cold most of this week, but at this point we are still scheduled to give it a try the next four days.  I don't expect the redfish bite to slow down much and it looks like the larger trout are spending more time on the flats closer to deeper water.

I know this was long and drawn out, but its still better than finding no report and even better if you are sitting in a warm control room just marking time!