Colburn's Sabine Connection

S.A.L.T. tournament this weekend!

The wind pretty much shut down things today, but the folks I talked with Sunday evening said the catching was good over the weekend.  Little or no rain and a lot of brown shrimp in the open lake has a lot to do with that.  We made two very good trips just before the weekend and there was little doubt the bite was only getting better.  We had to deal with a tough wind the first day, but eventually finished with a solid catch of trout, reds and flounder.  Not surprisingly, a Usual Suspect was our hottest bait.  it certainly wasn't the only thing that was working because the few other boats we even saw were catching fish on tails and live shrimp as well.  Most folks were chasing the gulls.

The following day we caught some of the nicest trout I have caught in months (3 to 4 pound fish) and easily limited on redfish drifting the shallow flats.  We were still fishing a Usual Suspect, but with a little different twist....under a cork.  My fishing got unexpectedly shut down that night due to once again trying to ride kidney stones out just a little too long.  By the time Monday rolled around I was in the hospital on an IV for infection and having a stent put in.  Stents are darn near  as uncomfortable as stones, but at least you can go home and do your thing if you can ignore the pain. It looks like at least one more operation in two weeks, but that leaves a lot of time for fishing before then!

Please......no I am so sorry emails.  This has been a way of life for me since 1972 and I consider even the worst of stones more of an inconvenience than anything else.  I mentioned it only because I was leery about scheduling a trip too close to the anticipated surgery date and I would hate to have to cancel at the last minute.  I do plan on fishing all of next week weather providing as it is just too darn good not to fish.  If you have one of those days open and want to risk giving it a shot...call.  Not fishing is a helluva lot more painful than a kidney stone!

Do not forget about the S.A.L.T. Memorial Day tournament hosted out of their club house site on Pleasure Island this weekend.  Prize money is good in the adult and kids division and there will be drawings for prizes, food , drinks and live entertainment Sunday evening.  This is very much a family oriented event and a wonderful way to spend quality time on the water with the family.  The kids fish free and your entry fee is only $40.  Even if you don't fish come out and enjoy the festivities.  Joining the club is a great way to enhance your catching on Sabine lake!   

 

  

Lots of boats last Saturday!

The selling point for why I should guide on yet another Saturday was, "We're not worried about fishing pressure hurting the bite.  All we want to do is ride and learn more about the lake....catching fish would just be a bonus!"  The weather could not have been better, but unlike the previous Saturday, there were even more boats on  the water than I expected and the majority of them were running around chasing birds on the south end of the lake.

This slot red was hustling shrimp under the birds.

We participated in that melee just long enough to box a few keeper trout and determine that ninety percent of the trout were only Louisiana legal fish.  There were, however, a few decent slot reds running with them.  We burned a lot of gas and looked at a lot of water, but still had time to put together a nice box of reds, trout and flounder.  We caught all of our fish on 4-inch paddle tails and Usual Suspect Swim baits.

This red ate a Usual Suspect Swim Bait fished tight to the flooded grass. 

The water on the Neches flats and North Revetment wall was really dirty, but the water from Willow on south was in good shape. The water clarity  in Black's was better again as well.  A five pound trout is a bragging size fish right now, but that will all change with a little clearer water on the north end and the Causeway reef.  The fish are there, but the lack of confidence in dirty water and birds working a short distance away tends to make most folks abandon a slower game plan.

S.A.L.T. tournament set for 28th & 29th. Bite in the lake still good!

Posting two reports this close together is a good thing for me.  The water is still high, especially on the incoming tide, but it doesn't seem to be affecting the bite.   I still can't find any big trout, but the numbers were good yesterday and we even found some solid slot reds running the shoreline.  The north end of the lake is really muddy, but it starts clearing up about mid-lake.

The outgoing tide has been good for us, but it is ending pretty early right now.  There are a lot of brown shrimp in the lake and the small trout are all over them.  We found birds working in a few spots, but the trout under them are small.  Our better trout came out of 3 to 5 feet of water as did the reds.  We are still doing most of our catching on tails and Swim Baits.

The annual S.A.L.T. Memorial Day tournament is set for the last weekend of the month and this is shaping up to be a good one.  It is very much a family oriented event, but the prize money is nothing to sneeze at.  The largest trout, red and flounder all pay $750 and the largest drum, sheepshead and croaker are worth $150.  Every division pays through 3 places.  For more information call Roger at 920-5235 or Mark at 720-8385.  They will have a lot more going on at the weigh-in site than just fishing for two days and it is all fun!

One more thing....depending on the brand, the new penny or cock of the walk color has really been good for us lately.  Having said that.....they probably won't touch it tomorrow!

Water on the rise again!

I am hoping this isn't deja vu all over again, but the parking lot is full of water!  After putting together the best 3 consecutive days I have had in a long time, I let David Spires talk me into fishing him on a Saturday morning.  I don't usually do weekends, but David convinced me that he really needed to make a fishing trip.  Much to my surprise, the weather could not have been better and the catching was darn near as good.  He caught a solid slot red on his third cast and we caught flounder, redfish and trout for the better part of four hours.  I don't know how many trout we released or flounder we lost right at the boat, but David returned home with a nice box of fish.

David caught this solid slot red on his third cast with his new "favorite"bait!

The water in the area we were fishing was clearer than it had been the previous three days and that really helped the trout bite.  The flounder were in the grass and the redfish were running the shoreline. Guiding was fun again, but by the time I got his fish cleaned a southwest wind was steadily increasing.  It hasn't stopped since and the water from the latest release on T-Bend once againhas flooded the launch and pushed water up in the Boat Club.

I knew something was up when we checked Black's on the way in and it was as muddy as the rising river.  It had been very clear for the previous three days.  I immediately canceled two trips that I rescheduled until I can see what effect this is going to have on the bite.  At least for right now, in spite of all of the fresh water the trout have not left the lake.  We are supposed to get a little north wind later in the week so hopefully the latest glut of fresh water will purge out pretty quickly.

I'll know more tomorrow. 

A little windy, but a pretty decent bite today.

We got in a pretty decent day today catching flounder, reds and specks.  We started out fishing clearer water around the drains, but eventually found our best fish in deeper and dirtier water. The reds and nearly all of the keeper trout were in deeper water. We can't catch a trout over three pounds, but the numbers of 16 to 18 inch trout has improved every trip.  I am happy just to find trout in the lake right now as there is a lot more fresh water still headed our way.

By the time we quit around 1:30 the tide was pouring out and a northwest wind was helping it along.  If we could get more of that clearer water in the lake we would really be in business.  Once again, most of the fish I cleaned had small brown shrimp inside of them.  I talked with two groups this afternoon that did well on flounder and small reds in the refuge.  I also talked with a good friend that culled ten keeper trout out of a bunch of small trout that he found under the birds in the Blue Buck area.   That water is really pretty!

I couldn't launch at the Boat Club this morning as the water was too high, but it was off the dock by the time we got back in.  Hopefully, it will drop a little more tonight.