Colburn's Sabine Connection

This is just too much wind!

Today it was just all but impossible and it looks like we are in for more wind tomorrow.  We have learned to deal with some pretty tough wind, but there isn't much left to fish when it blows as steady and hard as it did today.  We caught a few reds in the marsh drains off the bayous, but the water was too high to concentrate the fish and it was muddy as well.

I hoped that these bull tides would move some trout up on the Causeway reef, but if they are there I can't catch them.  I talked with some folks fishing the ICW with finger mullet and  shrimp and they caught only a couple of reds and three drum by noon.  They were fishing a very good stretch of rocks in 12 to 15 feet of water.  I originally planned on waiting until next week to get started again and I will do just that.

 

Trout kinda doing their thing!

Unfortunately, the wind was just too big to get it done this morning, but we have enjoyed a much improved trout bite over the past few days.  Just about the time I decided that we would take advantage of the bull tides and target flounder, the trout started doing their thing again.  The best news is that the flounder bite is good.  We fished stretches of shoreline from East Pass to Greens and found at least a few fish most everywhere we fished. Wee haven't fished any canals in the Game reserve, but they have to be good as well.

The trout actually worked under the birds one day, but for the most part they were holding about 50 yards off the shoreline in 4 to 5 feet of water. The larger percentage of the  fish we caught were keeper size fish. There was no particular bait that worked any better than another for us.  We caught them on tails, Swim baits and small topwaters.  There were also a few reds mixed in with them, but most of them were over sized fish.

The water clarity is nothing to brag about, but it gets clearer the further south you run.  I think we are looking at another day or two of enough wind to make things uncomfortable, but you won't know if you don't go.  i am giving it a rest for a couple of days.

Decent reports good for about one day.

At least for me, it has gotten to the point that a report, especially one that is encouraging, lasts about a day.  We did catch a bunch of small trout on Big Lake (under birds), but it has been all redfish over here for us.  The Sabine River looks terrible and the Neches isn't much better, but there were a few pockets of clearer water closer to the drains.

Between the redfish and the rocks, my clients fished their way through six Swimming Images and the fish either moved or just wouldn't hit anything else.  This deluge today isn't going to help any and I am hoping that we don't get more tomorrow.  The water on Big Lake looked much better than Sabine.

Rain didn't hurt us too badly....at least short term!

Based on the amount of rain we got last night, I expected a lot of dirty water this morning, but it wasn't that bad.  We got out late and the bite just got better for us.  i haven't talked with anyone that fished this morning.  As usual the wind eliminated some spots we wanted to fish, but between, the river, Black's and Cow bayou, we managed to keep 14 trout three flounder and a limit of reds.

We caught all of our fish on crankbaits and 4-inch Swim baits.  I don't know how many bass we turned loose as well, but it was at least 10 or 12.  I thought they would have really struggled with the wind this weekend, especially Sunday, but I talked with two groups that did well both days on the south end. They found reds working under the birds and caught their trout bouncing tails off the shell in 7 feet of water.  Red shad out performed every other color they tried.  They said several of their trout were in the 3 to 4 pound class.

Don't forget the Tuesday evening bass circuit kicks off tomorrow.  Jonathan Simon said they will still launch at the Public Launch on Simmons Drive.  That circuit has really grown in the past couple of years.  You can sign up at Simon Outfitters in Orange or at the weigh-in site.