APRIL WINDS and HIGH TIDES!

March has always been known for it's winds, but usually by the time April rolls around, the winds tend to get a little lower. Not the case this April. Winds, rain, and more fronts have greeted the LLM fishermen.
The great thing about the LLM is that on Monday the winds might blow at 20-25, the bay turns to coffee with milk colors and then on Tuesday, if the winds dropped during the night, the bay has cleared up. That's been the case this week. On Saturday, my friend Damon and I hit the East side early. The winds had really blown on Sunday and the West side was really ugly. I had picked the East flats knowing that we would find clear water there. I have several areas that are pucked with miles of sand holes and usually hold some decent trout. Not the case on Saturday. Two short trout on topwaters. We headed North to the drumboat flats looking for reds. We managed one lost  and blind red. I was throwing a spook and Damon was tossing a gold spoon. I drew the first major blowup, but no connection. Damon tossed his spoon in the direction of my spook and hooked up. It turned out to be his biggest red ever...271/2"..great fish!
That was it for the day. Winds picked up to around 25 with gusts to 36....not fun.

We sleep in on Monday and spent the day with the wives. We saw a great movie,
"The Case for Christ". I highly recommend it.
Tuesday brought more wind, but we braved it and decided to stay close. We drifted long bar, and managed a few blowups. We headed to one of our favorite wade bars near marker 58. Water was off colored, but fishable. I was snake bit. I had eight hookups and did not land a single fish. Damon on the other hand was able to keep us in the game with three good trout...two 19's and a solid 17".









On Wednesday morning, the wind had dropped to around 15 and we decided to hit the 58 bar again. This time I had a boat load of people, four hard nose fishermen and a Utah newbie.
My brother in law, David Wood, who has been mentioned in my blogs many times, works for John Deere. He had invited a friend down, Andy, to fish with him, Andy also works for John Deere and is responsible for the entire Western half of the U.S. David's motor started acting up on Monday and  I invited the two of them to join us. I already had my buds, Damon and Dale, tagging along.
We left the fingers in PI around 6:30 and were greeted by calm seas. 58 also had a welcome site as we found clear green water. The fish were there also. We headed back to PI around 10:30, with a full five man limit of good trout.

 I fished all morning with the big 6" Yum bait on a wide gap 1/8 oz jig head. This bait is very soft and after a number of hits becomes unusable. Trout also tend to take the whole bait. Many times you will miss a hook set because they have it balled up in their mouth. I've fought good size trout caught on this bait, only to have them spit it out as I'm ready to net them.
I like to work it slow, with a stop every now and then. Trout tend to hit it while it is moving.

 David never changed from his Zara Spook and the other guys varied from topwaters, plastics, and Gulp.

On Thursday, we were three. Winds had diminished and the bay was semi flat. We hit 58 again. David was the first to score, again using the spook . It did not take me long to find some good fish, but I had decided to use a Gulp jerk bait in penny color...worked, my first fish was a 21". Damon was little slower but managed a limit on Gulp croaker.
David on the other hand had a fantastic morning on his spook. Five great fish from 20 -24".
Way to go DiV!
When we started fishing, the water was a little off colored, with a fair chop. B

ut by our stopping point at 9:30, the waters were clear green and the winds had died to around 10. Great morning again on the LLM.

Next week is the annual A.M.I. tournament out of Parrot Eyes on the Island. Both David and I will be hosting teams. Weight in is 3pm on Saturday, April 22.

David's 241/2 this morning!