Colburn's Sabine Connection

What's next in 2015?

There may have been a few folks that pressed the issue Saturday, but fishing Sabine on Sunday was not an option.  The wind and rain made it tough to simply run from the truck to the front porch of the Church Sunday morning and the weather was only cranking up at that point.  Fortunately, we didn't get nearly as much local rain as other parts of the state.

Water was even higher than this when we returned each day prior to the weekend rain.

I am hoping that the saving grace in yet another major rain event will be that a solid week of storm surge tides pushed a phenomenal amount of saltier water upriver.  The fact that the lake level on Toledo Bend was low will help some as well. By the end of last week we had to wade out and mark the launch with a portable metal sign to be sure we wouldn't back over the dock.  Even with what was supposed to be an outgoing tide, the water was still rising by the time we quit each day!

Glen started the morning off right.

The bite changed for us every day, but in spite of the ridiculously high water the catching was good.  The birds worked well the early part of the week only to all but disappear once the wind became a daily problem.  From about mid-week on we spent most of our time fishing the protected Louisiana shoreline.  Both the flounder and reds were either in the flooded grass or close to it chasing shrimp and finger mullet.

We caught most of our fish on Usual Suspect Swim baits, She Dogs, and 4-inch Sea Shads rigged weedless on Assassin Swim hooks.  Chicken on a chain and Stinky Pink were easily our two most productive colors.  The way the rest of this year has gone I would not be surprised if we get ten inches of snow by the end of the week.  It seems that every time we make enough adjustments to figure out the bite, everything changes and we are back to square one.

Storm surge didn't slow the redfish down any.

The following is a prime example of "What the heck is going on?" We left 16 to 19 inch trout and slot reds biting virtually every cast last Wednesday and had it not been for a couple of gulls I would have never even tried the spot.  The tide was pouring in so hard that you couldn't get off the troll motor, but the shrimp decided it was time to leave the marsh anyway. It was not unlike sitting smack in the middle of kindergartners with all the ice cream they could eat and no parents in sight..  The following day, we fished the same spot and same conditions. but not a single shrimp showed up and even the live bait fishermen couldn't catch a fish!

We' start all over tomorrow and we'll see what effect the rain had on the ever changing game.  The water was lower at the dock this morning than it was prior to the rain.

 

Good day...bad day is frustrating!

If this hasn't already been one of the toughest and weirdest fishing years for me, primarily due to all of the flooding, the past week has done little to change things.  With the exception of one windy day, we have had perfect weather, but I can't catch fish two days in a row.  One day will be extremely good and the next day we burn thirty gallons of gas catching and releasing 12 inch trout and huge gafftop.

We weighed one that weighed 9 lbs. 4 0z. and another just under 9 pounds.  Both fish ate a Vudu shrimp under a cork.  Truth be known, they probably inhaled a small speck or sand trout that hit the bait first.

I have never called and canceled a trip scheduled the following day because the fishing was great the day before, but I am giving it serious thought.  At least a portion of the problem has been chasing the birds more than we should, but it is addicting when you stumble up on the right flock and limit in twenty minutes.  I might be able to solve the problem by simply abandoning any pattern that worked the day before and fishing something totally different.

When its good...its very good!

The past two days were a perfect example.  We were wading before daylight, almost got run over by two different boats at first light, but still left the spot at 8:00 with 17 very nice trout and released two of the better trout we have caught in a while.  The first flock of gulls we find while cruising around finishing off cold kolaches was working over slot reds and very solid school trout.  Nothing to being a guide.

We hit the same spot the following morning, catch two very nice trout in the first ten minutes and that bite is over.  The rest of the day is spent catching small specks, sand trout and gafftops.  Maybe the most frustrating thing about all of this is that folks that haven't fished in a month are still catching at least few good fish in areas that I just ride by.  Most of the catching on the tough days has been by the live bait fishermen, but at least they are catching fish.

On the good days I have been encouraged by the fact that we are finally seeing a few trout in the 5 to 6 pound class.  We still need a stiff norther to blow all of this water out, but it did drop some yesterday. Should I have two bad days in a row I might just park the boat and hire me a younger guide!

 

Catching continues to improve via perfect weather conditions!

We could not have ordered better conditions than we have enjoyed the past few days.  Not so much because of the cooler temperatures, but the fact that the wind has been all but non-existent.  We have been able to cover a lot of water, locate more keeper size trout and take advantage of a bite that has just gotten better throughout the day.

I think the live bait fishermen are probably catching an even higher percentage of keeper trout, but culling keepers with non-stop action makes it difficult to throw anything but tails and topwaters.  We are starting to see more shrimp in the open lake (they are admittedly easier to see when it isn't white capping) and the huge rafts of shad have shown up as well.  We have been catching some nice redfish under the shad, but the only problem with that bite is that there are a lot of gafftops there as well!

I fished with Jay Miller and Eric Lyons yesterday and we caught fish virtually every cast all day long.  A lot of the trout were small, but we finished with a nice box of fish and Jay won his tug of war with a beautiful over sized red.  In fact, it was so healthy and so copper colored that I am saving that picture for next month's TSFM column. One good cold front and the catching is going to be lights out!

The water clarity is just super good all over the lake.  We have done the best on a strong outgoing tide both in the open lake and hustling flounder on the Louisiana shoreline.  With the clearer water, opening night has really been a good color for us.  When we find needle gar chasing bait on the surface along with the trout, we have been fishing a five inch rat tail Assassin in that color with a 1/16th ounce head and keeping it in the top column of water.  That has worked even better than a topwater for us on both larger trout and slot reds.

I have not had time to just target flounder, but we catch a few nice ones every trip while fishing for everything else.  A 3-inch Usual Suspect in silver shiner or space guppy and a 4-inch paddle tail Sea Shad in roach, chicken on a chain or pumpkin chartreuse have worked the best.  I have no doubt that a Gulp swimming minnow in chartreuse or white would work even better.

When my posts are less frequent the catching is either really good or really bad. Right now it is really good.  If the posts stop altogether, I have either screwed up something on the computer again or died and I apologize for wasting your time in either instance.

LESS WATER WOULD BE A GOOD THING!

While the bite has steadily improved under super pleasant weather conditions over the past week, I am still struggling to find the really good trout.  We are catching decent numbers of 15 to 17 inch trout most days, but releasing a five pound fish has been a celebrated happening!

We have been fishing a pretty stiff north wind that has dirtied up the water a little on the north end of the lake, but its the high water that is presenting a problem.  The redfish and the flounder are up in the flooded grass and the birds aren't helping at all in the open lake.  The live bait fishermen are currently enjoying the most consistent bite fishing deeper water in the river and the ICW.

We have caught some trout fishing plastics under a cork when the wind lets us get out in the open lake, but we are force feeding most of our keeper trout Usual Suspect Swim Baits and Sea Shads over deeper shell.  We have had some great outgoing tides combined with that north wind, but the water just will not release.

I am going to speak over at the SALT Club on Pleasure Island tonight and I look forward to it as those folks share a lot of good information as well.  They welcome guests so come on out and bring the kids.  They start around 6:30.  Speaking of the kids...don't forget their KIDS tournament scheduled for Saturday morning.  Aside from money and prizes, the luckiest of them will win a lifetime fishing license in a random drawing for simply weighing  in a fish!

If you can't make the meeting you can get more information by calling Cliff at 409-728=3823 or Max at 626-2501.