Colburn's Sabine Connection

Meeting was fun....trout bite hanging on.

I undoubtedly missed the best weather day on Thursday as Daley's was more than ready to get started hosting monthly fishing talks and I agreed to lead the first one.  We had a good turnout that included the youngsters and three hours went by in a hurry.  As hoped for, the folks on hand shared some very good information as well and both Mirrolure and Bass Assassin made sure everyone left with a bag full of lures!

Two of the youngsters won spinning combos provided by Daleys as well.  I hope these meetings will become a regular thing as sharing techniques and ideas makes fishing more fun for all of us.  The last couple of days involved dodging storms, but even with all of the fresh muddy water rolling down both the Neches and Sabine, the trout bite has still been decent.

Its all about the south end of the lake, the ship channel and Keith Lake, but we'll take what we can get right now.  I am still surprised that with such poor water clarity we are doing better with white and laminated white-green plastics.  We have also caught a few fish on Usual Suspect Swim Baits and every fish we have caught has been in 5 to 7 feet of water.

I have now fished three trips with Assassin's new Swim Bait hook in the 1/8th ounce size and it truly makes any four or five inch paddle tail grub swim like the Swim Baits with the lead inside the body. The lead on the shank of the hook is shaped like a small spoon and the tail runs true and upright on retrieve. Because the hook point isn't exposed we are hanging up much less when fishing around shell.

The launches were under water the past couple of days on the north end of the lake and the river is still moving pretty good.  As of today both generators on T-Bend were running 24/7 with nine gates open.  It is amazing that we can still catch trout with that much fresh water running through the lake.

 

Daley's.....Thursday night 4 to 7 pm!

"No....I have not quit guiding."  It seems like it having fished with clients only four days this entire month, but we have done more casting than catching with all of this fresh water in trying to pattern the fish.  I don't have many clients that care to pay to practice cast in the wind and rain for eight hours!

I am still finding some trout on the La. side of the lake, but a lot of them are small and they are there one day and gone the next.  The other best option has been to join the crowd fishing the channel from Chenier to Lighthouse Cove.  That's not my bag, but a lot of redfish and a few very nice trout have been caught when the tide helps even a little.  It appears that we have a long way to go before we see improved salinity levels and clearer water based on all of the flooding in the Dallas area and what is already pumping out of Toledo Bend.

In the meantime, Rusty and the gang over at Daley's are ready to kick off what will be the first of monthly meetings designed to make us all more proficient fishermen.  I will host the first one Thursday night from 4 to 7 and we will discuss everything from locating trout right now to techniques, lures and just getting started right.  Other area guides and tournament fishermen, tackle reps and electronics experts will host future meetings. While we will discuss some advanced stuff we will also spend time getting youngsters and new bay fishermen off on the right foot.

The kids will be eligible to win a very nice door prize and both Mirrolure and Bass Assassin products will be handed out to everyone in attendance.  These meetings will afford you the opportunity to not only ask questions, but share your own experiences with others as well.  See ya there !     

Sign up for S.A.L.T. Memorial Day tournament today!

It looks as though it will be more of the same for a while as the SRA was forced to crank up both generators and open the flood gates on Toledo Bend again.  At the moment they are just trying to hold their own with the lake level at 172.4 and all of that fresh water is headed downhill!

We have gotten in three very decent trips over the past week or so and while we were targeting flounder and reds, the trout bite was improving as well.  I know some nice trout have come off the revetment wall, but every trout we caught was taken bouncing Swim baits and Assassins off the bottom between the Causeway reefs and Lighthouse Cove.  Fishing that end of the world is not my bag, but when it is the only game in town you do what you have to do.

I am hoping that the flounder and redfish have adapted to all of the fresh water over the past two months and will not make any major moves.  Only time will tell. We have been finding them on the shorelines on incoming tides and just outside the cuts on outgoing tides.  The water on the outgoing tide has gotten much prettier this past week.

Don't forget about the S.A.L.T. Club's 41st annual Memorial tournament this weekend.  The event will be hosted out of their new club house located on Pleasure Island with weigh-ins set for 2 to 6 on Saturday and 11 to 3 on Sunday. " Yes.....there is a lot of money to be won in a bunch of categories, but this tournament has flourished over the years more so because it is family oriented and caters to fishermen of all ages than the money.

You can sign up at darn near any retailer that handles fishing tackle in the area, but I know for sure that both Simon's Outfitters in Orange, Daley's in Nederland and Peggy's on the Bayou in Bridge City all have entry forms.  I feel pretty sure that Ancelet's marina under the Rainbow Bridge has them as well.  For more information check out their Facebook page.

From monthly tournaments to monthly meetings that provide insight on the current fishing prospects, the S.A.L.T. Club is one of a kind for anglers looking to learn more about Sabine Lake and more especially, doing it with the family.  They are located right on the shore of Sabine Lake and you can't attend one of their events without feeling like you are already on the water.  And, aside from all of that...they are always cooking up something good to eat!

 

 

Benefit redfish tournament Saturday out of Ancelet's!

The weather guessers got the wind part right, but they missed on more rain today.  We actually got a little sunburn and we were off the water by noon.  We pretty much stayed on the La. side of the lake and targeted flounder after we caught only small trout in the first hour.

We did managed to keep nine flounder up to 18 or 19 inches, but we also threw back a bunch that were right at the 14-inch mark.  The surest bet was a Gulp curl tail grub rigged on a quarter ounce head or a 1/8th ounce Road Runner type head.  I was using the same old head I have always used, but John and Lyle were using a new painted jig head with a blade that they found over at Daley's.

The 3/0 hook is far more substantial than the Roadrunner's and the head is not a horsehead design.  It also has a willow leaf blade rather than the conventional Colorado.  There was no doubt that they missed fewer fish than I did and they caught all five of the keeper reds.  I drove over to Daley's to get some, but passed on the opportunity to buy the last few they had left.  

Someone else had obviously already done well with them and spread the word as that is all they had left out of 200.  I will get mine with the next order as I can't show up with only 2 or 3 with clients.  I will live with my Roadrunner heads for one more week!

The store was crowded with folks headed to Toledo Bend to fish the McDonald's tournament this weekend, but there were also some much more secretive shoppers getting ready for the Saltwater Boys Benefit redfish Tournament on Saturday.  The proceeds will be donated to Boys Haven.

You can sign up online or at the Captain's Meeting that starts at 6:00 pm Friday night at Daleys.  The weigh-in is set from 12pm to 3pm at Ancelet's Marina under the Rainbow Bridge.  The entry fee is only $200 per team and there is some serious money up for grabs as well as prizes.  First place pays $2000, 2nd pays $1250 and 3rd pays $750.  There are several optional side pots that you can sign up for as well.

You can read all the details on their web site at saltwaterboyfishing.com.  I talked with some folks that fished the ship channel south of the Causeway today and they launched on the La. side in order to keep smaller trout.  They said they easily limited and probably a third of their fish would have been Texas legal.  The best news as far as I am concerned, however, is that a 28 inch trout was also taken fishing a tail in the lake today.  We're getting closer!   

W-I-N-D!!!!

We spent this entire week either forcing the issue and doing poorly or wishing that we hadn't even tried and the fresh water runoff had nothing to do with it.  It was all about a howling wind every day that either pinned us down in the ship channel, Blacks or Cow Bayou and stacked up the water in the marshes.

The trout bite had started improving for us the week before, but it was an open lake bite that we can't fish in 20 to 25 mph winds.  We were doing the best in six to eight feet of water prior to all the wind fishing both the revetment wall and Louisiana shoreline, but the bite has been so far off the shoreline that you have no protection from a south-southeast wind.

The non-stop wind has also turbo charged the big incoming tides and the water is well up into the grass lining the bayous.  I feel certain the flooded marshes hurt the fishermen willing to cross the lake to fish the Game Reserve as well.  The few keeper flounder and slot reds that we caught  were chasing small shad in that flooded grass.  Getting a bait in front of them without hanging up was tough until we started rigging a Gulp shad weedless on a weighted hook.

The water in the lake had begun to clear up a little, but the wind still had it churned up again as of yesterday and it is blowing pretty good this morning.  I think that we are finally back to the point, however, that we can expect to catch fish if Mother Nature will back off just a little bit.