Another Great Morning on the LLM

 Today was not supposed to be a good day. The winds were forecast to be breezy, the bite was forecast to be strong before daylight, and the water was off color yesterday. But it was all wrong. The winds were very light, the water was trout green, and the tides were pouring in. And to top it off, the trout bite was on. 

I fished this am with two excellent fishermen, Lee Young, a neighbor across the channel, and my brother-in-law, David Wood. David is a retired LLM guide and one of the very best topwater lure fishermen I know. He's one of those guys who will cast his Spook until his arm falls off and then make a few more casts. Lee is also an individual who continues to excite me about fishing. He is an offshore guy and a diver, but spends a LOT of time fishing the shallow water of the LLM.

This morning, we left the fingers at 6 and headed to our continued hotspot near marker 58. We were alone, which was a surprise. I started the morning throwing a white Spook junior and had a few blowups but no connects. I also changed my position on the bar a chose to wade away from my comrades. I put on my old favorite plastic, a Hogie 5" Super Minnow in my favorite color, Halloween orange. On my first cast, I was greeted by a hard strike and secured a solid 22+, which I released. What followed was kinda unreal,  I would guess that I caught probably 30 trout in the next 45 minutes. I put three in my basket, all of which I measured at 20 inches. The bite kinda turned off around 7:30, but I continued to throw my Hogie and continued to catch and release good solid trout. My retrieve varied from allowing my bait to sink and retrieve to simply reeling it in at different speeds. It all paid off. By the time we were ready to go I lost count of my numbers. As Lee approached me, I made a long cast back toward the bar and almost immediately had a solid hookup. This one stripped line, and when I finally netted it, I was greeted by a solid 25-inch, 5-pounder. I guessed the weight. It was time to go, so we headed back to the boat, and I kept that fish in my dipnet so that we could take pictures and release her. 

It was a GREAT MORNING on the LLM. God is Good!

2025 A New Year and A Different Person!

It's really hard to grasp what has happened in my life. I did not post but one time on my blog for all of 2024. It was without reason! I just had a lot going on and just plain forgot, and when I did remember, I was probably working on videos, traveling, and, yes, fishing. But here it is June of 2025, and I am writing for some unknown reason. Many things are going on in my family life that have me praying every day. Patsy acquired a very rare cancer called IBC in late December of 2024. It was not until January of 2025 that it was finally diagnosed as Inflammatory Breast Cancer. We were able to get her into a clinical trial treatment at MD Anderson in Houston. After many weeks of chemical treatment and many trips to Houston, she was able to have a single mastectomy at MDA. We are presently back in PI and she is receiving chemotherapy locally in Harlingen.  When she finishes her twelve infusions, we will move to Houston for six weeks for her to get radiation treatment, then back to PI for her to finish up her chemical treatments. We are praying that all goes well and that we can travel to Cabo in October. Patsy has been doing exceptionally well considering what she's gone through to this point. Prayers have worked, and God has been good. Now lets get to some fishing.

The winds have been pounding. Most of April and May were blown out, but there were a few days we were able to go to the bars and wade. The water in April was still a little cold to wade without waders, but when we were able to fish, we did well. The majority of our trout were taken on plastics. The DownSouth and Hogies lures took most of our keeper trout. It's pretty amazing since the state changed the size and length trout regs, that it's really hard to catch an under 15in. fish. The majority of our trout are in the 18 to 20 in. range. We've also been taking a good number of 22in.+ fish on topwaters. The big ZaraSpook in green/white has been working for "past" guide David Wood. David continues to bang away with topwaters after everyone else had turned to plastics. They seem to work for him!

Who says that girls can't wade fish? I have always enjoyed taking girls out and putting them on fish. The only problem is that many times they cannot wade as deep as I do and may have a problem getting to the fish. This was not a problem for Jeanette Middleton, daughter-in-law, and her good friend Collette, who waded with me in May. Then, a week later, Jeanette's daughter, Hanna, and Collette's daughter, Kady, came down and fished. The winds blew, but we caught fish.

In fact, Hanna, my granddaughter, took one of the biggest trout she had ever caught! The girls enjoyed a great morning on the water when most of our fish were taken by sunrise. Limits by 7:30 has been my battle cry. With Patsy having infusion treatments on Wednesdays, and Mondays taken by Cornerstone Church Men's group, I really only have three days a week to fish! Oh, poor me! But the fact is that we've been leaving about 30 minutes before light, hitting the bar, and wading in the dark. It has paid off with numerous limits on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We are usually back cleaning fish, washing all down, and having breakfast by 10. Makes for a great day in paradise.

I'm trying to get back to my blog. Help me by giving me a thumbs up or just not saying anything.

Remember HE loves us, and we need to put our total faith in HIM.

God Bless!