Hole In One

I did a little fresh water fishing today after work at the neighborhood golf course. It’s always fun fishing at the golf course because the golfers look at me like I’m crazy. I guess I am kinda crazy for dodging golf balls in between casts, but it’s worth it. In the hour I was there I managed four bass and four crappie, the bass were in the one to two pound range and the crappie were around ten inches with one almost fourteen.

This fish was close to the mark I have for trout on my rod.

Sabine strike out

Fished the North West end of Sabine Sunday morning with little to show for it. The bait was thick but the fish weren’t there. I managed one flounder on a corky, two blowups on a topwater, one missed flounder on a gulp jerk shad, and missed a redfish on a corky. The weather was nice, but the fishing could have been better. I guess that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching.

First time in sabine

On the way home from the IFA championship in Alabama we decided to stop and fish the north end of Sabine on the Texas side. After two days of punishment from the Fish Gods we caught a break and a ton of fish. The Red fish and Trout were stirring up the shrimp and the birds were getting the extras. The only word that could explain the day would be total chaos. At the end of the day we had two limits of Reds and two limits of Trout. Fish were caught on Gulp shrimp under a popping cork, topwaters, plastics, and corkys.
I could go on for days about how great the fishing was but I will let the pictures do the talking.

IFA Championship Orange Beach, Alabama

We headed out Thursday morning around one A.M. with no sleep since Tuesday night. We arrived in Alabama a little after nine A.M. and were pre fishing by ten. At the first spot all we could find was one small trout and some very fresh water. After we loaded up I did some research and found another promising spot in Oyster Bay which was about an hour away. When we arrived at our next stop we found a good amount of Reds and Trout. After a couple of hours of fishing and exploring it was decided this was going to be the place to start Friday morning.

After the captains meeting at the fabulous Cobalt restaurant we went back to Oyster Bay so we could finally get some much needed sleep. A little after five A.M. we crawled out of the truck. Yes we slept in the back of the Tahoe for three nights. On the way down the intercostal I had two blowups on a topwater just before the entrance to Oyster Bay, and I knew it was going to be a good day. Once inside the bay we saw some seagulls working on the south shoreline. After a short quarter mile paddle we were in a school of trout under the gulls. All of the trout were small but I was able to pull one out that was sixteen and a half inches. Now that I had my Trout I could go find one of the many Reds that we saw the previous day. After going to all of the spots that we found Reds on Thursday we came up empty, so I went exploring and still could not find a Redfish anywhere. I did manage to find a trout that was a little bigger. I fished until the very last minute and had nothing to show for it but an eighteen and a half inch trout.




Saturday we changed our location and fished Wolf Bay which gave me the same results as the previous day. I caught an eighteen and a half inch Trout and not a single Red. I don’t know what the deal is with Alabama fish but if I could take all of the places I fished during the tournament and bring them back to Texas they would be loaded with fish.

I wasn’t able to pull off the win that I wanted but it was a great experience. Once again I am very grateful for all of the hard work that the IFA and Hobie has put into giving us kayakers a chance to prove ourselves in a pro tournament.

IFA REDFISH TOUR

The fishing was tough this weekend with the 20+ mph winds and two tide days, but I was able to catch one fish on Sunday (with the help of my fishing partner Travis) and luckily it was a 28" red. That one fish was enough to take the biggest red for the tournament (second time in a row) fifth place, and now I am tied in first place for Texas angler of the year.

The picture was taken in the pelican not the Hobie. I needed a confined space to keep this monster under control, and the Hobie has no confined space.

I couldn't have done it without a Berkley GULP jerk shad, my Hobie mirage outback, Shimano reel, Castaway rod, and a spool of Pline.