Colburn's Sabine Connection

Not a bad afternoon.

The catching was much better than expected yesterday afternoon.  We caught a break with the wind and made a quick run on the north end of the lake.  We had every intention of trying to catch 3 or 4 flounder, but ran across two small flocks of birds on the way.  I think the first stop would have been the best as the trout were a little larger, but the reds crashed the party after we caught only a few keepers.

We weren't into keeping any reds, but we could have limited pretty easily.  The second flock, if you consider three birds to be a flock, was pecking at small shrimp and most of the trout were small as well.  We did manage to cull 11 keepers before calling it a day.  We caught our first few fish on a 3-inch Swim bait only because we had them tied on for the flounder.  The most productive bait was a Red Shad four inch Sea Shad rigged on a 1/8th ounce head.

The water clarity wasn't just horrible and that was a good surprise.  Not having to run to the south end of the lake was a good surprise as well. Hopefully, we are moving into more consistent patterns for the summer.

 

 

 

Rain needs to end in a hurry!

This is truly the pits!  Having finally seen a little more consistency in the trout bite toward the end of last week, we are once again saddled with more rain.  Topwaters, Swimming Images and 5-inch tails were fooling more16 to 20 inch fish in the clearer water than I have seen in months.  Oddly enough, the redfish bite slowed down for us, but I was more than ready to catch a few trout,

I am not in a full panic mode yet, but it is still raining and the bayous are muddying up again.  You would think this much rain would eventually wash all of the loose dirt off the shoreline and the runoff would be a little clearer.  Now are those the desperate words of a guide grasping for straws or what?

The incoming tides were really pumping in some greener water on the south end prior to Sunday evening.  The flounder bite was also good, but we couldn't leave the trout alone long enough to give them a try.  I won't know until tomorrow just how bad this is going to hurt us, but it could just be a bump in the road if the rain will quit today. The fact that the crappie and catfish are also biting better on both the Neches and Sabine is a good sign as well.

I also got two good reports from friends that have been beating up on solid trout in the ship channel with crankbaits.  They said most of their trout were in 2 to 4 feet of water.  I stopped at Outrage Tackle in Groves just long enough to not only get another good report on Flounder, but notice that Steve had speckle trout Swimming Images on what had been an empty peg again as well.  He said they got about five dozen in last week, but they go fast once they go through their "call waiting list".

 

 

Bad frame of mind right now!

The weather is absolutely perfect this morning and I am furiously working on two jobs that will wait no longer hoping to get on the water by noon. Something always goes wrong when replacing a garbage disposal and replacing wax seals on commodes so fishing may or may not happen.  We have had two decent days with the flounder in spite of the wind and dirty water.

If you haven't been on the lake in a while, you would not consider the water to be even moderately clear, but it hasn't bothered the flounder and a few redfish.  To some degree we have minimized our chances of even catching trout as we have just been pounding the shoreline and mouths of the bayous.  We have also thrown only small curl tail jigs and GULP on a 1/8th ounce head.  We found a few trout in the ship channel last week, but that water was really dirty yesterday.

I don't know what happened to the bite in Black's.......possibly too much fresh water with more on the way. if this weather will hold out through the weekend, we could see some very good catches in the Orange County CCA High School team event.  If you haven't already done so, you can still put a team together and sign up at the Captain's meeting at the Orange Boat Club Friday night.

Think I'll tackle the garbage disposal first! 

River still high and muddy

I made two quick trips up Hwy. 87 following last week's one day flooding event and found the woods and ditches still flooded all the way up to the highway. I have no idea what the Neches looks like. With bull tides already holding up outgoing tides it will take a while for the lake to clear up.  We have had a handful of good days when the wind permitted, but yesterday was not one of them for us.

The water was even muddier than I anticipated and we caught only six keeper flounder.  We never caught the first redfish or trout.  With all of the tournaments scheduled for the remainder of May, I am hopeful that we will see no more rain. I was talking with Gerald Bazinet, owner of Outrage Tackle  in Groves, at the SALT Club membership drive Sunday and he said the two hardest lures to keep in stock right now are Swimming Images and Assassin Salty Snacks.  He also said that Steve will add your name and number on a "call list" when they come in if you are still looking for them.

We did very well on the Salty Snack prior to the latest rain and they are reasonably tough baits.  We also found that they work better rigged on a hook one size larger than the one included in the package. i can't even find any backwater in the Bayous that isn't muddy right now, but we will look again tomorrow