Colburn's Sabine Connection

As Chuck says....... this is just stupid cold!

I have been bitching about the bitter cold early morning boat rides for over a month, but today's deep freeze conditions put things in perspective.......they weren't that cold after all!  I can guarantee that It is going to take more than one afternoon in the mid-fifties to elevate the surface temperature out of the mid-forties.

Madeline and Jose with a pair of solid slot reds. Madeline is now a spinning rod convert!

The wind made things tough earlier in the week, but we caught a break Wednesday and were able to fish a few more spots.  I fished with Jose and Madeline Rodriguez and we got off to a slow start, but things picked up after lunch.  Prior to that, the redfish were small as were the trout. The redfish and the trout that we caught in the afternoon were much better fish.

We missed a lot of bites early that were extremely light and it wasn't until later that we discovered that those were indeed good fish that just weren't very aggressive.  Jose caught the best red of the day and actually saw the fish before he ever felt any resistance.  There was no doubt that the fish we caught were more interested in smaller baits.  The Crazy Croaker worked better than the Maniac Mullet and a Flats Minnow or Sea Shad worked better than the longer Assassins or Big Minnow XL's.

The only lure that worked better in the larger size was the Usual Suspect as we did well on the redfish with the 4-inch version in glow chartreuse and space guppie.  I have no idea how fast the bite will bounce back following this freeze, but we'll be back at it Sunday evening.  My wife just informed me that we have another round of cold weather headed our way early next week so it may be a wasted scouting trip! 

Cold mornings, too much wind....bite still good!

Once again, I look up and a page of emails remind me that I have been negligent in reporting, but I've had some events to attend at night and there is only so much time.  Over the past five days we have made four very good trips.  The wind direction changed only once, but other than that the conditions have been the same every day. The surface temperature has also managed to ease back up into the low fifties.

Each day started with a very cold boat ride, a wind that started howling around nine and an outgoing tide that has sucked the bayous down to the mud.  The size of the trout has been the only difference in the catching four of those days.  We haven't caught a fish over six pounds and probably have caught only a few others over five pounds this week.

The numbers have been there, however, and we have been catching and releasing a pile of 15 to 20 inch trout.  Limiting out on reds has simply required being there with a lure.  I think our average trout today was the best of the week, but we still didn't catch the first trout over five pounds.

Dr. Norman couldn't keep his Corky away from this red.  Save your Corkies for the trout as several colors are in short supply once again!

We could have stayed with a salt pepper chartreuse tail Assassin and a Maniac Mullet and caught all of the fish we cared to catch, but we also caught trout on a Corky and an H&H Queen Cocahoe while looking for larger trout.  We are catching most of our fish in 4 to 6 feet of water, but the bite is taking place in the top column of water.  It is not unusual to get bit before you make the first turn on the reel handle.

We joined the flotilla of fishermen in Coffee Ground twice this week simply because of the wind, but we are finding a bite every bit as good in other areas of the lake.  Not unlike last year, we have also had the problem of catching 3 or 4 really nice trout on a flat only to have the redfish crash the party and when they do...we don't catch another trout!

The water clarity is better on the north end than anywhere else we have fished, but that doesn't seem to bother the fish.  We never changed colors on our tails and caught fish in water with 18 inches of visibility and 6 inches at best.  The only bite that I have been unable to get going thus far has been the deep bite in the ICW and River

How long can Coffee Ground hold up?

I guessed wrong and we got blown out today, but we did well Friday and Saturday.  We scouted Friday morning and kept six redfish for the grill.  I have no idea how many we caught before deciding that we were burning the day milking the addicting bite and moved into the lake to check the trout out.

We didn't stay with them long, but still caught some very solid trout on one short drift in 4-5 feet of water.  I think you could have caught them on anything, but we were content to stick with Corky Fat Boys.  Saturday morning was even better and I was sweating it out as I hadn't had my grandson out in a while.

The smirk says it all....Andrew caught and released yet another over sized red!

We beat up on the redfish until he cried "Uncle" and agreed to let me check out the trout bite as well.  We made one drift amongst the fleet of boats in Coffee Ground Cove and caught and released nine very solid trout on tails and a Catch 2000.  Andrew pulled off one really nice trout, but all of the fish were three pounds or better.  We missed out on a chance to eat some elk with Capt. Belcher, but still pigged out on redfish while watching football all afternoon.

It is hard to believe that Coffee Ground is still producing good catches with the numbers of boats that plow in there every day.  If you have a few fish located anywhere else on the lake you are catching them alone!

 

Frogg Toggs and Redfish!

We have managed to squeeze in a couple of good trout trips since, but none of them have been anymore enjoyable than the one spent with my 12 year old nephew, Jordan Alexander on New Year's eve.  It was a trip that was supposed to include his brother and cousin, but being older and thinking they were wiser, they elected to sleep in until noon!

First, you've got to catch them if your fingers still work....

It was miserably cold and overcast early, we couldn't feel our finger tips most of the morning and we still had the time of our lives.  After catching and releasing the first two over sized redfish I breathed a sigh of relief, but Jordan was just getting started.  He found some hand warmers in his bag of snacks, I added a wool cap and my Frogg Togg jacket to his growing layer of clothing and it was "game on" for the next two hours.  One size does not fit all with Frogg Toggs, but Jordan was more into warm than styling!

Then you can put the big ones back...

The trout were also holding in 6 to 8 feet of water and eating a slow sinker Manac Mullet, but Jordan could have cared less about the trout.  Time and again he would bounce his Usual Suspect off the bottom only to rock back with another hook set that resulted in the ten pound mono burning off his Shimano Sahara reel.  I was the net boy most of the morning and couldn't have enjoyed it more!

but, bringing Poppa home a few fillets is always a good idea as well!

Jordan would have gladly released every fish, but we decided to keep six fish for his Grand Dad who fished with me a lot at one time but now has back problems that won't allow him to bounce around in the boat any longer. Not every youngster likes to fish, but it is a privilege to get the ones that do on the water as much as possible.  You won't catch a fish in your lifetime that is more rewarding than the one you help them catch!

We are still finding some very nice trout in the afternoons fishing everything from Topwaters to mullet imitations .  The morning bite has been slow due to the colder surface temperatures, but the evenings have been nice between fronts.  It looks like we have a sure enough cold one headed our way Sunday and Monday. I really don't enjoy the Houston Boat Show as much as the Houston Fishing Show the first week of March, but I will still be over there a couple of afternoons this week .  I will probably spend most of my time around the Laguna booth with Chris, Tommy and the rest of the gang.  Stop by, visit a while and look at one of Laguna's Liquid Series rods with the cyclone wrap.                                                                                                                           !