Colburn's Sabine Connection

Daleys at 4:00 pm Thursday.

We got in another pretty decent day on Big Lake.  Compared to what I have been doing on Sabine Lake, however, it would be considered a great day.  There has been some bird activity and a lot of small trout, but the water looks much better and everyone is not fishing in one small spot.  It's also a shorter drive for me than driving around the lake to Sabine Pass.

We are going to be back over at Daleys In Nederland tomorrow afternoon for another session of sharing tips, techniques, best colors, etc.  Willie Nelson (he is the one tying those flies on display in the store)  is also going to speak on everything "redfish and fly rod" for the skinny water folks.  While most of us continue to struggle with the open lake, they have been wearing the fish out kayaking the backwater.

I learn something new that has helped me catch more fish every time we meet.  It's fun and it's free!

 

Less rain this week will help south end bite rebound.

We made a short run yesterday evening only because a good friend offered to show me a spot on the north end where he had been catching a few redfish every evening.  He had been using live bait, but I didn't have time for that so we threw Swim baits for about a half an hour and did in fact catch six redfish.  The water was high and dirty, but it was a bite that I had not checked out.

Capt. Lamar and I joined the crowd fishing the ship channel Friday hoping to find him some promising spots for his party the following day.  We didn't catch any really good trout, but we did find keeper size trout in several different areas.  I had been catching fish on the 6 to 8 foot breaks, but I don't think we caught a fish deeper than four feet Friday.  He didn't catch as many fish the following day, but he said they were holding on the exact same spots and the trout were much better fish.

We still have a lot of water yet to come down the Sabine due to the flooding north of Toledo Bend, but we might not get much local rain this week.  The south end bite has improved every time we have gotten a break in the weather, but I still think it is just going to take a while for the north end to get right.  I am going to be there when it does. 

Man....we really needed a tropical storm!

We cheated Mother Nature yesterday and eventually took a soaking, but it was fun before the bottom dropped out.  Trying it again today, however was out of the question.  We drove around the lake and fished the same stretch of ship channel that the whole world is fishing, but there wasn't much pressure as you would expect  and we caught a lot of nice trout in a very short period of time.

We caught all of our fish on Sea Shads and Lil' Johns.  We caught no redfish, released two flounder over four pounds and kept two limits of trout in the 17 to 20 inch class.  We also released a couple of very nice trout.

Last month we got together on a Thursday evening at Daley's Hunt n Fish for what I hope will become a regular thing each month.  We discussed everything from techniques to the patterns on Sabine lake and guides and local anglers swapped a lot of valuable information.  Both Bass Assassin and MirrOlure provided a lot of product to be handed out and one of the things we talked about was Assassin's Swim Bait Hook.

Since then, I have received a zillion emails and hopefully the following will answer most of those questions.  Robin Shiver, the owner of Bass Assassin asked me to give the hook a try and sent some down when providing lures for the meeting.  He added that he thought the hook might legitimately  convert any paddle tail grub into a Swim Bait.

This is what it looks like and Daley's had a bunch in stock last Friday!

I tried it for two weeks, agreed with his assessment, and we discussed my own experiences at that meeting.  I have found that any time you share something new and more people have success with it that you not only learn more about it, but they get harder to find as well!

Eighth ounce with 3/0 hook works fine with larger paddle tails and doesn't over power 4-inch tails

Following that meeting, Rusty was not only able to get in a bunch of the colors in the Sea Shad that were working so well, but a grocery cart full of the new Swim hooks as well.  He ordered the quarter ounce as well as the 1/8th ounce and said many of his customers also liked them.  For the record, I don't, but I might once I see exactly what they are doing with them.  Can't wait for another meeting!

My problem is that the quarter ounce is available only on a 5/0 hook and I am not fishing any plastics that work well with a hook that size.  It just kills the action on the smaller 4 inch baits while the 3/0 hook on the 1/8th ounce model works well on both the Sea Shad and the larger Diedapper.  Obviously, the lighter head won't sink as fast, but I am swimming these baits anyway and not impeding the natural swimming action is the most important factor to me.

I was initially concerned with hook sets due to skin hooking the barb, but that has not been a problem and that eliminates a world of hang ups as well.  Rusty also managed to get the hook in several different colors, but I can't tell that color makes any difference at all.  You would think that white or pearl would be the best color as I can't think of a bait fish without a white belly, but an unpainted body is fine with me.

The pictures are for those of you that didn't know exactly what to ask for and how I hook it.  i have also found the screw lock attachment to save more tails.  I can't think of any more questions.  I am going to try and drive over to Daley's between storms this afternoon. Maybe there will be some more washed out fishermen to at least talk fishing.  I am hoping Rusty can put something together on the 26th.

 

More boats than trout on the weekend!

After the best week of catching I have had in a while, I was finally able to get my Grandson on the water Saturday morning.  Due to everything from morning workouts for football to league baseball in the evenings, he has fished with me very little of late.  For that reason alone, we were forced to to fish Saturday and I was reminded of why I don't care to fish on the weekend.  My hat goes off to anyone that can consistently catch fish in a crowd!

Even though the lake is settling out a little, I hadn't found a bite good enough to merit not making the long run south of the Causeway to give him a shot at some easy fish.  The ride was nice as it was dead calm and we saw only two other boats on the run all the way from East Pass to the Causeway.   We found out where they were all gathered up as we neared the LNG plant!

There were 14 boats on the south point of the Chenier Plant and 32 boats wedged in Lighthouse Cove.  For those of you that thought that bite was a secret try two boats fishing the first 23 miles of the lake and 46 packed into a half mile stretch. You know the word is out when the clerk at Walmart says, "Have a nice day and try Lighthouse Cove if you want to catch lots of big trout."  She didn't know the difference in a popping cork and a blender, but she knew where we should all fish!.

Just like everyone else, we had been content to fish that stretch of the ship channel all week and caught easy limits, but Andrew and I ran right back to the lake rather than compete with that crowd.  We still managed to have a very decent day bouncing Lil Johns and rat tail Assassins off the bottom on the north end of the reef and scattered shell in front of the Gator Hole.  Red Shad and Stinky Pink were the best two colors for us.  The bite really picked up on the outgoing tide and all of our fish came out of 6 to 8 feet of water.

It looks like more rain for this week (just what we need), but those were the first trout in any numbers that I had caught as far north as the Gator Hole.  Even at that, they were way the heck off the shoreline.  I couldn't tell that the water clarity was much better and there is still lots of water running down the Sabine.

We'll see if the crowds have thinned out tomorrow morning!