Colburn's Sabine Connection

Larger trout worth getting cold for!

It has been about 50/50 as far as good days vs. bad days for us over the past week or so.  The wind has been a major factor and has really dirtied up much of the lake at least temporarily.  Today was one of those bad days!

We haven't just killed the trout number wise, but we are catching some very respectable fish up to six pounds on Corkies, Softdine XL's and a Catch V.  The water was back down in the 50's this morning and we saw very little mullet activity on the surface.  It has been especially nice to be able to find trout somewhere other than Coffee Ground as it doesn't take long for even a few boats constantly idling around to mess up that bite.

Because we were cold and bored we never even bothered to check out the redfish bite.  It has been very good of late...even in the river.  We have caught them on everything from crankbaits to Usual Suspects.  We did catch a couple of nice trout bouncing swim baits off the bottom in the river last week so there is still hope for that program rebounding.

I talked with two fishermen in Outcast Tackle in Groves that did well two days in a row fishing Down South tails over the shell in 12 to 15 feet of water on the Causeway Reef last week.  They said they never caught anything over four pounds, but limited both days.  They also said they caught most of the fish on an incoming tide and that dark colors worked the best!

Boat Show more enjoyable than fighting the wind this week!

There isn't much I can share with you that will help you catch fish this weekend.  I had better luck at the Houston Boat Show than I did fishing.  We only fished two days and the wind was howling both days.  One day we got completely blown out and caught only a few reds and flounder in Cow Bayou before giving up.  The second day we caught redfish virtually every cast in several different locations, but never caught the first keeper trout.

The surface temperature was back up where it was prior to the freeze, but ti was hard to see any bait fish due to the whitecaps.  We fished only the north end of the lake so there was no protected shoreline to fish.  The water clarity took a hit, but with no rain it could clear up over night.  We caught our redfish on Echo 1.75 crankbaits and watermelon chatterbaits just because we could,  I think they would have eaten anything in the box, but I enjoyed the change.

I guess it is only fair that the Houston Boat Show  continues to lean more toward boats and RV's  than fishing every year.  If you want to talk fishing go to the Fishing Show in March.  There were very few guide operations on hand, but it seemed like there was a rod company or builder in every other booth.  That is a very competitive business.  I fish Lagunas, but I didn't pick up any other rod that I would not have been comfortable fishing.

Lengths and actions aside, the difference pretty much gets down to your choice of eyes and style of grips.  Laguna also carries a cyclone or spiral wrap that makes fighting a fish feel completely different for the better.  You cannot tell the difference by simply picking one up...you have to fish with it.

I was given a couple of new baits that have just been released that I cannot wait to fish as well as some new colors that cannot miss.  They are making it impossible to cull the glut of baits that I carry, but never use!

C-O-L-D & W-I-N-D-Y!!!!!!

We squeezed in two good trips just prior to the over night arrival of this front and the weather-guessers obviously didn't miss it this time.  The conditions were just perfect yesterday and not too bad the day before.  We couldn't find the big trout either day, but we caught a lot of those fish that you hesitate to try and swing over the side of the boat and they were just full of small shrimp and finger mullet.

We also caught a few nice slot reds the first day, but none yesterday.  The water had dirtied up a little behind the islands, but not too badly.  The water from Coffee ground to Willow was just about as clear as it can get.  The fish crushed a pearl- pink Crazy Croaker one day and would have nothing to do with it the next day.  We stayed with it too long yesterday before figuring out that they wanted a dayglow or pink-silver Fat Boy retrieved much faster than I normally fish it.

The surface temperature was 60 to 62 degrees and we fished an outgoing tide most of both days.  The temperature will take a hit across the next few days, but this howling wind and a strong outgoing tide should push the remaining bait fish and shrimp into the bayous and lake.  I prefer to fish the afternoon hours this time of the year, but the best bite prior to this front was taking place in the morning.  I am headed to Simon Outfitters and Outcast Tackle to pick up replacement hooks for Catch V's and pick up a few more Fat Boys before they get even harder to find. Iy seems like I spend most of my time either fishing or getting ready to fish and I am not complaining!

This is also a great time to clean reels while watching football or basketball onTV.  I also look forward to visiting with old friends and window shopping at the Houston Boat show next week.