Lately my life has been pretty chaotic due to my work schedule and the typical everyday struggles that we all face. I have been working every day for a little over a month now which has really deprived me of being on the water and writing. Since the last time I posted, I received a job writing for the kayak section of Texas Saltwater Magazine, so I have been saving most of my material for my articles. Writing tends to be tough when you only have a few average days of fishing to talk about.
Fishing for me in the past few months has been an absolute roller coaster. It has been feast or famine, hit or miss or however you want to put it. One day you are slamming the trout and the next day the fish have disappeared. Thats just part of the game though and it will all change soon. It also seems the only days I have had off we were getting rained on which just made the fishing in Sabine lake worse. Lately though, the sun has been shining and the forecast of our typical summer is back in full swing.
Last Sunday I was stuck behind the gates of work on one of the finest days Texas has seen since early spring. The sun was shining on a blue bird sky day with a slight wind out of the north. For a change, the steam stack was blowing the opposite direction which made me quickly pull up the forecast for the week. The weather gurus had predicted a full week of light north winds meaning only one thing for me, I am headed to the surf!
I called my brother early Monday morning and pitched my game plan to him and without hesitation he was in. I assured him that I would be off at 5 and would still have plenty of time to make it down to Rollover and fish, just as long as he was at the house ready to leave. I got home, changed clothes and grabbed my rods in record time and I was walking out the door when my brother pulled up with one of our other friends. I hopped in and we were southbound to the coast.
Upon arrival there was one small breaker that may of got my shins wet when walking through it. I began to throw a Norton Sand Eel black and green, Ross is throwing a Big Purp Sand Eel and Blaze has a red and white. We have a slow start but about an hour into it Ross hangs into a nice trout but got away before he could get a hand on it.
After not getting a bite, I make an early change to a Skitterwalk; So far the only other fish I seen caught was when wading out another angler caught it on a top water. I chunk it as far as I can and nothing at first. About 20 minutes into it a trout smashes it and he was not planning on missing this easy meal. He was pretty close to the 15″ mark so I just got a picture and released him since it was early.
A few cast later I hang into another one and this is when we realize that my first fish was not a fluke. I got him on the stringer and we sent Blaze back to the truck for more top waters (and to grab another beer since he was headed that way). By the time he made it back I made 3 more cast and landed 3 more trout. We then continue to hang into trout and landing some while having others shake off before we could get a grip on them.
The wild thing though happened right at dark, the full moon rose on the eastern horizon and was plenty bright enough for us to stay on the water for a few extra minutes. During this time the trout had bunched up a huge pod of shad and was blasting through them. They did not want anything to do with top waters at this point so we just watched the carnage that was unfolding in front of us.
Plenty of moon light to fish on a calm summer night.
The very next day the word got out that the surf was still flat and people have been catching trout. I had a few friends asked if I had heard anything and wanted to go. Little to their knowledge at the time I was part of the catching the prior day and my rods and gear were loaded and ready for another trip to the surf. Blaze already got a head start on me but I was not going to miss another day like this again, mainly because the only fishing I can do is in the afternoon anyways, so why pass it up?
I eagerly jump out into the sand, snag my rod and hastily make my way back to the same area as the day before. Not long after, I am accompanied by my friends and we are all lined up chunking lures and on the search for trout. Right around the same time again the top waters start blowing up and we are all sporadically catching trout. We put a few fish on the stringer and had a few bigger ones that we let swim another day but as the sun starts going down everyone starts to walk back in. They are about to miss the best part of the day and do not even know it. Once again the trout were doing their thing but were much more active on hitting our lures and were not so fixated on shad.
Overall we had a cooler full of trout that made for a hell of a 2 day fishing trip and a pretty good fish fry. Blaze called me again Wednesday morning asking if I wanted to try again for a repeat. I had to decline because I already planned on spending my afternoon cleaning trout. He called me later that night and told me that they did not land a single fish. Just like that they vanished. I guess you should of been there yesterday.
Saturday I had my “Fatigue” day and it is mandatory that I spend a day away from the refinery. It just so happens that it fell on the same day as the Lone Star Kayak Series, what a shame right? I have not had time to pre-fish and have not found any redfish in a while. I figured though that I could fish Texas Bayou and at least pull out 2 fish to bring to the weigh-in. Recently I have been on the fish so I have some momentum going into the tournament. I have broken my slump and was determined to do well in this event.
I hit the water and at 6 a.m. I started paddling and was fishing at 6:03. I fished hard and every where. Reefs, points, bends, marsh flats; you name it, I fished it. A valiant effort but I could not pull out the first redfish. I caught every other fish in the bayou except a red, that is the current luck that I am having.
I have made a few other afternoon trips and they have not been very productive. Not sure if it is the fishing or if it is just me enjoying my afternoon clearing my mind from everything. On the bright side of being in this fishing slump, there is going to come a point where I will be out and back in the swing of things. It can only get better from here. Until then though, when you are on top, take full advantage of it and make it count. You never know what the tides of tomorrow may bring.
Enjoy Life