Summer's Not Here...YET!

The winds are still blowing..some days hard. The early morning bite has been good, when you can find decent water. With the combination of still getting north winds and then usually by the next day, back out of the south, its been difficult to find the clear trout water. We have a couple of wade bars that have been producing some good numbers of fat, good size fish. These are well known by locals and guides, and if you are not in the water at daybreak, you'll get covered up.
My good friend, David Wood, told me a story about how people have almost zero respect for others. He and another friend were wading one of these bars on one end. A number of other waders had occupied the other end. As they were wading a boat pulled up on the bar within 30 yards of David. There were a total of seven people in the boat. A couple of the men jumped out with steel rod holders and began putting down stakes along the bar. They secured a total of ten rod holders and then began to place rigs in each holder. They were baited with cut bait and were thrown out into the area that David and the others were wading.  It totally cut them off. Apparently they could not speak a word of English, as they were asked if they did not see these guys wading. They played dumb. Where are the game wardens when you need them.
As I mentioned above we have been taking limits of fish almost on every outing. A good number have been taken on topwaters, but the majority have given into plastics and gulp. I've been using the Hogie Major Minnow in Morning Glory/ Chartreuse and Black/Chartreuse. Also the Gulp Ripple Mullet in all colors have produced. I am finding that fishing the Hogies on a slow steady retrieve has been working, whereas the Gulps are being fished a little slower with a drop action. The fish are usually on as I pick up the rod tip and start my retrieve.
Come on down...summer is right at out doorstep or maybe it never left.
Good fishing!

Have You Caught A 30 inch Trout?

 That's a question most avid trout fisherpeople ask. I have not caught one! I talked to a neighbor the other day and the subject came up. He is only here on weekends and does fish a lot, but his comments took me astride. He stated it was fairly common for him to catch 30 inch trout. I pried as to where and what he was using to take his "once in a life time" trout. His area was the same area I've been pounding for years and his bait was a common plastic swim bait. I asked for pictures, but none were produced. I'm thinking his measuring tape is very short or he is _______. I do hear of guides  taking 30 inch trout with clients, but its still not an everyday occurrence. The majority are taken on live croakers or large top water plugs. As I think back, I do remember a few taken on soft plastics.
I've been pounding the bays for over 50 years and my largest trout "almost made it at 29 3/4 in" and that was many years back. I looked in my archives for pics..nada!
I did recently secure a really nice trout, 28 in, in the same area my neighbor was talking about. I caught her on a windy morning on a large Zara Spook. It was the only fish taken that morning.
So, I'm a little skeptical when someone states that 30 inch trout are common occurrences. I say death is a common occurrence, but it only happens once in a life time.
Have a great day on the water and be safe. Summer is just around the corner!

28"...Zara Spook

Another Year Older!

  Here it is March of 2018. Just turned 71 and sometimes in the mornings I really feel 71. I don't want to be 71 old, I want to be 71 young. They say its all in your mind. I say that's a lot of BS. It's in my back, legs, fat stomach, and a dozen other bodily locations. I want to fish each day, but there is always something that tends to get in the way. Honey dos, appointments, shopping, clean up the shop, wash the truck,clean my reels, repair lures, the list never seems to never end and always gets longer.
  Well, next week is spring break and my son, Michael is coming down. We are going to fish! That is if this crazy weather will allow us to. The cold fronts just keep pounding us. Always seems like they come in just as the water temp is rising. Last week it spiked at around 73. We were hoping it would get up to 75 or better so we could wade without waders...not happening this week or next. Looks like another front on Monday!
   Speaking of fishing, I have been able to make a few trips. We've been wading our old faithful bar we call 58. Its located about a 1/4 mile off of the ICW, and has fairly deep water on all sides of it. The shallows warm up fairly quickly and the trout have been there in good numbers. They are really lacking in size. Plastics and Gulps are the key players, but if you are my brother-in-law, David Wood, you are committing an unforgivable sin, if you are not throwing a Zara Spook! We have been able to manage limits, but if we have a fish over 19" its a trophy.
    I fished last week with my bud, Dale K and his son, Warren. Warren is in the Navy and stationed in Spain. He had come to the states for a conference and took the liberty to come visit his family here in South Texas. We hit the bay early and headed to the East side hoping to find reds. No luck, we drifted for an hour or so without a strike, or even seeing any fish. Headed to Gas Well Flats and did manage to pick up a number of trout, two of which pushed the 20" mark. The forecast had been winds 9-12, but by 9am, they were kicking 20.
    Decided to go out for a short run this afternoon, although the winds were kickin' at around 20. I headed for the Mexiquito Flats. The water was very decent and I decided to start my drift on the Brownsville channel side of the bar. Lots of water in the bay. After about an hour of lots of casting and not a single strike, I moved to the pot hole area of the flats. I continued to throw a Zara Spook. Very quickly I hooked up from a good blowup and landed a 21". I continued to fish the Zara and continued to get numerous blowups. I lost three good fish at boatside, as my net had broken earlier. All told I had around 20 blowups and connected with 4 solid trout. Fished for about two hours. Not too bad percentages for the time period. The Spook was the critter lure today.

     I have added some new looks and safety items to my boat. I had been having people slip down when getting off of my front deck. No one got hurt, but I could see it coming. I did some investigating and settled on a product called Safe Floor. I found a local dealer and installer in Harlingen. Mike Jones owns the franchise and had two of his great installers come to my house and put down my new floor while my boat remained in the sling. How cool is that? It is a rubberized epoxy base done in almost any color yo desire. I chose a mixture of blues, white, and a little black. Beautiful floor and safe, also soft to walk on. Life time warranty on the floor.

Summer is HOT.....but the fishing has been WARM!

The month of July was a very interesting fishing month for me. During the second week I hosted three young ladies from various parts of Texas. One being my daughter in law, Janette, Mary, and Collette. These ladies wanted to wade fish and so for three days I put them to the test. They passed with flying colors. We caught fish and they learned a few new techniques from this old man.

The following week we hosted our annual family reunion here in Port Isabel. I am getting too old to deal with all these young folk. But I fished hard for five days, alternating wading with boat fishing. It was hot! Can't say we killed 'em, but we managed a enough filets to send fish home with the kids.